DEARBORN — The Yemeni American Benevolent Association (YABA) celebrated 40 years of service on Oct. 3, gathering longtime community leaders and officials from throughout the region who have worked with the group over four decades.

“YABA, through these 40 years, has always been dedicated to women’s education by providing programs to empower women,” said YABA’s Mona Namer. PHOTOS: Mike’s Video

Michigan Department of Human Services Directer Ismael Ahmed spoke to a crowd at the Bint Jebail Cultural Center on how YABA, established in August 1969, helped found and develop the massive social service organization ACCESS when it was founded in 1971.
Ahmed also told a deeply personal story on his own connection to the Yemeni community.

“As long as I’ve known people of Yemeni descent,” Ahmed said. “I’ve always known that they do what they say. And that’s unusual in this world.

“My stepfather was a Yemeni man who worked at the (Ford River) Rouge plant. He was the person that taught me right from wrong. He was the person who worked every single day to make sure that there was food on the table. He was the person that, when I had children, would walk my children around the block in the south end to make sure that they were taken care of.

Michigan Human Services Department Director Ismael Ahmed

“He was the epitome of a male example of how a family should be. And so, I today owe my very life to a Yemeni man.”
He said YABA once offered its own center as a facility for ACCESS when the group struggled to maintain a location.

“It wasn’t just for Yemeni people, it was for all people,” he said. “They sacrificed for everybody else…

“In the earlier days, the number of educated Yemenis in the community was small. They worked hard to develop the opportunity for their children to go on to school, and today there are hundreds of young Yemeni men and women who are doctors, lawyers, real estate people, teachers, and I can go on forever. I respect the Yemeni community for that.”

Oakland County Sheriff and gubernatorial candidate Michael Bouchard spoke on the significance of a community organization completing 40 years.

“It’s always difficult to take either a family business or an organization and go beyond the first 10 or 15 years and hand it off to new blood,” he told the crowd. “When you’ve done that, you’ve got a sustainable organism that lives on. Congratulations.”

Yemeni American Benevolent Association Director Ali Baleed Almaklani

YABA Director Ali Baleed Almaklani said the group would not have lasted without wide-ranging community support.
“I salute all those people who founded this organization and I thank everybody who continues supporting this organization, from the members, to the Yemeni community and the Arab American community,” Almaklani said. “We’ve done so many things — services through the cultrual, educational, social programs… we have school on the weekends teaching our children language, religions and so many subjects.”

He said the group also facilitates communication between communities and between Yemeni Americans and government officials.

“Our mission is to help those people who came a long time ago to get involved in the way of life in this country,” he said.