When Women Are Empowered to Lead

Some women in Baalbeck-Hermel are competing against the timer of the municipality elections either to elect or to be candidates. As they have plethora of questions on how to make their dreams come true, the Lebanese Organization of Studies and Training (LOST) and GIZ decided to empower them. For this reason, a senior delegation from GIZ paid a visit to LOST’s centers in Bedneyel and Baalbeck to launch a joint project entitled “Empowering Women to Lead” (EWL) in Baalbeck on February 25, 2016.

GIZ in Bedneyel

The delegation, together with LOST’s founder, Dr. Rami Lakkis, conducted a meeting with some activists, municipality members, and mayors from the region at LOST premises in Bedneyel. The discussion was centered on exploring possible ways to make women part of the political life in which women can contribute to solving problems in their communities. A municipality member said, “We believe that women are better than men in multi-tasking, so we need active NGO support to elicit this dormant potential in the region.” The stakeholders extolled LOST’s role in empowering women in different aspects. One of the women said, “I have been teaching generations the importance of participating in public issues for 15 years without having any idea about the details of making this participation true. Now, with LOST’s awareness raising activities and training, I’ve got enough confidence to make a political plan and run for municipal elections.” In response, Dr. Rami Lakkis appreciated the women’s conscientiousness and expressed how proud he is of such participants whose inchoate steps can be a breakthrough in the women’s status quo in the region. The head of GIZ delegation, Sabine Gürtner, noticed the participants’ impression about LOST’s fingerprint and said, “We are proud to work with LOST to engage women in the political life. We are having a set of forthcoming projects in which we consider LOST a reliable partner to work with.”

With Baalbeck city activists

Afterwards, GIZ delegation headed toward Baalbeck to meet a group of stakeholders and key figures of the city including the Mufti and the Bishop of Baalbeck. The key pivot of the discussion was the Syrian influx and its impact on the region. The Mufti raised alarms on the lack of funding for the increasing needs of the Syrian refugees and their hosting community. He invited Germany to play an active role in this aspect “not to remain the Syrian’s dreamland to immigrate to,” according to him. The Archbishop thanked GIZ for taking Baalbeck-Hermel into consideration and demanded the delegation to establish job opportunities and be a part of the developmental process in the region. One of the mokhtars pointed at the profligate spending of the assistance for the refugees, which results in tensions among them and among the Lebanese citizens. The delegation learned more about how the Syrian influx is getting the already-vulnerable city more impoverished at different levels; infrastructure, water, electricity, and work competition, which triggers more social instability.

EWL launching ceremony

GIZ delegation joined LOST’s EWL launching ceremony in which more than 200 participants in the project, in addition to 400 more women, were present. Dr. Rami Lakkis gave a speech in which he stressed the values of LOST in the public work. He encouraged women to participate in the political life; “You are not alone; LOST is always beside you to make your presence a qualitative rather than a quantitative one.” He also pointed at how women’s grit can play an active role in dealing with the Syrian influx and its effects. “You are the ones who can lessen terms like “We” and “They” via instilling the true qualities of accepting the other in the society in your children’s minds. It’s you who can cultivate the principles of peace building and social stability in a simmering region like ours,” he said.

The governor of Baalbeck-Hermel, Bashir Khodor, had a speech in which he expressed his complete support to LOST’s projects which match “the genuine needs of the community,” according to him.

The head of GIZ delegation, Sabine Gürtner, delivered a speech to express her gratitude for the participants for their presence and efforts. She was sanguine about future chances of ongoing cooperation with LOST as a credible partner.

In some ways, it is to worry as much if not more about the possibility that empowering women remains on the back burner if LOST and GIZ aren’t present to keep their partnership ongoing to take care of the women’s needs and back them up to take lead positions in their communities. Women who are being supported by LOST and GIZ need a continuous process of empowering to reach tangible results in the future.

UNICEF/LOST: Transparency Is the Best Policy

In scope of UNICEF and LOST’s cooperation in the “ Life Skills for Lebanese and Syrian Refugee Youth” project, which aims at decreasing tension between the Lebanese community and Syrian refugees, UNICEF delegation’s visits continue successively to cope on with the project’s progress. The latest of these visits was on Thursday February 25th, 2016 to LOST center in Baalbek, conducted by the Canadian High Donor delegation.

The delegation from Canada discussed the project’s progress with the project coordinator, Mr. Assem Chraif. Chraif thoroughly explained the project’s goals, its major achievement, funding needs, and how its implementation can lessen tension between the Lebanese society and Syrian refugees. The delegation was deeply interested in the approach and techniques LOST and its functional teams are following en route to pull the project off.

Shortly afterwards, UNICEF, Canada’s delegation attended a TOT session for coaches and supervisors to have a hands-on feedback about how the project is being carried out, to encourage the participating staff, and to better understand the project’s goals.

