Some obstacles for Yemeni students are not new. With a pre-war per capita GDP of less than $2,000 per year, almost no Yemeni family can afford to send a child abroad for higher education. Only the few opportunities currently extant for Yemeni students, such as Amideast’s Diana Kamal Scholarship Search Fund (DKSSF), offer the hope of securing a funded study-abroad experience.

What students needed, Palestinian leaders recognized in the mid-2000s, were schools for the 21st century. Since 2007, Amideast has responded, working in partnership with the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoEHE), to implement three USAID-projects that have brought much-needed support for and investment in basic education in the West Bank.

Model Schools Network

Throughout these 15 years, YES students recruited through Amideast have created lasting friendships in all 50 states, volunteered thousands of hours of their time, and have developed robust alumni programming in their home communities. They continue to create meaningful multicultural relationships and share their knowledge of their home cultures and the United States.

The project is training 600 young men and women between the ages of 18 and 30 in a variety of vocational, professional, and business skills in areas such as computer-aided design, refrigeration, hydraulics, plumbing, medical machinery maintenance, and renewable energy (solar installation). In addition, the project links youth to mentors in their communities and supports activities that encourage their involvement in community rebuilding and the country’s restoration and recovery.

Hadeel Al-Hubaishi, a junior at the American University of Beirut, considers the Access Program to have been "the starting point" of her journey from Yemen to becoming the person she is today and to what she has achieved. Omnia, an Access alumna from Egypt, recounts how the Access Program gave her self-confidence and skills that helped her to realize her dream of admission to medical school.

Basima exemplifies the impact that the outstanding young men and women selected for the Fulbright Program are having once they complete their studies and return home. One way that this prestigious program supports local impact is through Alumni Community Action Grants (ACAG), a special initiative sponsored by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) that encourages Fulbrighters to exercise their creativity and leadership skills to make an impact in their communities.

Professor Hichri should know. He is a trainer in Empowering Youth and Educators (EYE), an Amideast program that is empowering young Tunisians by recognizing that educators play a critically important role in developing young lives, but need training to be effective.

Developed in the wake of the Tunisian Revolution by Dr. Saloua Saidane, a Fulbright alumna and faculty member at Mesa Community College in San Diego, California, the innovative program consists of separate courses for students and teachers that focus on critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills.

Amideast aims to provide access to higher education for as many students as possible. With this in mind, it is fundraising for 10 additional scholarships to Egyptian public university excellence programs—beyond what has already been funded under the U.S.-Egypt Higher Education Initiative (HEI) Public University Scholarships program. Meet Ahmed, Mehad, and Souad, three bright young Egyptian students who, without the HEI program, would never have had the opportunity to attend these quality programs and open new doors to their future.