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Renewable Energy Project in Yemen to Benefit over 62,000 Yemenis

Using Renewable Energy to Improve Quality of Life Project Concludes in Yemen with Benefiting over 62,000 Yemenis. (SPA)
Using Renewable Energy to Improve Quality of Life Project Concludes in Yemen with Benefiting over 62,000 Yemenis. (SPA)
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Renewable Energy Project in Yemen to Benefit over 62,000 Yemenis

Using Renewable Energy to Improve Quality of Life Project Concludes in Yemen with Benefiting over 62,000 Yemenis. (SPA)
Using Renewable Energy to Improve Quality of Life Project Concludes in Yemen with Benefiting over 62,000 Yemenis. (SPA)

Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik attended in Aden the closing ceremony of the Using Renewable Energy to Improve Quality of Life Project, which was implemented with a trilateral partnership of the Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen (SDRPY), Arab Gulf Program for Development (AGFUND), and Selah Foundation for Development, SPA said on Wednesday.
The project has benefited 62,000 people in five Yemeni governorates of Hadhramaut, Abyan, Lahij, Taiz and Al-Hudaydah.
During the ceremony, Yemeni Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Mohamad Al-Zaouri praised the generous support of the government of Saudi Arabia, through the SDRPY, AGFUND, and Selah Foundation for Development, for holding vital projects that affect citizens' lives and contribute to improving their standard of life.
He stressed that this support contributes to achieving sustainable development in the country.
The project significantly contributes to enhancing health and education facilities by efficiently meeting their energy needs in a sustainable manner. It supports the operation of critical medical equipment, creates conducive educational environments for students and teachers, and provides sustainable and accessible energy to targeted families through the installation of home appliance systems.
Moreover, this initiative aims to uplift the standard of living in Yemen by improving beneficiaries' daily lives, fostering economic development through increased agricultural production, bolstering food security for Yemenis, reducing carbon emissions to protect the environment, and establishing a clean, sustainable energy source.
The venture involves the rehabilitation of 12 drinking water wells using solar energy systems, provisioning of 35 renewable-energy-based agricultural irrigation systems, powering 20 educational and health facilities, and delivering renewable energy to 133 homes across five Yemeni governorates—Hadhramaut, Abyan, Lahij, Taiz, and Al-Hudaydah.
Project activities encompass comprehensive training courses tailored for field engineers. These courses focus on implementing solar energy systems, aiming to enhance the skills of field technical teams and fortify their technical capacities. The project's substantial contributions to society address numerous water-related challenges, such as interruptions and accessibility issues. The training curriculum covers a wide array of technical and administrative aspects.

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In Freezing Temperatures, Swimmers in China Plunge into a River for Health and Joy

A resident swims in a pool carved from ice on the frozen Songhua river in Harbin in northeastern China's Heilongjiang province, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP)
A resident swims in a pool carved from ice on the frozen Songhua river in Harbin in northeastern China's Heilongjiang province, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP)
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In Freezing Temperatures, Swimmers in China Plunge into a River for Health and Joy

A resident swims in a pool carved from ice on the frozen Songhua river in Harbin in northeastern China's Heilongjiang province, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP)
A resident swims in a pool carved from ice on the frozen Songhua river in Harbin in northeastern China's Heilongjiang province, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP)

Even as the mercury dropped below freezing, enthusiasm soared among about a dozen hardy swimmers during an annual ritual in northeast China’s ice city of Harbin.

The swimmers had trained daily throughout the year for this moment.

They first had to carve out a pool in the Songhua River, thawing the 10-centimeter (4-inch) thick ice that froze overnight. Then they stripped down and, one by one, plunged into the bone-chilling waters of the pool about 10 meters (33 feet) long.

Some said their limbs were already numb when the air temperature fell to minus 13 degrees Celsius (8 degrees Fahrenheit).

Chen Xia, from the eastern coastal province of Zhejiang, dived into the river even though she was suffering from a cold. She said the waters in her home city were warmer than those in Harbin, where the temperature was about 0 C (32 F).

The experience strengthened her confidence in winter swimming, a sport she has been devoted to for about two decades.

“I felt prickling all over my body,” said Chen, 56. “But it still made me feel blissful."

Harbin resident Yu Xiaofeng said winter swimming in her city can be dated back to the 1970s, after locals saw Russian Orthodox faithful being baptized in the river. In 1983, the city's winter swimming association was established.

Yu, 61, said she found a sense of a big family and joy during her 30 years of swimming.

“Since the pandemic, we came up with a slogan: Rather suffer through winter swimming than line up at the hospital,” she said, adding that winter swimmers appeared to have better health than others.

You Decang, 76, said swimming kept him healthy and he had never caught a cold.

"If I go just one day without winter swimming, I feel quite uncomfortable,” he said.