DEARBORN – The Yemeni American Benevolent Association (YABA) held a ceremony, celebrating its 44th anniversary on Saturday Oct. 12. Numerous community leaders and elected officials were in attendance.

A host of speakers, including U.S. Congressman Gary Peters, Henry Ford Community College President Stan Jensen and Judge Sam Salamey took the podium and praised YABA and the Yemeni community for their contributions.

At the end of the event, YABA announced and distributed scholarships to Arab American college students, including Malak Aljawobaei, who, in her acceptance speech, called for the liberation of Yemeni women and supporting them to continue their higher education. 

President and CEO of 3D Consulting and Communications Siham Awada Jaafar, Judge Mark Somers, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Yemeni American Association Mohamed Abdulla and YABA member Ali Obad Rubbo were presented with awards at the ceremony for their contributions to the community.  

Fahed Saleh, the president of YABA, thanked the attendees for their support. He announced that the organization is renovating its office building to provide better and more diverse services to the community.

Congressman Peters congratulated scholarship recipients and praised YABA for its work over the past 44 years. 

Peters also thanked the Yemeni community for the role it plays in developing and improving Metro Detroit.

The Democratic congressman went on to stress on the historic importance of immigrants in the United States. He revealed that his mother was a French immigrant.

“We will continue to welcome immigrants from all over the world to come and live in this country,” he said.

Peters added that he has a staffer in his office, who specifically looks after immigration issues. 

HFCC President Jensen told the honored students that hard work always leads to opportunities. He added that he recognizes the significant number of Middle Eastern students at HFCC and tries to provide the best educational services to the community. 

Mayor O’Reilly speaking at the podium.

Mayor O’Reilly said that leaders from YABA and other organizations in the community were consulted before Jensen was named to lead HFCC. The mayor praised the new president’s achievements and thanked him  for putting HFCC on the right track.

The dinner was sponsored by DTE Energy, Dearborn Fresh and FRD Pharmacy.

“We always hear about the achievements of many Arab American women, who reach high positions in many fields, but why don’t we hear about the achievements of Yemeni American women?” said Aljawobaei, who is a student at the University of Michigan- Dearborn. “Some Yemeni girls graduate high school with the highest GPA, but they don’t get a chance to continue their education because the society doesn’t allow them.”

Aljawobaei called for educating Yemeni parents on the importance of education, especially for women, who are a part of society.

Member of the Michigan Board of Pharmacy Dhafer Ali Baleed Almaklani, RPH introduced the keynote speaker Judge Salamey.

Salamey congratulated scholarship recipients and apologized to the youth because his generation did not leave a better country for them.

He said the United States is worn out with two wars, while our lawmakers cannot pass a federal budget, and the country is stigmatized with unconstitutional civil rights violations.

However, Salamy added that the older generation did not totally leave the students alone, as the perseverance and guidance of educators, leaders and counselors continue to help them achieve higher academic goals.