Yemeni American Net

The Role of the Community Organizations in
Promoting Higher Education among the Yemeni Americans

By. Dr. Dahan Alnajjar*

Historical Background:

The Yemeni community is one of the largest Arab American communities –in Michigan Yemeni community is the second largest Arab American group (about 18% ( Loukia Sarroub 2001). But it is not one of the oldest communities because the immigration to the USA in big numbers started in the 60s and 70s of the 20th century. Although some sources indicated that the first Yemenis immigrated to the U.S. after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 ( Wikipedia, the Free encyclopedia). The character of the Yemeni immigration has been changed. Prior to the 90s of the 20th century most of the immigrants were non-educated people who had no solid income and job opportunities in Yemen accept some students who received government or private scholarships and decided to stay over here. The majority of the first immigration wave came to the USA to seek a god job opportunity that enables them make money and go back home for long life term. They immigrated with hope to go back home and live with their families especially when the Yemeni economy gets better. Most of them if not all were single immigrants and their wives and children remained in Yemen with their parents and relatives. Starting in 1975, families began to immigrate to the USA. According to the USA census 1980, at least twenty thousand Yemenis immigrated to Michigan, California, New York and Ohio (Loukia k. Sarroub 2001). But more than in the 70s and 80s in the 90s entire families began moving to America , rather than just then head of the family, as had been the norm previously( Almasmari H. 2006).
The largest second immigration waves started in the 80s and 90s of the 20th century. The immigrants especially the males, the majority of them came with at least a high school diploma.
By the USA census of 2000 the rate of higher education among the minorities was in the Arab American community, but when we go deeply to brake down the community to sup-communities we found out that the Egyptians came first, then, Lebanese, Syrians, Palestinians and the Yemeni community is one of the lowest communities in having higher education diplomas (USA census 2000). 17% of Arab Americans have a post-graduate degree, which is nearly twice the American average (9%) (Arab Americans Institute 2007). These indicators have led us to think why the Yemenis are not doing well with the higher education. Are we less smart? Less interested? Or neglecting the higher education? So, I’ll try to identify negatively impacting factors as follow:

Sociocultural factors;

Cultural reason-early marriage, for both genders but more among the females. Many students get married at the high school or college ages and drop out their schools because they need to take care of their new families themselves.
Non-or low educated parents. The Yemeni earliest waves of immigrants represent the ‘peasant” classes and most of them did not have any kind of formal schooling
over there and are illiterate or semiliterate in Arabic and, in English (Loukia S. 2001). And as a result of that they do not appreciate the education for their children.
Safety issues-Fear of leaving the girls and sons continue their higher education in the higher education institutions where the students have a freedom to building sexual relationship. Some American researchers went beyond this reason and explained that as a girls’ abuse at home when fathers beat their daughters and prohibit them choice their future. (Loukia S. 20001)
Religious and cultural reason-Yemenis are all Muslims and cannot assimilate easily. For example, the female most of them cannot leave their hometown and travel to another state for study, especially if the field of study they want doesn’t exist in their city.

II. Socioeconomic factors.

Competitions in doing anything in Yemen like building houses, buying lands, and establishing small businesses. Many parents made their children quit the school and go to the work market in order to save more many in short time and go back home to build something and proof their capability as immigrants in America.
The Yemenis more than any Arab immigrants are tied to their motherland, and its lifestyle, sadness and happiness. This prevents them assimilate in the countries they have moved into. And instead of making long-term investments in their new countries they have kept strong ties with Yemen buying hoses, lands with intention of going back. For this reason the Yemenis remains (isolated) from various aspects of American life while maintaining ties to their homeland (Loukia K. Sarroub 2001). Also, they spend a lot of time and finances thinking and supporting their extended families and friends.
Most of the parents either work seven days a week or do not have time to support their children education or they neglect them and do not communicate with the schools and do not monitor their performance. The children in result of that start absent or do not try to achieve higher scores and then they become ineligible for enrolment into higher education institutions or drop out at senior grades of their high schools.

Recommendations:

. 1) Educate the parents about the early marriage negative result on their children future, like drop out the school, going to the cheap labor market where they cannot make a high income in comparison with those who got higher education.
Initiate educational programs for the families and encourage them to go to the existing once in their neighborhoods and schools for raising their awareness of the education and understand their kids needs in continuing their higher education.
Be close to their children monitor them, support them financially and emotionally to get enrolled into higher education institutions. For the girls, choose study field that exist in around their residency if they are unable to go far distance where they cannot help them if they get involved in a situation that impact their ethics. Parents should be taught how to be close to their children, gain their love and trust, share with them our values and have them interdentally defend them voluntarily on daily bases and lifelong.
Teach them their religion and language and culture.
Raise the awareness about the important of making an investment in their families in the new country where on daily basis they encounter social, cultural, and economic barriers that affect them directly. They can vote to elect the appropriate officials who will be supportive to our community to school districts, municipally and state and federal institutions.
Help the community members besides thinking about getting back home (Yemen) to be involved and invest in the social, economic, and educational life of their communities where they are now. If they will be active participants in all of these aspects they can benefit themselves in the USA and Yemen as well.
Provide the community with educational parenting programs and workshops about the important of being a part of their children’s life, have a family time, communicate with the schools, understand the school system, discuss with their children which fields of higher education they want to go to, and help and support them make a good choice of their future.

Conclusions:

Who is responsible for overcoming these barriers?

I think the community leaders and social service and religious institutions should be responsible of plying a leadership role in overcoming these barriers. These institutions have a significant influence on the community. Also, the high-educated individuals should be a role model for the new generation through supporting the community organization, counseling to both parents and youth on individual and collective basis. Businesses should contribute through helping the social service non-profit organizations to enable them run mentioned above programs and provide scholarships to high achieving students.
The ministry of immigrants and Yemeni Embassy are responsible for encouraging the Yemeni immigrants to make a better life in the countries they immigrated to and support any community agencies that offer Arabic language and culture services.

*Dr. Dahan Alnajjar Youth & Education Director/ the Arab Community Center for Economic & Social Services (ACCESS)and President of the YABA

References:
1. Almasmari H.(2006) Detroit still feels the loos of an Islamic private school. Http//www.yobserver.com/cgi-bin/2007/exec/view.cgi/22/11260.
2. Arab American Institute. (2007). Arab Americans, Demographics.
Http//www.aaiusa.org/arab-americans/22/demographics.
3.Lucia S. (2001). The Sojourner Experience of Yemeni American High
School Students: An Ethnographic Portrait. Harvard Educational Review.
Vol.71 No 3 Fall 2001.pp 319-414
4.U.S.Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration. US Census 2000.
5.Yemeni-American-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
. http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemeni-American
C:\Documents and Settings\DR.Dahan\My Documents\Promoting Higher Education in The Yemeni Community.doc