haitham alaini future of yemen
TRANSCRIPT
ABOUTI am Haitham Alaini, a Yemeni entrepreneur. I received my
education in economics at George Washington University, and upon
my return to Yemen, I decided to start my own business. Since then I
have focused on construction projects, ultimately focusing on oil and
gas infrastructure projects.
As a result of my experience over the last 20 years, I have come to
appreciate that businesses in Yemen, professionals in the region and
Yemeni nonprofits like the Acacia Foundation have a duty to focus on
the education of our people, the health of our communities and the
environment well-being of our natural resources.
I blog about these issues to highlight resources for my fellow citizens,
to show how businesses can support Yemen and to show my love for
my country.
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EDUCATION ENVIRONMENT
WHAT WE CAN DO
CHANGE EDUCATION WITH A $35 COMPUTER
• Bolster education and change poverty and illiteracy with a $35 computer known as the Rasberry Pi– Power creates a problem due to remote locations, no Internet connections
and unstable power solutions– Rasberry Pi is low cost, portable and low energy consumption
• In the past, such technology was either expensive, requiring a lot of different equipment, or complicated and required teacher training that sometimes took many months to complete.
• Microtechnology has made that task a whole lot easier, advancing in just years what otherwise might have taken decades or longer.
A paper at the Computer Science and Electronic Engineering Conference
(CEEC) put forth that:“The recent development of the Raspberry Pi mini-computer has unlocked great potential for computing to be applied in a vast number of areas. Due to the unique advantages of the Raspberry Pi system, this technology holds great promise for providing solutions within the developing world. This includes but is not limited to education tools, especially the use of GPIO (General Purpose Input/Output) which allows automated data acquisition and producing simple digital control systems in a school laboratory setting.”
Support Qat Replacement Crops
• Assisting farmers to develop and market alternatives to qat, including high-value crops
(olives, almonds, coffee)
• Offering credit for farmers to shift to other high-value crops and promote the role of the
Cooperative Agricultural Credit Bank
• Expanding non-farm livelihood activities
• Establishing a fund to compensate qat farmers for withdrawing production
• Promoting strategies, policies and legal measures on water resources
• Improving farmer extension services in relation to use of water, pesticides, alternative pest
control measure and fertilizers