In concurrence with this visit, LOST and GIZ were launching a new project entitled “Empowering Women to Lead.” So UNICEF, Canada’s delegation attended the project’s initiation event so they have an idea about LOST’s versatile projects and collaboration extents.

LOST, via such visits, strengthens ties with its partners and shows its ability to handle Baalbek-Hermel region’s affairs with professionalism and expertise. This paves the way to keep its partnership ongoing with UNICEF and other organizations.

In Hermel village lived the Syrian refugee Maohammad Kassem Marroosh with his pregnant wife and two children. Everything was calm and serene in his life until an electrical short circuit occurred and his house was burnt to the ground. He found no one to support him but a man who offered him a small filthy room to settle in whilst he could find an alternative place. His two children (2 years and 4 years old) and his wife were unable to be vulnerable toFebruary’s cold weather, and the family’s afflicted life started to be whispered among the villagers. It was LOST’s members who reacted effectively upon the awful situation and planned for an action plan. They contacted the stricken family and offered it a solution. The family was granted enough wood and Nylon sheets to build a brand-new tent. Tragically, the family was that short of money that it was impossible to pay for the transportation fees of thegiven weatherproofing kit. In response, LOST extended its offer by finding the means to send the wood and sheet to the specified place. Moreover, LOST members volunteered their time and energy to give a hand to Mohammad Marroosh who was not able to build his tent by himself. 

With LOST’s aid, Marroosh and his family are no longer vulnerable to the nature’s fury or social insecurity. At least, they have a shelter where they can sleep peacefully!

This task lies under LOST’s mandate of providing winterization assistance and weatherproofing tools to more than 1500 vulnerable Syrian refugees and Lebanese host families in Baalbeck-Hermel region.

LOST and UNICEF’s Visit to Britel

On February 22nd, 2015 the Lebanese Organization of Studies and Training (LOST) and a senior delegation from UNICEF visited the municipality of Britel as part of following up with the implementation of UNICEF’s joint projects with LOST that are carried out in the region. UNICEF delegation included two key UNICEF fundraisers; Irish Natcom, The One Foundation in addition to Mr. Donnacha O’Callaghan the Good Will Ambassador, Deputy Director Mr. Luciano Calestini, Youth sector Coordinator, Amal Obeid, and UNICEF's Bekaa team.
The delegation first met the Mayor of Britel, Abbass Ismail, to discuss the impact of the Syrian influx on the hosting community and the impact of LOST/UNICEF intervention in the village. The mayor asserted that the village has been affected by the Syrian influx since the beginning of the crisis; today's ratio in Britel is one Syrian to every five Lebanese. This has had an extreme effect on the infrastructure of the village and its social structure. The mayor remarked that LOST has been working along with the municipality and UNICEF’s support to mitigate the tensions caused by the increase of the refugee population. To achieve such a purpose, LOST in collaboration with the municipality of Britel recruited 30 youth participants (15 Syrian and 15 Lebanese) from the village in a 3-month program to get a set of trainings and carry-out a youth-led initiative that meets a community need. The mayor said, "An interesting part of the story is how humanitarian the project was carried out regardless of being Lebanese or Syrian."
Aside with meeting the mayor, the UNICEF delegation met the youth beneficiaries who were eager to speak about the training they have undergone on needs assessment, leadership, communication skills, and project design. The trainees highly appreciated the chance UNICEF, Lebanon and LOST offered them to implement a community project based on their assessment of the village’s needs. They thanked LOST and UNICEF, Lebanon for the chance to make a change in their community. Of note, the youth-led initiative was to renovate a football playground which was constructed earlier by LOST after the 2006 war. This community project was part of 15 other initiatives LOST in partnership with UNICEF, Lebanon is conducting across Baalbek-Hermel region in 2015 to engage youth in taking a stand and responding to community needs. In 2016, LOST and UNICEF, Lebanon are planning to implement 45 more similar initiatives in different villages in the region.
The organic partnership between LOST and UNICEF, Lebanon was discussed in light of how fruitful it is in helping vulnerable people, with manners of humanity and dignity. Assem Chraif, Project Director explained the approach adopted by LOST to mitigate tensions between refugees and the hosting community through linking social cohesion to local development. He also proclaims that engaging Lebanese and Syrian youth in the implementation of small community projects and making such initiatives visible will create a role model for other youth to follow. The UNICEF, Lebanon deputy director Luciano Calestini, replied, “I thank LOST and the municipality for their active support and cooperation. What they did qualifies to be a role-model for future design of collaboration between government, citizens, and local communities.”
LOST and UNICEF, Lebanon have a common goal to merge Syrians and Lebanese Youth in a peaceful environment, thus lessening tensions between different constituents of the society and protecting the extremely vulnerable people.

