British Council to establish Yemeni Alumni Association

Yemeni alumni return home determined to make a change in their society to the better and pass the knowledge they have to their peers.

An event organized by the British Embassy at the British Ambassador’s residence welcomed home this year’s Chevening graduates and introduced the establishment of a new Yemeni Alumni Association. All the graduates are returning from an  intensive year of studies in the UK with very strong records of scholastic achievement culminating in the receipt of degrees from excellent universities.  Particular congratulations went out to two graduates who achieved distinctions in their studies.

Opening remarks of the evening were made by His Excellency the British Ambassador, Timothy Torlot, who began by welcoming back all new graduates as well as past participants of the program.“Welcome, also, to those of you who graduated in earlier years from British universities, whether from Chevening scholarships, British Council scholarships or ODA scholarships,” he said. “Many of you will know each other from previous meetings of British university alumni, but I am glad to have the chance to meet you for the first time tonight.” 

“This evening isn’t only about congratulations, though,” Torlot said, “it is a chance to do some informal networking, and for you all to get to know other scholars you may not have met - because whether your degree was in education, or human rights law, or DNA profiling, or media studies, or public administration, or health policy, or electricity, or zoology - you all have something in common. All of you have the experience of a year spent outside Yemen in the UK; the experience of the intense hard work needed to complete a one-year Master’s degree; of learning to cope with a different environment and with a British winter; of mingling with an international community of students and getting to know a British way of life; and of returning to your own country, one year the wiser, and one MA degree the richer, to take up your professional and social lives again. There is a lot to talk about.”

He continued on to say, “This very week we will begin the interviews for those candidates who hope to be next year’s Chevening scholars.  Looking through the application papers, and in talking to my colleagues, I’m struck by the very high quality of the applications we have received for these scholarships. It is not the case for each and every one, but in general these applicants are young people who are eager for the chance to study, clear about their path to success, confident of their abilities and their prospects, and above all determined to work for the future of your country.”  

Prof. Ali al-Ashwal, Dean of the Engineering Faculty and a member of the Alumni Association, spoke about the efforts to establish the Association for Yemeni Alumni, which will be a part of the Alumni Association extablished in December 2002. “This Association for Yemeni Alumni is for those who have graduated from the UK, and I think this is a very good opportunity offered by His Excellency the British Ambassador because this will help British graduates in many aspects,” said al-Ashwal. Alumni will benefit from a continuous connection with the educational institutions, as well as from the establishment of  further relations with their colleagues from different universities and institutions in the United Kingdom. Prof. Ali al-Ashwal graduated in the UK from Manchester University. His scholarship was funded by the ODA (Overseas Development Agency) and a BHD Scholarship which was financed by Sana’a University through the World Bank loan program. His specialty was electrical engineering. “When I arrived in the UK, I had to study English because my undergraduate studies were in Russia, so I did not learn English very well,” Al-Ashwal said, adding that he was in double culture shock, “first because I am Yemeni, and secondly because Russian culture was so different from British culture, so I worked hard to educate myself in order to reap all the benefits that studying in another country can bring.”

The goal of the Alumni Association is to offer graduates of UK universities, through the Yemeni British Alumni Group (in partnership with the British Embassy), the chance to keep in touch with other graduates. The group organizes social events to meet, make friends and network in person.  The group is open to anyone who has graduated from a UK university or has taken a short course in the UK, including British Embassy Chevening scholars and British Council fellows. The group gives you the chance to share your experiences of living and studying in the UK and offers many opportunities for professional networking, and to continue your interest in UK culture with events held throughout the year.   

“It is a wonderful idea that will provide Yemeni alumni with the ability to communicate with the world through distinguished cultural exchange,” said Ahmad al-Rabahi, an artist and one of the Alumni Association Members.

“The thing is that all these students are going to the UK to take advantage of the opportunity to develop skills in English at the Masters level and come back to Yemen,” said Eilidh Hamilton, English Manager at the British Council. “These people chose to become future leaders who will really impact their society, so the British Council and the Embassy have worked to give these individuals opportunities when they come back.” The idea is to help the graduates to continue their efforts at development through establishing contacts, which will help them in their roles as future leaders. People that they meet through the alumni group will share with them the experiences of their positions. “The British Embassy and the British Council are working together to minister these scholarships,” said Hamilton. “It is a joint project. About 10 to 12 Yemeni scholars go to the UK for masters degrees every year and we are trying to send more in the future.”

Fahmia al-Fotih, Research and Knowledge Management Associate 2005-2006, studied Media Communications for one year. “I liked the scholarship so much; I have been exposed to different experiences on educational, personal and professional levels.”

This meeting was really a chance for some formal networking.  Until now, the alumni have been meeting once or twice a year with the Embassy and the British Council just to maintain contacts, but without any kind of formal structure.  Many of the members have expressed a wish to belong to an alumni association which could provide networking information, occasional events, visiting speakers, and the chance to get to know each other and to benefit from the rich range of contacts this group presents. The Association for Yemeni Alumni will finally be part of Alumni Association and as HE, the British Ambassador stated “can operate as you wish it to, and bring you what you would like to see from an association.”

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