A recent trip to Yemen reminded me that you’re never too old or too wise to be proved wrong, and that we have to be vigilant against those judgements and preconceptions that we can all be quick to jump to at times.
This May, Islamic Relief and Humanitarian Forum Yemen held training workshops in Al Mukalla and Taez in Yemen. So far, so normal, but the challenge was that we wanted to start the workshop in the afternoon at 4pm, in hot Middle Eastern cities where people are notorious for chewing qat – that leaf-form drug which is ubiquitous in Yemen.
Just before midday Islamic Relief had a very serious debate in Sana’a amongst its employees that the workshop would be a failure because of the timing. But HFY insisted that we should take the opportunity to bring people together from 4pm, to build confidence and relations before the actual workshop began. In the end, that was what we decided, but not without misgivings of how well this would go.
We arrived in Al Mukalla around 1pm the afternoon of the day of the workshop. The city was extremely hot. Half an hour before the meeting, as I settled into my hotel room, Ahmad, the HFY director rang to ask me to come downstairs. But with my preconceptions about qat habits and afternoon siestas, I was in no rush to come before time and decided to catch a bit of football. Ahmad called again after 15 minutes, when I was half-dressed, and I insisted I was on my way down...
When I finally descended from my ivory tower to the conference hall, to my shock I saw the hall full and everyone waiting for me. I was ashamed of myself – of my prejudices and of completely underestimating the quality and keen interest of the people involved. Unlike me, many of them had arrived well before time. I can’t believe I fell into this dreadful stereotype trap, but I am grateful that the Yemeni participants snapped me out of it so quickly.
The discussion in Al Mukalla and Ta’izz were electrifying because of the clarity of thought, the wealth of knowledge, the diversity of ideas and the heat of the debate between all participants. All through the conference people blasted through each other’s prejudices and preconceptions. I was struck by the incredible and positive contribution of the women in both cities, who brought to the table insightful, confrontational and intelligent discussions on a wide range of subjects: reproductive health; mother and child care; microfinance; water and sanitation; health education and problems with early marriages. Their contribution was challenging to everyone there, as they systematically overturned prejudices and preconceptions.
Sometimes we humans become more judgemental than God himself – on the way people dress, talk, and communicate. We classify people in different ranks for faults we perceive them to have. Most times, they are not even guilty of these faults, but still we always do it. We think anyone outside our cultural norms looks odd to us, so we assume they have nothing to contribute.
The Humanitarian Forum’s key mission to build confidence is designed to bring people together, to give them the confidence to speak up about their organisations and their programmes, dreams and visions – and even their social life, if they want to. Whatever works – the result has to be to bridge the gap between themselves and create confidence among themselves. Some of those participants travelled by air to attend - because they believe they can lead. Our duty is to enable them as leaders – whether men or women, and regardless of their backgrounds and cultures.
Yemen is beset with problems and troubles, but the answer lies within. If we can pull our blindfolds off and really see each other – the potential we all have, we can start building a brighter future – for Yemen and the world.
This May, Islamic Relief and Humanitarian Forum Yemen held training workshops in Al Mukalla and Taez in Yemen. So far, so normal, but the challenge was that we wanted to start the workshop in the afternoon at 4pm, in hot Middle Eastern cities where people are notorious for chewing qat – that leaf-form drug which is ubiquitous in Yemen.
Just before midday Islamic Relief had a very serious debate in Sana’a amongst its employees that the workshop would be a failure because of the timing. But HFY insisted that we should take the opportunity to bring people together from 4pm, to build confidence and relations before the actual workshop began. In the end, that was what we decided, but not without misgivings of how well this would go.
We arrived in Al Mukalla around 1pm the afternoon of the day of the workshop. The city was extremely hot. Half an hour before the meeting, as I settled into my hotel room, Ahmad, the HFY director rang to ask me to come downstairs. But with my preconceptions about qat habits and afternoon siestas, I was in no rush to come before time and decided to catch a bit of football. Ahmad called again after 15 minutes, when I was half-dressed, and I insisted I was on my way down...
When I finally descended from my ivory tower to the conference hall, to my shock I saw the hall full and everyone waiting for me. I was ashamed of myself – of my prejudices and of completely underestimating the quality and keen interest of the people involved. Unlike me, many of them had arrived well before time. I can’t believe I fell into this dreadful stereotype trap, but I am grateful that the Yemeni participants snapped me out of it so quickly.
The discussion in Al Mukalla and Ta’izz were electrifying because of the clarity of thought, the wealth of knowledge, the diversity of ideas and the heat of the debate between all participants. All through the conference people blasted through each other’s prejudices and preconceptions. I was struck by the incredible and positive contribution of the women in both cities, who brought to the table insightful, confrontational and intelligent discussions on a wide range of subjects: reproductive health; mother and child care; microfinance; water and sanitation; health education and problems with early marriages. Their contribution was challenging to everyone there, as they systematically overturned prejudices and preconceptions.
Sometimes we humans become more judgemental than God himself – on the way people dress, talk, and communicate. We classify people in different ranks for faults we perceive them to have. Most times, they are not even guilty of these faults, but still we always do it. We think anyone outside our cultural norms looks odd to us, so we assume they have nothing to contribute.
The Humanitarian Forum’s key mission to build confidence is designed to bring people together, to give them the confidence to speak up about their organisations and their programmes, dreams and visions – and even their social life, if they want to. Whatever works – the result has to be to bridge the gap between themselves and create confidence among themselves. Some of those participants travelled by air to attend - because they believe they can lead. Our duty is to enable them as leaders – whether men or women, and regardless of their backgrounds and cultures.
Yemen is beset with problems and troubles, but the answer lies within. If we can pull our blindfolds off and really see each other – the potential we all have, we can start building a brighter future – for Yemen and the world.
