Inspirational female engineer breathes new life into Yemen’s ancient capital – Global Issues

“There is a common language between me and buildings. In all the houses I try to preserve. I feel that the city thanks me, and I thank the city because it taught me a lot”, said the Yemeni engineer Harbia. Al-Himiary, explaining his relationship with the Yemeni capital.

Mrs. Al-Himiary has been fighting since childhood to fulfill her dream of preserving the legacy of Sana’a, and ensuring “the continuation of our history, one of the greatest civilizations.”

As a project officer in the Cultural Heritage Unit of the Historic Cities Authority in Old Sana’a, he is currently working on a UN-backed project to restore a number of historic buildings in Sana’a and throughout Yemen.

‘There is no difference between male and female engineers’

“There is no difference between a man or a woman when it comes to preserving this historic city,” he emphasized, stressing the respect between all members of the team, as well as the residents of the areas where they work. it is true that we face challenges and difficulties but, by working as a team, we go beyond them. Now there are a number of female engineers in this project, which proves every day that they are competing in this field, all of this contributes to the preservation of this jewel.”

In all the projects she worked on, Ms. Al-Himiary tried to find opportunities for women and girls. “For example, when I was based in the old town of Zabid, we trained many girls in construction crafts, such as wood carving, wooden decorations, stucco decorations and carpentry. The more opportunities we open for training, the more we get equal numbers of boys and girls. In some occupations, there were more girls than boys.”

When she asked one of the girls why she was trained in traditional carpentry, she told Ms. Al-Humairi that, by returning the decorations made of wood to his house, he was both exercising his rights as one of the owners of the house, and saving. his, and his family’s, secret.

“My advice to any girl is to choose a field that she likes, because as long as she likes that field, she will definitely succeed in it,” said the engineer. “With patience, diligence and perseverance, you will surely achieve the desire you seek.”