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Yemen  Yes  Alumni At During Their School Renovating Project In  Aden

Alumni recently completed renovations of a small school located in the village of Khedad near Aden. This particular school is very old and has never received the proper maintenance. The alumni spent three days cleaning, painting and helping with other building repairs, completing several renovating tasks that were first deemed impossible. In order to fund this initiative, alumni gathered donations and conducted food drives to collect the amount needed.  The money was used to buy cleaning and painting supplies, paint and electronic tools.

The first day was the biggest challenge.  However, after three hours of work; things began to look up as community members started to take notice of the volunteer work being done to their school.  On the second day of the project, over twenty-three young volunteers came to assist with the renovations. At this point, all of the classrooms became prettier and the new paint dramatically changed the atmosphere of the school.  On the third day, the alumni began to wrap up their hard work, and the school looked practically brad new.

The efforts of the alumni greatly inspired and motivated the members of this community to start their own community service club. The alumni were extremely appreciative of the help and support they received, with several well wishes and promises from the community to keep the school clean and tidy. One week after the renovations were complete, the YES alumni revisited the community in order to help with the implementation of several new community project initiatives.  

Another event organized by the alumni was their fundraiser for Haiti. After the tragic earthquake hit Haiti this past January; alumni planned their fundraising activity under the slogan “Saving Lives in Haiti.”  The event was advertised throughout Aden. On February 11th, more than 500 people visited the AMIDEAST office in Aden, where they enjoyed the bake sale, book sale, sports, music and different fun activities. The alumni ended up raising almost $500 USD for Haiti.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

YES alumni also organized an environmental awareness and clean-up campaign during the Earth Day celebrations that took place on April 22nd. With the help of more than 75 English Access Microscholarship students; there were many volunteers on hand to make this campaign a success. The entire group was divided in two, and focused on two different locations in Sana’a: one in “Old City” and the other in “Sana’a Village.” The group in Old City gave a presentation on water management issues with water sector experts. They visited the Old City gardens and observed how the garden was maintained and its significance to the city. The second group divided itself into smaller groups in order to spread throughout the village and initiate street cleanups. This was a big project for the alumni, and the most exciting part was the overwhelming number of volunteers from the village who worked side by side with the alumni as a team. 


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