Job Discussion Forums

[Greenearth]

Hi Everyone,
I am thinking about teaching in Yemen. Do you know how safe it is to live and teach there these days?

How is cost of living?
I am a vegan....is it hard to get many vegetables in the Capital city?
Please share your experiences of travelling, living, and or teaching in Yemen. It looks like a poor but very beautiful country.

[smedini]

One of my students is from Syria. Before coming to Canada he worked on oil projects in Egypt and in Yemen. He said the entire 18 months he spent in Yemen were rife with fear. "Even Arabs don't feel comfortable in Yemen," he said. Take that for whatever it's worth .

~smedini

[Neil McBeath]

Greenearth,

If you do a Google search for "Yemen fighting" you will see that there is currently a good-going armed insurrection by Zaidi Shia rebels in two provinces of the Yemen Arab Republic.

Last week some 35 government troops and 50 rebels were reported killed and the United Nations is saying that 100,000 people have been displaced by the fighting.

Does that answer your question?

[sliim]

If you want to teach in Yemen you have to make sure--absolutely--to work for the right employer. That means that you need to work for an employer that will take your safety into consideration.

For example, I worked for one institute that had a contract at the Aden Refinery Company. Well, one fine day someone bombed a pipeline. There were government forces everywhere. Now, the situation wasn't catastrophic, but the fact that my employer never said or did anything about the matter was, well, not very cool.

Another incident that comes to mind was after the American Embassy Bombing in Sanna: there was an American teacher that was recommended to leave the country. The institute he worked for wasn't very happy about that, so they offered to "help" him buy a ticket home--they could get the ticket cheaper, they said. They took $800 US from him and he boarded a plane only to find himself stranded in Italy without a connecting flight.

So if you are going to teach in Yemen you have really got to consider who your employer is.

In my opinion, go with AMIDEAST, the British Council, or simply don't go. I am not advertising for them, but the local places can be frightening places to work for, with less pay, and abusive working conditions. I hate to generalize too much, and I apologize if I put some good people in the wrong basket, but you have got to look out for yourself in a place like Yemen.

With the current conflict between the Houthis and the Government, it is absolutely necessary to work for an organisation that acts responsibly.

It's really too bad. The students and friends I had when I was there were great. Almost good enough to make me want to go back.

[veiledsentiments]

[Greenearth]

I have read very positive things about YCMES. Has anyone experienced teaching there?

[scot47]

A vegan would probably not last long in Yemen. I have come across some in Saudi Arabia where consumer choice is much greater than in Sana'a.. Without exception they ALL had problems in finding food that was acceptable to their palates and consciences. Some developed conditions related to dietary deficiences.

[sliim]

I personally cannot comment on YCMES. According to the site, it is affiliated with YALI, but I have never met anyone who has worked there.

A vegan may have some difficulty in Yemen, especially when eating out or an accepting an invitation (It is bad manners to refuse an invitation for lunch, and lunchtime is usually a big plate of rice with lamb, chicken or fish). You'll have to find a polite way to explain things.

There are a lot of local and fairly good fruits and vegetables. When in season, big, stringy mangoes are everywhere. The grapes from Sa'ada are very nice as are the papayas from Abyan. Dates are not like the Saudi varieties and are worth a try, both fresh and dried. Nuts can be expensive, but not more so than meat. Vegetables in general are quite cheap, and there are also imports from the US, Saudi, and Iran. Also, beans are eaten for breakfast everyday by just about everyone--so there are ways to find food, if you are creative.

Oh, and--important--if you are going to eat salads in restaurants, make sure to get hepatitis shots before going. Meat, which is cooked over a fire hot enough to mold a horseshoe, is actually safer to eat in a restaurant than vegetables, which are only washed and cut and thus prone to bacteria. Hygene in kitchens can sometimes be unsatisfactory.

Qat is definitely the most popular plant to chew on in Yemen. It gives a little buzz and surpresses hunger too. But it is not recommended for people who generally try to take care of their health.