Learning and Skills Programs for Syrian Refugees and Lebanese Youth

February 15, 2016 the Lebanese Organization for Studies and Trainings (LOST) launched an eleven-month project entitled “Learning and Skills Programs for Syrian Refugees and Lebanese Youth.” The program, which is in partnership with UNICEF, aims at facilitating the life of the Lebanese and Syrian youth, improving their life standards, effecting change on the way they interact with society, empowering them to change their lives as they desire, and building bridges of coexistence and cohesion in Baalbek region.
In the opening ceremony, Dr. Rami Lakkis, the founder of LOST, drew up the general contour of the project and specified its milieu at the local and the regional level. He asserts that “Lebanon is in the first position universally in hosting refugees with a ratio of 188 refugees (Syrian and Palestinian) for each 1000 Lebanese residents. This situation badly impacts the social structure, hinders the possibilities of development, and burdens an already overwhelmed country,” Lakkis said. This influx, which is considered a threat, could be changed into a chance if it is dealt with positively. So running such projects does not only create new chances, but it also shows a humanitarian commitment. Lakkis said, “Giving a hand to needy people shows that we are transforming our humanitarian principles to actual deeds.”
Another key merit of this project is promoting good governance in a society that is widely ignorant of this concept. “We want to empower people and train them on good governance to support the government institutions and promote a culture of productivity and peace. The more the people participate actively and properly in their communities, the more the government responds to their demands,” Lakkis proclaimed. So training is a bridge toward good governance and a cohesive society.

This project is considered to be amongst the most geographically spread out projects with a capacity of 57 training hubs distributed over 9 areas; Baalbek, Hermel, Ein, Chaat, Deir Ahmar, Ersal, Boday, Chmustar, Bednayel. The huge number of beneficiaries, 15.150, shows that LOST is determined to help its community. Time wise, the project is divided into three cycles and each cycle lasts for three and a half months.
The project includes the following programs: learning functional literacy and numeracy (CST), competency based skills training (CBS), individual and social skills training (ISST), and peace education workshops (PEW). Then the project gives the participants the chance to contribute to their community issues via youth-led initiatives (YLI) which are funded by the project. At the end of the project, a marathon entitled “Pace for Peace Marathon (PPM)” will be organized to voice the program’s values of coexistence, social cohesion, and peace building all over Baalbeck.
The initiation phase of the project includes several steps. The first step is recruiting and setting up  Work Hubs (teaching centers). Then, the participants will fill in a life skills CV; the life skills CV is a document that states what skills each beneficiary already has and which ones he/she aspires to acquire. For trainers, a set of TOT workshops will be conducted during the first month to make everyone well aware about his/her tasks and how to carry them out properly. After all preparations are completed, the teaching will commence in the beginning of March, 2016.
LOST’s strategic partnership with UNICEF is resulting in empowering thousands of Lebanese youth and Syrian refugees via sharpening their cognitive, individual, instrumental, and social abilities. It will also reduce tension and promote better relations between Lebanese citizens and the Syrain community for a more peaceful and stabilized country.

People to People

The Lebanese Organization of Studies and Trainings (LOST) has partnered once again with OTI/USAID in a five-month peace-building initiative entitled “People to People”. This initiative joins Ersal and the surrounding villages to reduce tensions and enhance the communication between them.
Sixty youth participants have been chosen from the four villages as follows: 30 from Ersal, 10 from Labweh, 10 from Ain, and 10 from Nabi Othman. The trainings address several topics, among of which are leadership, conflict transformation, and reconciliation. These trainings are intended to reflect the concept of forgiveness between the historically conflicted areas and promote a culture of peace.

Progressing in the project the participants will engage in a series of mutual charity campaigns among the chosen villages. Participants from Ersal will collect donations and distribute them in Labweh, Ain, and Nabi Othman. Reciprocally, the groups of the other three villages distribute their villages’ donations in Ersal. The donations include clothing and other usable items. “People to People” initiative is projected to conclude the 31st of May of 2016.
LOST's “People to People” campaign aims to lessen the effects of religious and political tensions in Northern Bekaa especially that of the village of Ersal. LOST's mission is to address the humanitarian demands in the four villages and elicit local solutions that amplifies the qualities of compassion and coexistence.

Empowering Women to Lead

The Lebanese Organization for Studies and Training (LOST) joins women in Baalbek region in terms of empowering them to take lead positions in their community. The project entitled “Empowering Women to Lead” was kicked-off in November 2015 and will end in January of 2017. The 15-month initiative covers six villages: Hermel, Labweh, Chaat, Deir Al Ahmar, Chmistar, and Tamnin Al Fawqaa. 

