So you think you have seen Yemen?

Online photo album to counter stereotypes about Yemen abroad

Malak ShaherPublished:12-07-2010

“It’s about Yemen, the origin of civilizations…
Where beauty was born and grew up…
The country combined nice people and charming nature.
This group is open for everyone to upload their pictures and share them with others in this community.
Let’s discover the hidden beauty of home.” 

With these words, Fahd Aqlan, Yemeni engineer working in a multinational environment and living in Egypt welcomes every visitor to the group he created four months ago on the social networking website Facebook.

Aqlan left Yemen in 2007. He found that most people abroad believed that Yemen was “no more than savages living in a desert.”

He tried to change people’s idea about Yemen by talking to them, but he found that it was no help with people who already had preconceptions about Yemen from the media. He tried to think creatively.

He started to do what in business is called a SWOT analysis to evaluate the strong points he could focus on in promoting his country, Aqlan told the Yemen Times.

The 32-year-old Yemeni squeezed his mind and came up with an idea to defend his homeland’s image and change these negative preconceptions. He found that, above all, Yemen is famous for its “beautiful nature and civilization.”

The four-month-old group “So you think you have seen Yemen” on Facebook had a 1,000 photos by Monday afternoon. People who want to contribute send photos to Aqlan and he posts the best on the group’s page. 

The group was originally called “Yemen… the Story over the land,” but it did not attract people as expected. Aqlan changed the name to “So you think you have seen Yemen,” which he described as “more exciting” so that more people would respond. 

The photos show nature in Yemen in all its beauty and color: blue or golden seas, yellow and brown mountains, and green plains. The people of Yemen are also represented at weddings and in traditional dress. All manner of photographs from Yemen are present in the group.

But photos are not the only way to show the beauty of Yemen. In the group, there are videos too. They show the real magnificent nature of Yemen. 

The group is open for everybody to participate in and send photos of Yemen, but with certain conditions. The photos, for example, must tell a story or provoke admiration.

If you want see or participate in the group go to:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=102503199787214