Youth expressing themselves through different media

Three participants in the Exchanges

Yemeni scholarship students enter US video contest

Yemeni scholarship students enter US video contest

Eleven Yemeni students, recipients of the US State Department’s English Access Microscholarship Program administered by AMIDEAST, have submitted videos to the Exchanges Connect Video Contest held by the U.S. State Department. Students worldwide were encouraged to show what they, or someone they know, are doing to make their community a better place in a video less than two minutes long.

Yahia al-Thary is 19 years old. His video, “Our Green Neighborhood,” is set to a Yemeni oud soundtrack and focuses on his local community’s efforts to clean up his neighborhood. They planted trees along his block and also put garbage cans in front of each house to encourage residents not to litter in the streets. Yahia says his motivation for entering the contest was, “I want to show the people how to save the community.”

Zakaria Abdu Rahman Reazg, a 20-year-old, rented a video camera to shoot his film “Replacing qat trees.” The film depicts his efforts to replace qat trees with coffee plants in his village of Hajja. The footage includes a Yemeni man pulling out a qat plant by its roots, planting coffee, and watering the new plant. The Yemeni man looks at the camera and says “Qat comes to nothing.”

Zakaria says, “I want to be a role model for my generation and show them that we can have a Yemen without qat.” Not surprisingly, Zacharia’s plan has met with some resistance and not all locals have been supportive of his efforts. However, all of the videos have been posted on the internet and his project has received online applause from people within and outside Yemen.

Maha al-Salehi was the only Yemeni young woman to enter the contest. She is 19 years old and is studying Geology and Environmental Studies at Sana’a University. Her interest in the environment began in 2006. “You need to care about the environment,” she says, “It is a part of us and most Yemenis just don’t care.” Her video, “Climate Change in Yemen” highlights some of the efforts of the organization Save Yemen’s Flora and Fauna (SYFF),  of which she is vice president, to promote environmental awareness in Yemen.

The winners of the video contest will be announced in March 2010. The films are judged on originality, creativity, effectiveness, and production quality. One lucky student will win the grand prize: a two-week, all-expense-paid international exchange to America. The young international winner will also receive a two-week filmmaking summer camp experience through the School of Cinema and Performing Arts in America.

According to Zakaria, “The prize is less important than the message. This contest was not about a trip to America, it was about encouraging us to participate in our community. We can do a lot with this support.”

While Maha agrees, she is still very interested in the grand prize. “I want to go to the USA to meet leading environmentalists so we can share ideas, and I can bring back knowledge to Yemen.”

Yemen Today wishes these young filmmakers and environmental activists good luck.

To watch these videos and others, visit: http://exchanges.state.gov/englishteachinglearn.html