The inspiring female engineer breathing new life into Yemen’s ancient capital

“There is a common language between me and the buildings. In every house I try to preserve. I feel that the city is grateful to me, and I am grateful to the city because it has taught me a lot”, says Yemeni engineer Harbia Al-Himiary, describing her relationship with the Yemeni capital.

Ms. Al-Himiary has been striving since childhood to achieve her dream of preserving the heritage of Sana’a, and ensuring “the continuity 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, she is currently working on a UN-backed project to restore dozens of historic buildings in Sana’a and across Yemen.

‘There is no difference between a male and female engineer’

“There is no difference between a man or a woman when it comes to preserving this historic city,” she insists, stressing the respect between all members of the team, as well as the residents of the neighbourhoods in which they work. “It is true that we face challenges and difficulties but, by working as a team, we go beyond it. Now there are a number of female engineers in the project, proving every day that they are competitive in this field, all contributing to the preservation of this jewel.”

On every project that she has worked on, Ms. Al-Himiary has tried to find opportunities for women and girls. “For example, when I was based in the old town of Zabid, we trained a number of girls in traditional building crafts, such as woodwork, wood decorations, stucco decorations, and carpentry. The more opportunities for training we opened up, the more we found an equal turnout of boys and girls. In some trades, girls outnumbered the boys.”

When she asked one of the girls why she was training in traditional carpentry, she told Ms. Al-Humairi that, by restoring the wooden decorations in her home, she was both exercising her rights as one of the owners of the house, and preserving her, and her family’s, privacy.

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