In each village, twenty female participants within the age group of 22 and older have signed up to be part of this empowering three-stage project. The first stage has commenced as of December 2015 with trainings that will continue for the next four months. The topics of trainings include women's rights, leadership, civic activism, local development, municipality law, and needs analysis. In the second stage, the participating women are asked to prepare and present 3 lectures about waste management, local development, and social protection. In the third stage, the trainees will analyze the needs of the individual villages in order to implement small community projects that will benefit the villages. They, as women, will make a difference in their respective communities by utilizing methods of the theoretical and practical training and putting them into effect.

LOST’s “Empowering Women to Lead” triggers the potential energy of women, transforms it, refines their leadership skills and promotes them to take part in decision making in order to strengthen and develop their communities.  

Nehna La Baad Initiative Becomes a Permanent Plan for Cloth Support

    After several meetings with activists, stakeholders and donors, The Lebanese Organization for Studies and Training (LOST) set an initiative to distribute clothes for needy families in Baalbek for winter and summer. The collection of clothing for the spring and summer season will commence in the weeks to come.
     In the Baalbek governorate center the campaign was launched in October 2015 with the presence of Baalbek governor, Bashir Khoder, who made a donation for the sake of “Nehna La Baad” initiative. Khoder said, “You -in LOST- have been part of my success since I started my job as a governor of Baalbek-Hermel region; simply I couldn’t succeed alone.”
The founder of LOST, Dr. Rami Lakkis, had a speech in which he stressed the governor’s contribution in solving the region’s problems. Lakkis addressed Khoder by saying, “We all share the region’s problems and depending on our experience with you for more than one year, we could feel that you take care of Baalbek possibly more than the city’s residents themselves.”
    Another launching of the project took place in LOST’s main branch in Baalbek project was set in action. The staff in charge began in the collection of clothing and collected contributions from the beginning of October till mid-November 0f 2015. The donations were organized and packed from November 15, 2015 and January 15, 2016. While collecting and distributing the clothing LOST as a research center was able to create a database with information on the many needy families in Baalbek. This database will be used for assistance in future projects.
The families receiving the donations were extremely happy and they expressed their happiness and appreciation in a humble way. There will be another round of “Nehna La Baad” in April 2016 for more families to receive assistance. In response to the harvested success, LOST saw it fit to turn the clothes-distribution initiative into a permanent stream of charity and esprit de corps.
    LOST’s “Nehna La Baad” aims at enhancing the sense of cooperation and social solidarity in Baalbek region.    
       

LOST's Clean-Up Campaign in Dar Al-Wasaa to continue in Months to Come

The Lebanese Organization for Studies and Training (LOST) after several meetings with the local community activists and stakeholders in the village of Dar Al-Wasaa found solutions for the waste crisis, which aroused due to the lack of municipality and strategy plan to enforce waste management.
The founder of LOST, Dr. Ramy Lakkis, believed that the best way to bring about change would be through a partnership with the local community.  LOST members had several meetings with the villagers in the LOST center and in Dar Al-Wasaa. The meetings concluded with a three month long initiative that allowed LOST to provide the village with 106 waste containers which were distributed throughout.
 The villagers, enthusiastic that they launched a campaign to clean their village from waste and to eliminate the random ex-landfills started donating resources. One of the activists in the village provided the village with a pick-up truck to collect the waste in the containers. LOST offered to pay for the truck driver and the fuel and the other villagers voluntarily paid for the workers in charge of collecting the waste and taking it to Baalbek Modern Landfill. To sustain the efforts made by the community for the clean-up, special posters were placed around the village with messages to ban throwing waste in areas that are not designated.
 Dar Al-Wasaa lies in the Western Mountain Chain of Lebanon is described as a touristic village; rich in water and green areas. The initiative to rid pollution from Dar Al-Wasaa and other villages is now under discussion between LOST and local activists to turn it into a permanent solution.   

LOST Preparedness before the Storm succeeds: Syrian Refugees safe and warm

After the snow storm that hit Bekaa Region Sunday January 24th, 2016, LOST team went to check on Syrian Refugee Camps that received aid from MCC's Winterization Project to make sure that the refugees have the help they need. The latest distributions included wood beams and timber with measurements of 2.5x10 and 5x10 cm, plastic sheeting and basic tools to help in keeping the accommodation as warm and dry during the cold stormy season.
Weather-proofing kits were distributed to 1,500 tents in Baalbek-Hermel Region. All along the roads, blue plastic sheets that cover the tents can from a mile away. These sheets are used to keep the accommodation dry from the rain and snow. The wood beams are for the refugees to add to the framework of the tent to support its structure from collapsing in the harsh weather conditions. 
Faisal Hamoud el Mohamed, a beneficiary from the joint project with LOST and MCC, his wife and five children are grateful that the supplies came before the storm and give many thanks for the heaters, blankets, wood beams, plastic sheet and diesel that have kept their family warm will help them survive the cold to come.