News

Together we are stronger association concluded its training workshop on women’s empowerment and skills development and which was organized in Anfeh last week with the collaboration of Association D'entraide Professionnelle, AEP, and under the auspices of Diageo.  The workshop extended over two days.  The first day included an encounter with Rola Kerbage which focused on financial management at home and at work.  The second day included a lecture by Kamil Chedid on the importance of communication to ensure success in life.
The director of AEP, Ms. Lena Sayyad, clarified in her brief intervention during the closing ceremony, that the work and objectives of her association revolve around supporting small projects holders and ensure their integration in the national economy through providing them with technical support as well as with training workshops which allow them to succeed and become sustainable in addition to help creating new work opportunities. The president of Together we are stronger association, Dolly Issa, spoke about the content of the training workshop as well as its importance.  She added that her organization is striving to empower women at all levels so that they prove themselves in society and succeed in their personal and professional lives.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal, Al-Nahar 21 July 2014

The Salam organization concluded its Sama project which was implemented with a number of local associations from the villages of Hibbariyeh, Kfarshouba, Hasbaya, Kfeir, Ayn Qanya in Hasbaya Caza.  The event was held last week with the participation of the president of the federation of Hasbani municipalities, Munir Jaber, as well as representatives of the Indian UNIFIL contingent, the Lebanese Red Cross, heads of municipalities, civil register officials and local key figures.
The Sama project consisted of a series of training workshops on writing project proposals, photography, film direction, and social media all aiming to strengthening communication amongst youth in the area as well as training them to take pictures and document the realities of their villages, and building their capacities and developing their respective youth organizations. During the celebration, a documentary movie produced by the trainees was shown.  The documentary reflected the realities of the participating villages and the problems they are facing.  The ceremony was concluded with the distribution of certificates and the granting of one PC to each of the participating organizations in recognition of their role in ensuring the success of the training workshops.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 21 July 2014

The Youth Renaissance Association organized last week in the Joomeh area of Akkar a lecture on the role of Muslim women in society and in married life.  The event was implemented within the framework of the educational programme of the women committee of Dar el Fatwa in North Lebanon. The lecturer, Maha al Fawwal, spoke about the role of Muslim women in their societies and “their duties vis-à-vis their god, themselves and their families according to the Koran which provided guidance about women’s role to ensure a happy and balanced life where women are able to perform all their duties no matter what are their circumstances”.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 21 July 2014

Hayya Bina organized, together with the Bekaa Lebanon association, an Iftar at their centre in Shemstar.  The event was attended by women students and teachers from Riyyaq, al-Marj, Kfar7him and Shmestaar, as part of the extra curricular activities which were being organised within the framework of the English for Women program which the organisation is implementing in 20 areas of Lebanon.
The event included a number of introductory activities supervised by educational expert Mohammad Al-Amin and executive director Sal7ha Naser. This was followed by the screening of a documentary film focusing on the experience of a group of pioneer women from in Afghanistan who challenged social restrictions and opened a restaurant for women only.  After that, the various groups of students presented shared a number of presentations on ways of addressing a number of social issues. Women from Shmestaar dealt with the public habit of gun firing in celebration whereas the Kfar7him group tackled the issue of community reconciliation in Mount Lebanon. For their parts, students from al-Marj focused on the realities of women in their village and those from Riyyaq on the issue of honor crimes.
Source: Al-Nahar 18 July 2014

The Municipality of Arab Salim organised yesterday a seminar on agricultural credits supported by Kafalat.  The event was held in collaboration with Jihad al Binaa and the Ministry of Agriculture and was attended by farmers from Arab Salim and surrounding areas, in addition to the Mayor of Arab Salim, Mahmoud Hassan.  Ahmad Shamseddine and Hussein Houteit spoke in the seminar about various ways to benefit from Kafalat loans for agricultural development projects.
Source: Al-Safir, Al-Nahar 18 July 2014

An Nahar newspaper published a report about the living conditions of one of the hundreds of families living below the poverty line.  The report describes the family’s shelter, food and medical care at a time when the father is unemployed.  The mother, Manal Zeidan, 39 year old with three children, notes that her husband worked many years in collecting wooden logs but his work witnessed a setback to the extent that they could not buy food for their children.  He blamed the influx of foreign workers for his plight, as according to him, he used to make LBP 30000 a day before and now he makes hardly LBP 5000 a day.
Manal says that they benefit from some assistance from the poverty alleviation program implemented by the Ministry of Social Affairs.  She says that the card they receive allows them to register their children in public schools at no cost in addition to accessing the public hospitals.  She also thanked Druze leader Walid Jumblat for helping them repair the roof of their house a few years ago and also mentioned that the office of Minister Wael Abou Faour provides them from time to time with food and medical supplies. The report ends by wondering when would the relevant Ministries act and support such families living beyond the poverty line and ensure a decent living for them.