Best.

[Greenearth]

Thanks for heads up with being careful when eating veggies in Restaurant. Are mosquitoes a big problem in Saan'a? I figure it is not a problem because of high altitude. Did any of you teach there? Is health care (dentist) expensive?

[sliim]

I don't know if mosquitoes pose as much of a problem in Sana'a as they are in the southern governates. I edited a research proposal on malaria in pregnant women and newborn children while I was in Yemen, but there was no data on what areas have higher or lower rates.

In the south mosquitoes are more or less seasonal. October to May is the span during the year when mosquitos are at their worst. I got malaria in Aden in April, for example. I have also known people who complained about mosquitoes in Sa'da, way in the north where ther is a lot of fighting right now (also in fairly high altitudes). So my assumption is that there are mosquitoes in Sana'a, but, once again, I can't give you anything solid.

Most travel guides I have read say to bring antimalaria drugs, and from my own experience, do it. But it is not something to panic about either. Just take precautions, use repellent, and cover up your skin during dusk and dawn--times when mosquitoes tend to feast.

Health care in general is well below satisfactory standards. The best place to get health care is in Sana'a, but I think any serious conditions should be dealt with in one's home country. Simply be prepared to leave if something major comes up. Many doctors are for-profit criminals, and they will diagnose you with things that you do not have to make you pay for services that you do not need. The best thing that happened to me in this regard was befriending trustworthy doctors. That, I think, is the best way to get advice on health care in Yemen.

Dentists are really cheap, at least compared to Canada/US, but there is no guarantee on the quality of the work. I needed work done and got a quote for $120 US for work that costs $700 in Canada. In the end, I wasn't brave enough to trust anyone with my mouth, but that might be more because of my own caution and mistrust rather than any good reason. Once again, make friends with a good, honest dentist, and you may come out smiling.

Finding trustworthy people is really the only way to get anything done in Yemen. Yemen is a place where connections are everything--I know it is like that everywhere to some extent, but in Yemen it is everything. You will get better prices, better guides, better information, better service, and have an overall better time if you make the right connections. And you can get cheated, abused, and find yourself powerless to do anything about it if you don't, which brings me back to the the first point: find the right employer.

Your employer controls your residency visa (iqamah) and has the power to cancel it and kick you out of the country at will. That is too much power for one person to have over another, as far as I am concerned. At some institutes some teachers have had their visas canceled and were shipped out without pay. I personally had an employer that owed me $3200 US and told me that my contract would not be renewed. I said fine but I will not--not not never--leave until I get my money. And I did. But others haven't been so lucky. There are horror stories I could tell, but that is not my point. My point is that if you get the right employer, your employer will be able to help you establish connections, show you the right hospital, recommend a good dentist, tell you where to get the good vegetables at the best prices--all that stuff. And if you are with the right people you will find that Yemen is a great place with fantastic architecture, good weather, and you will hopefully have a pleasant time.

With the wrong people you will find life hard to bear, and that is something I hope will not happen--as it happened to me to a certain extent--but more so as I have seen it happen to others.

And if you do go, don't forget to leave a message on this board reviewing how things are at YCMES.

Sorry for the wordiness.

[ntropy]

Mosquitos aren't a problem in Sana'a.

Lovely weather in Sana'a throughout the year.

I believe Yemen is headed for another round of Civil War. Beware.

[veiledsentiments]

The political situation has been teetering now for a number of years with a low level of civil 'unrest' in the north... which seems to heat up regularly. One is fine in Sanaa or Aden, but travel outside those two areas needs to be thought out. Which is unfortunate as there is so much interesting to see there. Unlike Oman one can't just jump in your 4WD and go out and bash a few random wadis on the weekend. You need to keep track of what's happening where.

VS

[trapezius]

[GlobalDawg]

I recently interviewed with YALI/YCMES. With years of experience and a masters they could only offer $1,800 per month and that was after two rounds of negotiations and warmly welcoming my wife to return to her native land.

[007]