On April 12, the YES Alumni Club in Bahrain hosted a ghabga, or late-night Ramadan gathering in Manama. 37 people attended the event, including 25 alumni, six current YES finalists, three staff from Amideast/Kuwait, and three representatives from the U.S. Embassy in Bahrain. Joining from the U.S. Embassy were David Brownstein, Deputy Chief of Mission, Linda McMullen, Public Affairs Officer, and Samar Hasan, Education Specialist.  

The YES Alumni Club, led by Mohammed Ali ‘17, provided venue recommendations, invited alumni, and helped with the event set up. Mohammed said that ”the YES Ghabga brought back a lot of good memories and helped us reconnect as alumni. I couldn’t be prouder to call myself a YES alum.” 

At the dinner, the attendees enjoyed a mixture of typical Middle Eastern ghabga treats and Western foods, including a variety of hummus plates, meat ghouzi (lamb with rice), fish sayidaya (fish with spiced cumin rice), risotto, and um ali (Egyptian bread pudding). The finalists and YES alumni spoke with the Embassy representatives, reflected on their YES experiences, and gave advice to the current YES finalists. The alumni also discussed their plans for volunteer and training activities for the upcoming months.   

Mohammed Ali (YES 2016-2017, Bahrain, placed by CIEE in Midlothian, TX)