Women’s Empowerment kicks off on Wednesday Sept. 22

Women’s Empowerment program will kick off on Wednesday 22 September. A new training program that LOST is conducting this fall. Eighty women in all LOST branches will attend special English classes and computer basics training. Each twenty women will be grouped in one class for two months. This program will help participants enroll in other business management courses that are continuously offered at LOST. 

Women’s Empowerment program this year would not have happened without the generous support of Mrs. Rabha Eidi who visited LOST last summer and met executives and senior staff there. Mrs. Eidi is a native of Lebanon, living in Toledo, OH since 1965. Since 2001 she contributed to many successful programs to help Lebanon. She became actively involved with two non-profit organizations to help Lebanon (Dar Al Hanan and Sadr Foundation). She currently is the International Director for Sadr Foundation U.S.A and Canada. In 2009, Mrs. Eidi received the “Expatriates Medal” from the General Directorate of the Lebanese Ministry Foreign Affairs.

A Life Changing Step

     “I’ve always believed that I have a role play in my life” said Sabah the determined mother and housewife. She continued talking about her decision she once made to change her life. So, she has thought a lot how to leap the first step in the long way which wasn’t paved for her. She was fought by her fellow-women “who were only used to gossiping, visiting each other without thinking how to take advantage of their time and to be productive members in society.”
   
    Sabah lived a dream that tickled her imagination day and night, and began blooming when she told her understanding husband and sons who agreed to support her. “I wanted to have steady steps and to have a unique role and make a difference in my life as a mother and as a citizen. I realized that I had  to learn English to help my sons to be successful in their studies especially  they were at crossing roads in their life. This is the way that led me to know LOST  and its staff who helped me to make my dream come true.” 

     “ At first, I took two English courses that gave me the chance to meet new people who I permanently compared myself to, and I secretly decided to be  good at computer as Suzan, one of my ambitious classmates, and to do a teaching course as Ola, another young fresh-graduate student who wanted to be a professional English teacher.” Yes, believe or not, Sabah has done both courses and she has been one of the brilliant students in her classes. She has never been absent only when she had lung surgery. You know what? A week after she left the hospital, she was in her class asking her teacher to make-up what she had missed.

     “LOST is the right place that I recommend to everyone I like. My husband and sons are proud of my achievement there, and they tell our visitors about my commitment and devotion of doing a very good job. Ah, I forgot to tell you, my son is doing an English course at LOST to improve his English because he wants to pass his high school official exam after he failed last year. The good thing is that I can help him at home  now since I took the same course.”

Celebrating Success in LOST’s 10th Annual Iftar

 

The Lebanese  Organization  of  Studies  and  Training  (LOST) organized its  10th annual Iftar in Baalbeck  on  August 15th , 2010 in the presence of H.E. Ali Abdullah, Minister of Youth and Sports to celebrate its 12th anniversary. Several religious, military and social figures attended the ceremony which counted an audience of over 450 persons. Distribution of certificates was held during the event. Fifteen certificates were issued to trainees who have attended an Educational Counseling Course, in addition to certificates distributed to 70 students who have successfully completed  100 hours of TOEFL exam preparation course.
 “Educational Counseling was something far from reach and LOST made it reachable. There was no chance in our deprived region to even know that such course exists; however, LOST made it available. I was just a teacher, now I feel I can be a counselor and an educator” said Alaa a teacher from Chmostar.

I learned the meaning of Peace

When he first took part in the Youth Academy of Peace, Mohamad felt worried because he had to work with people from different religions and sects. In his opinion, people are grouped according to their sectarian identities. He has the judgment of a divided society and he could not make any change alone. However, this conviction has changed after he joined the Academy for three months in Ein. He found in LOST a place to learn, share and exchange ideas with others. He realized later that sectarian difference is not a negative thing; on the contrary it could be a motive for creativity and innovation. He also shared his experience with others and built up his communication skills in a manner that he didn’t do before.

“In the Academy of Peace I learned how to communicate with others, I participated actively in workshops and debates about tolerance and building peace in society. I learned the meaning of peace and I felt that I really want to build it in my neighborhood. Most importantly, I found out that the more we work together the better we become.” The Academy is not only a place to make friends, but it’s a program to empower and engage youth in social and public life. Although it’s only a three month program, however, it offers a type of education and learning that is unique in the region.

“Youth are not protected in our society, they are easily infected by the diseases of sectarian divide, but our job here is to shelter them. In fact, we organize special workshops and debates about citizenship and civic participation, peace and tolerance in order to make youth more aware and confident of their existence and their vigorous role in society. We help them to become Lebanese active citizens away of sectarianism!” affirmed Ali Nazha, the Academy coordinator at Ein Branch.

