Away from Politics A Dutch and a Yemeni to Set Up a Better Future [Archives:1999/18/Last Page]

The most important thing Mrs. Meerberg is trying to achieve is to help Yemeni girls have  English language education in their liesure time. “Three months is a very long holiday for the children, it is a good thing to use this time, so we started 3 days a week teaching English class, and when the girls are adjusted and want to continue during the year we could do it on Thursday mornings, on week-ends. ” said Mrs. Meerberg. 
It was last December when Mrs. Meerberg started teaching English at her own house, on a personal level, free of charge, trying to help the next generation continue their English studies. She started with ten children. The number of students who enjoyed her good idea of teaching kept on increasing until it reached 20 children. Teaching is not the only aim of her project. The project has one more side to it. It also helps working mothers in a way, making them feel that their children are in safe hands. ” this is a way of helping women in our development process.” said Mrs. Antelak Al Mutawakil, whose daughter is studying at Mrs. Meerberg class, and who’s the second person behind the idea of expanding the project to help more girls enjoy the privilege. 
 
The fee of the school is actually YR. 800 per month. The amount does not cover the expenses of the teachers, books, photocopies, etc. In spite of all of this, the founders are insistent to continue with their task. But the dilemma of the financing issue in how to generate funds will always be on their minds. 
As a matter of fact the founders didn’t dream for long. They started immediately. ” We have just started. It was a good experience and the children liked it a lot. The great benefits it gave to our girls made us decide to make it a %100 Yemeni institution with Yemeni staff members. I will leave after a year with joy and happiness that now it has become a Yemeni organization and would not depend on foreigners. I hope it will  continue to be so.” said Mrs. Meerberg. 
“I would like to add that we will have more possibilities to open up the world for these girls through better communication. That is why we named the school ‘The Girls World Language School (GWLS).” Mrs. Meerberg added. 
” This is a good example of how people can cooperate and make a difference without the need for the government.” said Mrs. Al Mutawakil 
” I would also like to thank Ms. Iman, the principal of Ahlam Al-Asafir school, who has been of great help to us.” Mrs. Al Mutawakil added. 
Indeed, Mrs. Meerberg’s initiative is an eye opener for a lot of people who thought everything should be done by external assistance. We as a community have everything it takes to start such useful projects. 
So what are we waiting for? 
By: Hatem Bamehriz 
Yemen Times. 

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