Point of View: Abdullah Al-Thawr
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Abdullah Al-Thawr joins us a Youth Ambassador from Sana'a, Yemen. He is currently an undergraduate student at the University of Leeds (UK) studying energy & environmental engineering with a full scholarship from TOTAL E&P in Yemen. He is the first prize winner of the World Bank co-organized International Essay Competition 2007, silver medal award winner of an online high school research competition implemented worldwide, and an active participant in youth events across the region and in Europe-Mediterranean. He was previously the Youth Programs Officer at the Democracy School in Sana'a. Read more about Abdullah's efforts to promote engagement with young people and youth participation in Yemen.
Read the Youth Ambassador Think Tank>>
Choosing a Major for Life
When I read a quote for John Adams, the second President of the United States, saying “I must study politics and war, that our sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy”, I started thinking, how does that apply to my country and our current situation, is that really the case here? Am I meant to follow the path of John Adams?
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Shabab Diaries: Reflection on Classroom Interactions in Comparative Settings
Memorization versus thinking and reasoning subjects is the constant issue found in school curriculums of countries in the Middle East, while the latter (critical thinking topics) is still struggling to find a place in the information crammed books. Yet with constant appeals and criticism by prominent thinkers and educators through the media to improve the curriculums, school students still have to memorize text book math examples to barely make it through a test.
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Inspiring Film Raises Civic Awareness
Recently, I was watching a movie that was shown on one of the TV channels called "Pay it Forward" starring Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, and Haley Joel Osment. Pay It Forward is a 2000 American dramatic film based on the novel of the same name by Catherine Ryan Hyde.
The "Pay It Forward" Foundation and Movement focus on bringing back the idea of paying it forward to school age children, parents, and educators. The websites for this movement and foundation are at www.payitforwardfoundation.org and www.payitforwardmovement.org, which invite people to join this movement and share their stories.
The inspiring story of the movie made me put it on my "Must-See Movie List" for everyone who believes that he can make a change in this world.
Read the full Point of View here>>
Shabab Diaries: Discovering Opportunities to Make Change
I got invited to attend a day of the Children Parliament National Meeting that was conducted in one of the meeting rooms of the Yemeni Parliament Council.
The Children Parliament is composed of about 30-40 members (aged 14-16) who are elected from different schools that are selected every two years from the different governorates of Yemen. The members meet every three months in the capital city Sana'a.
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Shabab Diaries: Blazing a Trail in Civic Participation
Volunteering and working in the field of community participation and human rights activism have opened my eyes to a world which not a lot of people get to experience; a world that is striving for the good life, a place where efforts can bring fruitful results.
What is this good life? It is the life where you can easily find happiness and that is through putting a smile on the face of a suffering kid, giving hope to a poor family, or helping a lot of youth realize their inner potentials, abilities and their importance in society.
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Youth Conferences: Effective Forums or Overplayed Events? A Youth Perspective
As an active youth leader in my country Yemen, I am invited to attend various conferences in Europe and the Middle East to participate and contribute to solutions for engaging young people around development issues. Some of these conferences are not simply for youth, but incorporate a youth component that ultimately feed into the greater goals of the event.
