Cultural Bridge-building between students of Sana’a and Ibb Universities [Archives:2004/768/Education]

By Dr. Ayid Sharyan
Dept. of English,
Faculty of Education
Sana'a University
The Department of English (Faculty of Education, Sana'a University) held a number of activities during the second semester 2004. After so many cultural activities in the Department (as extension talks by visiting professors, seminars, and debates as well as MA students' presentations), the students organized (with the help of the head of the Department, Dean, Students Affairs, University of Sana'a) a 2-day academic trip to the University of Thamar and Ibb.
More than 20 twenty students participated in this trip with Dr Ayid Sharyan as the escort. The Dean, Vice Dean, and the Head of the Department of English Dr Taha Al Futiah, Faculty of Education, Thamar University received the students of Sana'a University.
Dr Taha took the students on a tour around the college: classes, labs, library, teachers room, etc. They met students in and outside classes.
The visit was delightful to the students of both universities who were so pleased to share one another's views. Then they moved to the Faculty of Arts where we were received by the Head of the Department and the staff.
Though arrival to Ibb was at night but the modesty and generosity of the people there lit our journey. The Youth Hostel, the pride of Ibb City was magnificent. The next morning we were received by the Staff and students of the Department of English at Ibb University (Faculty of Arts). The warmth of the reception was evident; the whole staff and students cancelled classes and joined us in a Big Hall (22nd May Hall) where the cultural program took place. The Head of the Department of English Dr Anil Prasad welcomed the group.
The event started with the recitation from the Holy Quran by Abdulwahab Alfakeeh. Then the Head of the Department of English addressed students. He said “A journey of a thousand mile must begin with a single step but the first step is difficult for it needs courage, confidence, and encouragement from others; the first step requires desire, ambition, and the blessings of God)) God gives us so much light that we can take our first step. Such functions contribute to the growth of our own personalities, society, finally to the country/ world we inhabit,” he concluded
Then he thanked Dr Ayid Sharyan for giving the Department a chance to be together, do things together and expressed his hope saying, “We need to be together- we need to be cooperative, collaborative and cordial to go ahead on the path of success and achievement.”
The cultural program began by the recitation from the Holy Qur'an by Abulawhab Al Faqiah (4th level, Sana'a University). The Dean of the Faculty of Arts Prof Abdulshafi welcomed the guests and expressed his happiness over the collaborative cultural program organized by the two universities. He also welcome the group on the behalf of the Rector Prof Ahmad Shuga Al Deen whom we met later.
Ramzi Al Absi (4th level, Sana'a University) recited a scene from Macbeth and later The Love song of J. Alfred Profrock. A number of students from Ibb University participated with poems, speeches, and debates. Shaker Saddam, Sana'a University recited Ulysses by Tennyson and The Death of the Hired Man by Robert Frost, a modern poem and the soliloquy from Marlowe's Dr Fasutus. Adel Al Khawlani presented some jokes in both English and Arabic.
The students who participated in the event from Ibb University are as follows:
Level 1
Blake's poem 'The Chimney-Sweeper'
Philip Larkin's 'Days '
Blake's 'London'
Stevenson's Home from the Sailor
Tennyson's The Eagle
Wordsworth's My Heart leaps Up
Blake's Little Lamb
Blake's an introduction of Songs of Innocence
Shakespeare's Passage from Macbeth
Joyce Kilmer's Trees
1- Salsabeel Radhwan Mohammad Waheed
2- Lubna Atef Mansour
3- Ahmad Abdullah Al-Ekau
4- Mohammad Al-Badani
5-Nasseem Atran
6-Wafa Ali Mohammad
7- Mona`a Ahmad Al-jurani
8- Sahar Mohammad Al-Maghribi
9- Ahmad Al-duais
10-Fawaz Ali Ahmad Kassi

Level 2
Passage from Macbeth 1- Abdullah Al-duais
Dickinson's I am Nobody 2- Amany Hameed Naji Al- Rahabi
Frost's Fire and Ice 3- Ghamdan Mahmoud
Frost's Trees at My Window 4- Summer Mohammad
Dickinson's Hope 5- Najat Hassan Ashaiba
Hardy's Time of The Breaking the Nations 6- Amatrahman Golahi

Level 3
Whitman's “O` Captain! My Captain” 2-Rehab Hazeb
Shakespeare's Sonnet 3-Fayez Sadek
Ahmad Shawqi 4-Tohra Naji Anakib
Shakespeare's Sonnet 5- Majid Al-Othmani

Level 4
Shakespeare`s Sonnet 1- Sameera Ali
Elizabeth Browning's “How Do I Love Thee ” 2- Fatema Hazeb
Poe`s” Alone ” 3- Ghada Al- Mulaiki
Eliot`s passage from “The Waste Land ” 4- Wadee Khateeb
Martin`s Luther King Jr. “Speech ” 5- Akram Salama

Dr Ayid Sharyan expressed his happiness over the performance of students from both universities. He thanks the Department of English, Faculty of Arts for the good organization and warm reception. Then Dr Rafeeq Al-Shameery thanked the participants for their active participation..
The presence of the Dean of Faculty of Arts, the Staff of the Department of English as well some of the teaching staff from varied Departments of the University of Ibb created an atmosphere of real cultural exchange.
After meeting the Rector and a section of students from Ibb University, we moved to other parts of Ibb (as Al Udien) for sightseeing. At 5:00 P.M. (05-04-2004), we began our journey back to Sana'a.
The journey was a success for students came to interact and share ideas with their peers in the universities of Ibb and Thamar. This motivated students from both sides so as to work better towards developing their personalities as well as their education. We look forward to repeating the experience in respect of other universities and we would feel happy to receive students from all Yemeni universities.
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