Alumni have been active participants in the monthly Doha Debates, sponsored by the Qatar Foundation.  Debates, which take place in English, cover such topics as Middle East politics and gender issues.  Alumni Ahmed Saleh, ‘08, Hamza Quadoome, ‘08 and Mohammed Hamdoona, ‘07 were active participants in the debates held in March, April and May.

U.S. Ambassador Joseph Le Baron held a reception on March 24^th at the residence for this year’s cohort of YES students and their parents.  Also attending were alumni representatives Ahmed, Hamza and Mohammed.

As part of their pre-departure training; the seven members of this year’s YES cohort presented power point presentations on March 16 to various staff members of the U.S. Embassy, their families and YES alumni, as part of an exercise on serving as junior Ambassadors to the U.S. The students intend to use these presentations during their year in the U.S.  Ahmed and Mohammed attended the event to answer questions and provide insight on their experiences living abroad as YES students.

Alumni will also participate in the pre-departure orientation on July 29^th for the departing YES 2010 students. Ahmed and Mohammed will serve as valuable resources for the outgoing students, members of the returning 2009 YES cohort will be able to volunteer in their first post-program event as alumni.