The Youth Academy of Peace is a youth engagement program that LOST is continuously running every three months throughout the year. It comprises a set of civic workshops and a 32-hour social media and IT training, in addition to a number of activities that participants suggest and implement themselves. It makes a difference when hundreds of youth participants attend every year, they learn the meaning of peace and they can create it.

Summer Camps: More than Fun

  "I've never enjoyed summer time as this summer” said Assil Raad, an eight-year- girl in the kids’ summer camp that the Lebanese Organization of Studies and Training (LOST) is organizing this year. Her mother said: "this camp is a good opportunity for my daughter to discover her abilities and talents. 

It is more than just fun and games; it is a real life experience for children of her age. It is a prospect in places where there are no many.”
On the 6th of July 2010 the" Summer Camp for Kids” was launched by LOST targeting groups of less fortunate children in Baalbeck-Hermel. One hundred and sixty nine kids are attending the daily camp in the four branches of LOST. The main activities of the camp are: teaching English and IT, trips, and talents shows, in addition to different recreational activities. It gives them the opportunity to learn English and participate in activities such as visiting the zoo, reading stories and watching movies. Also, it promotes their environmental awareness and amuses them in a process of learning which is unique in the region. These kids miss every entertaining activity in a region which lacks recreational facilities. The camps bring them more than happiness!

Computer Training

Team Work

Women's Empowerment through Educational Counseling

Educational Counseling workshop

  “Life has not given me the chance to finish school. Sometimes, I feel embarrassed if I cannot understand what my two little children want. After attending the educational counseling course at LOST, I really felt that I am a real mother, I learned how to react wisely, slowly and I can understand what they need. I am very happy to realize that my children are protected by my knowledge and experience in life” said Sawsan after accomplishing the new educational counseling course that was run at LOST this summer.

       “Educational Counseling is a step toward women empowerment” affirmed Omar Bayan the Director of the Educational Commission at LOST. “This course is a wonderful opportunity for women being mothers or teachers especially for those who live in hardship. It offers them the capacity to learn and practice new models and techniques of education that could be applied in school or at home” he added.

Educational Counseling workshop

       This course is divided into two parts: the first one is a set of workshops on the main theories of educational counseling and its importance in real life practices; the second part has many evaluation sessions concerning the different problems that teachers and mothers might face. Theoretical views and practical ways on how to be successful counselors are dealt with throughout this course.


      Educational Counseling gives trainees many ways to improve their roles as educators and counselors. This course was made to allow participants to promote their participation in society and to satisfy their kids' educational and psychological needs, even when social and economical situations are bad.

Women Empowerment

With its Women’s Empowerment project for enhancing women’s entrepreneurial skills, LOST organizes a program that includes a micro-enterprise management course for 40 women between 20 and 40 years of age from different rural areas in Northern Lebanon, as well as English and IT courses, to become more economically independent.

Youth Programs

In the efforts of lessening deviation towards sectarian violence and promoting constructive communication among youth of different sectarian backgrounds, LOST announced a three month course covering citizenship, conflict resolution, and civic participation through the Academy of Peace project. More than 60 young citizens enrolled in 3 different locations in north Bekaa. The participants learned to share their opinion on issues deeply related to their lives. The project was concluded by an art exhibition and three plays that reflected participants understanding of the project.

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Farah Mahfoud
16 years old
A Participant of
Academy of Peace

When they first told me about the host program and that I have to visit strangers from a different sect, religion, and region, I was frankly reluctant, hesitant, and a little afraid of going to visit strangers and the way in which they might react.
I was really amazed and surprised by their warm welcome. They were teenagers who shared my interests and many of my points of view with respect to the different subjects we are being trained on such as citizenship and conflict resolution .We found that we have similar ideas that we can discuss and share. I was very happy to meet them and that I got the opportunity to break the ice and to change my pre-judgment and to understand others.
I learned from this experience that I should be open to others and try my best to communicate before I build thoughts. Although some people live in another place and have different beliefs, they belong to the same country and all their ideas serve our country but we just have to share it.

Camps For Kids

Zoo visit

Zoo visit

 LOST has launched a series of Camps for Children between 7 and 12 years of age in the hopes of creating alternative spaces for the expression of creativity. A hundred children participate in the project, lasting 3 weeks, which includes at least two of five activities: Theater, Drawing, English, Sports, and field activities.

About us

The Lebanese Organization for Studies and Training -LOST- is a non profit organization aiming to raise public awareness, especially among youth. It seeks to contribute to the social and economic development of the  community of Baalbeck-Hermel by enhancing local capacities and participation in order to create a more developed and equitable society. LOST hopes to make this vision a reality by reducing poverty and eliminating exclusion. Its programs are intended to help, train and educate local residents, be they women, teenagers, or young children.