BY MUJAHED AL MUSSA'ABI
YEMEN TIMES STAFF
mujahed75ye@ yahoo.com
Despite the fact that Yemen is one of the least developed countries of the world, it seems to be widely affected by globalization and the information technology sweeping across the world and imposing themselves on the lives of Yemenis willingly and unwillingly. By saying this, I am not blaming our country for allowing globalization to affect our lives. On the contrary, I do strongly support development and progress which are not in conflict with our identity or individual characteristics.
In fact, it is not surprising for a nation with a glorious past and well-respected civilization to use available modern tools to achieve greater development. Yemen was once the cradle of human civilizations represented in a rich ancient urban cultural heritage and astonishingly well-designed historical cities and it surely does want to go back to its glorious days.
The Yemeni city of "Azal" -now Sana'a- is among the most ancient cities of the world. The mystical architectural beauty of Old Sanaa makes it a source of fascination and charm by all tourists visiting the city.
Nevertheless, the lack of awareness of the significance of the cultural heritage of Yemen among young Yemenis, whom we bet on for the future of the Yemen, is also a source of concern. Most of those young men and women have little respect and appreciation to the cultural heritage or historical assets of the country. Unfortunately, they are fascinated more by the developed world resembled by the western modernization and they blame globalization for that. They tend to indirectly contribute to the possible loss of this valuable heritage because they know nothing about it and don't care of what could happen to it if abandoned.
This is a dangerous phenomenon that could have catastrophic consequences on our country's heritage. Young Yemenis of the day know more about New York and Paris than Sa'ada and Shibam. They may even ask with a sense of carelessness "What do we need those old mud buildings for?" or "If heritage is needed so much, why is a country like the USA with no architectural heritage or deep-rooted civilization still the most developed country in the world?"
This is yet another example of the poor education taught to our new generation. Hence, we cannot blame them before blaming ourselves for not providing them with thorough and better education to raise their awareness of the value of historical heritage for every nation.

Our duty towards our children
It is the responsibility of the whole society, private sector, civil organizations and government to exert efforts to strengthen the concepts of the value of cultural heritage in our children's minds.
All fathers and mothers are requested to teach their children that a nation without past has no future. People who forget their ancient civilization would be neglected in history and become a nation without roots. They should be informed that cultural heritage and original inherited professions are invaluable assets that should be maintained. They are considered a national wealth not only for us, but for all humanity to learn from and discover. We should have our children investigate why are tourists coming from the so called 'modern world' to see our historical sites and why are they fascinated by them." They should ask "Why is UNESCO declaring some Yemeni historical sites like Old Sana'a, Shibam and Zabid as world heritage sites?"
They should learn that such significant cultural heritage is contributing to the development of the country like any other natural resource such as oil, gold or gas. Our young generation should feel proud of its history, which they need to value and study in schools. Let them feel and appreciate the beauty of the new unique architecture of our historical cities, which we should protect just as we protect our interests and treasures. They should recognize that a new modern building in a historical city would distort its identity and historical value. So, we should integrate these principles in their daily life activities at school, at home, at the theater and the on TV programs.
The second step would be to involve our children in dealing with issues related to historical sites and cities to make them familiar with risks of modernization which threaten the historical value of these cities that remained firm for ages.

A good step forward
I have read that within its national awareness raising campaign, the Urban Cultural Heritage Program UCHP is holding several cultural activities, the last being in Zabid. Those activities involve the participation of school pupils in historical cities in painting workshops to eventually present a unique exhibition showing the paintings of children at the end of the workshop.
We need to encourage such appreciated steps and motivate other governmental and non-governmental organizations to hold similar activities if we really want to raise a generation aware of its historical and cultural heritage.

IBRAHIM ADDAHAN
YEMEN TIMES, IBB
It is well known that the youth are the powerhouse of any nation. Therefore, all nations and societies pay more attention to the youth and do all their best to develop and improve their lives in all aspects including education, culture and science, etc. If the youth are strong, educated and well-oriented, their nation becomes stronger and more prosperous. Only then will they look at the future with hope and optimism. Youth have the potential to build modern and developed nations.
But what if the authorities do not care for their youth? What if a system is not working to explore the potentials of the young population? What if a nation does not empower its next generation with knowledge and correct orientation in order to build a better tomorrow?
Frankly speaking, our youth here in Yemen are pessimistic about the future. They see a dark present and even a darker tomorrow. Their approach to life is full of frustration. They are frightened by what is to come. Let me convey to you the impressions I got from a number of young men at Al-Awkaff area in Ibb City, particularly from the street known as 'love street.' This street has become an important place for huge crowds of young boys and girls aimless drifting back and forth. They walk up and walk down the street, talking loudly, flirting, teasing and haggling. They have nothing to do but wandering in the street day in and day out.
During my visit to the 'love street' I met with some young boys and asked them, why they come to this street. "This is the best place in Ibb. We used to come here to spend time in feeding our eyes and enjoying ourselves" one of them said. "We have nothing to do except wandering and hanging around in the streets with no objective" another commented.
This habit is not restricted to Ibb alone. The same applies to all major cities in the republic. Thus, this implies that a significant portion of our young generation feels lost and does nothing meaningful to keep itself busy. Basically, this is a lost opportunity for the nation because this way, we fail to benefit from the energy and resource that these young people represent. But more ominously, if we cannot harness this energy for good use, it could be exploited in a bad way leading to enormous difficulties for the future of this country.
Some people have spent many years going to schools, sometimes finishing university degrees. However, as they graduate, they fail to find any job opportunities. They feel frustrated, desperate, and hopeless. They studied hard and graduated in the hope of finding jobs, starting a family and securing a peaceful future. However, not only do they fail to fulfill their desires, but they also do not contribute to the welfare and progress of their country as a whole despite the fact that they do have the ability to be productive and helpful.
Those young educated graduates face a bitter reality and become pessimistic about their future. When schoolboys see their seniors jobless and completely frustrated, they lose interest in studying because they do not believe that the education they get is a guarantee for a better future. Whenever urged to read and work hard in their studies, they refuse by shrugging heir shoulders and asking "what is the use of studying if we know that we will not find any jobs once we graduate?" This is the question asked by the students of these days.
They argue that the way to wealth and prosperity in Yemen of today is not through education and hard work, but by linking up with influential power centers either through hypocritical political affiliation, especially those that are close to the regime or by forgery, stealing and robbery. To make their case, they give examples of well-known ignorant and corrupt individuals, who have become rich and influential figures.
To conclude, it is believed by the youth that the well-being of a person in Yemen today has little to do with how much informed or how hard working he/she is. According to many young men and women, the system does not promote or even value the qualities of hard work and knowledge. That is because unqualified, undeserving and unproductive people are holding high-ranking positions in the state, while the qualified are set aside.
The youth of Yemen deserve higher priority in the hierarchy of the state. The future of the country can only be built by and through them. The unemployment rate in Yemen is estimated at a staggering 38%. While that is already a terrible waste of manpower, it is a pity that an increasing number of the jobless are among the educated people of Yemen. It is unacceptable to see the most-educated sector of the population is unable to work and hence make ends meet, while the least productive and educated are hired as very influential figures.
Thus, we call upon the concerned authorities to pay more attention to the youth because they are the hope of the nation and of the future, and a nation without well-educated youth that are given their leading role in the community is a nation without a future.