Source: Al-Nahar 17 July 2014

Many areas in Lebanon are renowned for traditional soap making.  Aita Shaab which is located along the southern border enjoys a wealth of laurel trees and is famous for soap making using laurel oil essences.  Laurel soap is one of the best known traditional soap which is manufactured in Aita Shaab goes back to mid last century.  Women from Aita narrate that they have learned this trade from Palestinian women who had come from Nablus.  Manufacturing traditional laurel soap is labor intensive especially that high temperatures are needed to extract laurel essences.  Women make laurel soap at home and the timing coincides with the olive harvest period.
For its part, Kura region located in North Lebanon is also renowned for its manufacture of olive oil soap.  As Safir published another report on 79 year old Michel Mansur from Koura who transformed traditional olive oil soap manufacture into a modern industry and he dedicated his time to its development after he retired.  Mansur is producing various artistic forms of soaps and is experimenting with medicinal and aromatic herbs and creating new recipes.  He is also introducing natural fragrances and colors to the traditional recipes.  However, he refuses to expand his industry and to buy new and modern equipments as he is not seeking to make profits. Mansur tells As Safir that his soap is in high demand particularly since local olive oil is finding difficulties in marketing because of competition with foreign oil. He insists on the historical and traditional values of this soap and laments that none of his children has inherited this traditional trade and he is thus afraid of its extinction.
Source: Al-Safir 16 July 2014

As Safir newspaper published yesterday two different reports on the plight of women displaced from Syria. The first article covers a Palestinian NGO initiative called “Tawassol” which is implemented by Beit Atfal Assumud and which attempts to help tens of displaced Syrian women as well as Lebanese women and Palestinian women from Syria acquiring simple skills which will enable them to secure paid home based work or work within different institutions. In the Rashiddiyyah camp in South Lebanon, tens of displaced women from Syria attend the Beit Atfal Assumud training centre to learn skills which allow them to respond to their families’ needs and expenses.  According to Doris Abu Nasser, one of the beneficiary women, “learning skills will allow women to secure income especially that the conditions of displaced women from Syria and their families continue to deteriorate and given the tightening of aid to the displaced”.  The coordinator of the Tawassol initiative in Tyre, Abeer Nawf, notes that the current training workshop benefits 15 Syrian and Palestinian displaced women and is the third to be implemented and seeks to empower women socially and economically.
The second report reflects the experience of displacement and the promises that failed to materialize through the stories of two women displaced from Syria.  The first woman called Aisha is a mother of two.  One of her children has a severe heart condition.  The family lived in the displacement camp of Marj during a period of one year and a half before she decided to return home as she realized that there is no place for her in Lebanon and death in her country is more dignified than bearing hunger, sickness and humiliation in Lebanon.  The second story is that of Umm Fahed, a woman in her fifties who came recently to Lebanon as she could not longer bear to live under ISIS although she comes from a religious and conservative family and went to pilgrimage in Mecca a few years ago.  Umm Fahed says that hunger in Lebanon is better than living under ISIS.  Umm Fahed who came with her son whilst her husband remained home to guard their house noted that “freedom is beautiful”.
Source: Al-Safir, Al-Safir 16 July 2014

Al Mustaqbal newspaper published yesterday a report about the current drought that hit a significant agricultural area notably in Northern Bekaa due to low rainfalls and the decreasing volume of ground water which supplies artesian wells especially those used for irrigation, and which has aggravated farmers in Baalbak and its surrounding areas.  According to the report, the current results are all but catastrophic and are likely to further threaten farmers, citizens and the whole country if the government and other public instances do not take concrete steps to declare a water emergency and to find alternative scenarios to overcome the current crisis which is likely to extend to next year.
Member of the farmers' syndicate, Khaled al-Zekra, noted that farmers in Baalbak and its surroundings are suffering from the unavailability of water as wells in the region have dried up by some 60% of their capacity. This has had negative consequences on the quality of their agricultural land including the Baalbak orchards which almost dried out. Zekra warned the population of the surrounding area of an upcoming drought catastrophe especially where potatoes are planted. Indeed, potato have ripened prematurely which will result in a slump in production which will reach 80% and will affect marketing and exports especially since most of the potato harvest is exported to the Iraqi market which was negatively affected by the present security situation there.
The newspaper report added that the situation in remaining regions of Northern Beqaa is relatively similar to that in Baalbak.  The supplies of drinking water have declined because many wells have dried up. Supplies of irrigation water have also regressed thus causing much burden to the population of the area. Indeed, the present situation calls for launce of an emergency plan to mitigate the impact of this disaster especially in terms of human and environmental losses.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 15 July 2014

The Daily Star newspaper published yesterday a report about a pioneer woman, Claudia Kassab Tarazi, founding partner and managing director of Retail Consulting Group, a firm specializing in the development of shopping centers. Tarazi, who has a masters in interior architecture, explained with passion the details of her profession which is still largely new in the region, adding that while being a shopping center specialist sounds glamorous, it does not come easy, especially that it is not something one can major in at university. She said the she discovered her passion while working in Dubai for Aswaq Management and Services, an affiliated company of Societe des Centres Commerciaux, a major French retail consulting and development firm that specializes in shopping centers. After that, she started planning her return to Beirut with her husband and her idea to set up a retail consulting firm.
As a new mother with a 3-month-old baby, Tarazi indicated that things have become more hectic and adjustments have had to be made. Hence, she does not work long hours for the time being, but she invests her working time extremely well. Tarazi who gets a lot of support from her husband, which she admits not many Lebanese woman are lucky enough to have, believes that personal circumstances should not be a hindrance to women who are aiming big.
Source: The Daily Star 14 July 2014