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Yemen Stories
Schools and Desks Improve Marib Schools
Ali Benzaid Abdelhadi, chairman of the Parents Council at a school being expanded and refurnished by U.S. aid, assembling desks in Yemen's Marib Governorate
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MARIB GOVERNORATE, Yemen -- On a bright morning in the sandy plateau northeast of the capital Sanaa, in a sparse region of rugged Marib Governorate, Ali Benzaid Abdelhadi tightened his belt and leaned over a new school bench and desk taking shape under his busy hands.
Plywood and iron were bolted together with care as Abdelhadi, chairman of the Parents Council at the Al-Jafr school, spent yet another of his spare mornings working to improve the local education system.
Abdelhaiti and other parents supply the muscle, U.S. aid projects are supplying the wood, tools and a small electric generator that powers an electric saw, welding torch and electric drill, making the work fast and fruitful.
"I love this school," said the grey-bearded Abdelhaiti, "and I come here every morning till noon - without pay. In the afternoon I do my own work as a farmer."
Asked why he comes to volunteer each day, he said: "So that our students are successful and learn."
The new classrooms and desks at the Al-Jafr school are part of a $10 million U.S. program over three years to renovate or rebuild 77 schools in 2006 serving 17,000 students. To improve staffing at those schools, 1,500 teachers and administrators have been trained in modern teaching methods and administration.
Since most adults in the region have never had a chance to learn to read and write, special literacy programs have also been carried out in 80 communities. In some families, children and parents are both learning to read at the same time. 
Mufarg Abdallah Hamit Arai, 10, leans on a desk in his school which is being expanded through a U.S. grant in Marib Governorate, Yemen, Ben Barber/USAID photo; June 2006
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A 10-year old boy at the school that was getting new desks and classrooms, Mufarg Abdallah Hamet Arai, tried out one of the new desks in a sparse new classroom still under construction -- iron rods stuck out of the cement posts as if in need of a haircut.
"Last year I had to sit on the floor while learning Arabic and Koran," he said.
The U.S.-funded project at his school is also building new latrines and washrooms for both boys and girls, to improve health and provide privacy that might encourage families to send their girls.
The school has 180 students in the first to 12th grades. Most will end up farming in the arid surroundings. Many of them also will keep goats, sheep, cattle and possibly camels.
Like most U.S. assistance projects in Yemen, the education program is focused on the four governorates that are in greatest need and - at the same time - most likely to be infiltrated by terrorism. This includes Marib.
The difficulty of providing aid to Yemen, where tribal rule may be stronger than that of the central government, is that tribal jealousy and conflict can interfere with the best of intentions. There are 4,000 schools in the five target governorates so although 77 get U.S.-funded renovations, the rest remain in need of improvements. And the pressure on schools is huge given that enrollment in grades one through nine has increased 1,000 percent in the past 15 years.
Other donors such as Japan and the World Bank also assist education.
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