Provide Education for Refugee Children in Lebanon

Mahraba everyone,

The first cycle of our education project ended in July in Mount Lebanon and at the refugee camp in Bekaa. All students who enrolled in numeracy and literacy courses and took the post-test have shown a significant increase in their knowledge. Especially the weakest students have more than doubled their score! In our cooking classes, aspiring chefs have demonstrated remarkable commitment despite challenging circumstances and some of them have now an opportunity to start a business. Not only do these courses provide an opportunity to learn new skills or knowledge, but they also create a safe space for students to forge connections among themselves and their professors.

For the girls and women in the Bekaa camp who never had acces to literacy and numeracy courses before it is a start to gaining self-confidence and building autonomy. Moreover the courses are taught by other Camp residents who have teaching experience and can once again exercise their skills to strengthen the community. It is a virtuous circle that allows refugees to realize that they have solutions to make them actors of their futures. Some mothers come to class with the desire to be able to pass on this knowledge to their children in the eventuality or they would not have access to school normally.

In our cooking and pastry classes, our students have learned innovative or traditional recipes that can be replicated without incurring too much expense. These recipes can, for example, constitute the menu of a small restaurant that a student would have created with the help of the scholarship given at the end of the cycle. This scholarship was created to reward and encourage our best students to trust themselves and exist by themselves by promoting their financial autonomy. It was a reward for us to hear from a student: "This is the first time I have made a decision for myself!”

At the beginning of September, after a month of vacation for the teaching team, it is time for the start of the school year with the beginning of cycle 2 of our activities. New students will be assessed on their knowledge and the results will be used to measure their progress at the end of the cycle. For this session, we will set up a transport system to help students come to class because we now know that for some families it can promote the integration of girls in our programs.

Thank you for taking an interest in our activities and supporting us, in the next report we will talk about the balance sheet of this year's activities. Stay tuned !

Best regards,

Marhaba from Insan School,

In January, Insan started a new education project which aims to empower women and girls. The project will run in two cycles, after the groups of the first cycle complete their course, other groups will have the chance to participate in the same activities during the second cycle.

In Mount Lebanon Insan is currently providing basic literacy and numeracy classes to two small groups of young women and girls as well as some out-of-school boys, most of them aged between 15 – 25. The classes take place four days a week and run from Monday to Thursday. In Bekaa all the basic literacy and numeracy classes students are female, aged between 14 – 19. The classes take place in very modest conditions in a tent located in the refugee camp where they are living. The placement tests that students took before starting the course showed that in Mount Lebanon all the students can already read and write as well as do basic math. So, Insan’s teachers are working on helping the weaker students to catch up and the stronger students to learn more complex material. As for Bekaa, the students were able to get some correct answers on the Arabic and math tests but in English and French most of them were unable to score any points. Therefore, Insan’s teachers there are working on improving students’ Arabic and math skills and teaching the basics of foreign languages.

In Mount Lebanon, Insan has also started its vocational training courses once again. Two groups of women as well as some young men from vulnerable communities have been eagerly coming to Insan’s school for the past three months to learn the preparation of various Lebanese and international specialties and mouth-watering desserts, as well as to learn about cooking techniques, kitchen tools etc. The savoury dishes made during the course so far include cabbage rolls, kebbeh (Lebanese meat and bulghur dish), kafta bil sanieh (Lebanese dish consisting of meatballs and potatoes in tomato sauce) baguette, pizza and many of the chef’s own creations, for example chickpea and tomato roast in celery coating. The desserts include strawberry tart, fraisier cake, chocolate chip cookies and profiteroles among others.

During the first week of April, Insan also provided soft skills sessions to the vocational training students. These sessions taught them how to prepare their CV and where to look for a job. They also did some role playing and practiced with mock job interviews. During the last session Insan’s team also presented them with a possibility to submit their own business proposal. In a few weeks the ones interested will submit the document and then Insan’s team will select a few best ones and offer them a micro-grant. We will provide you more updates on this activity in our next report.

We would like to thank you once again for your continuous support to us and to the vulnerable communities in Lebanon. Until the next time!

Best Regards,

The Insan Team

Marhaba from Insan School,

We have some splendid news for you this time!

Firstly, two more groups of women and girls graduated from the basic literacy and numeracy classes in Mount Lebanon and in Bekaa at the end of August showing an increased knowledge in Arabic, English and math and expressing great satisfaction with the activities. Two more groups of women (among them migrant workers) in the same locations also completed the psychosocial support program. In 2023, Insan is hoping to continue working with some of the women involved in this project (if funding allows) and provide them with extra support for accessing employment opportunities.

Secondly, Insan is about to start a new education project in January 2023. The project will target women and girls (aged 14+) and will also be implemented in Mount Lebanon and Bekaa. Like the project that just finished, it will include basic literacy and numeracy (BLN) classes. However, in addition to Arabic, English, math and life skills classes, Insan will also provide them with French and computer classes. Instead of the psychosocial support sessions, Insan will resume its vocational training (VT) program in cooking and pastry and train another group of young women to become chefs or (agri)food entrepreneurs. All the students (BLN, VT) will also be offered soft skills sessions where they learn how to write their CV, where to look for a job, how to prepare for a job interview etc. All the VT students will be able to benefit from one-on-one job counselling sessions as well and 10 most interested and talented students will be offered seed funding to launch their own small businesses.

Thank you for supporting us and the vulnerable communities in Lebanon. Stay tuned for updates next year.

For now, we wish you all a very happy and peaceful holiday season!

Best Regards,

The Insan Team

Marhaba from Insan School,

Summer has arrived to Lebanon and that has brought some relief to Insan’s beneficiaries in Bekaa who struggle to keep warm in the informal tented settlements during winter months. At the same time, in Mount Lebanon the temperatures are now reaching over 30 C and with the lack of electricity supply they struggle to keep even the basic household appliances such as fridges and washing machines working so air conditioning and fans are out of question. Also, at the school Insan is unable to have electricity 24/7 regardless of the monthly membership with a privately owned generator company. Unfortunately, this is the reality in Lebanon today.

However, the people are tough and force themselves to carry out with life as normally as possible given the circumstances. INSAN is currently conducting basic literacy and numeracy classes for young women and teenage girls in both Mount Lebanon and in Bekaa. Twice per week they have English, Arabic and math classes in each location and once a week life skills classes. In Bekaa the level in all subjects is very low as the women and girls there have mostly never been to school. Thus, they are mostly just learning letters and numbers. In Mount Lebanon the level is a bit higher and the women and girls there are also learning some basic verbs, common nouns and adjectives and read and write some simple sentences. In Arabic they have also been learning the masculine and feminine forms of words and forming questions. In math they have been learning addition, multiplication and geometry. In life skills classes they have got to know more about emotions, communication, resilience, critical thinking, team leading, working under stress and ambition.                                        

The psychosocial support sessions (PSS) are also still ongoing both in Mount Lebanon and in Bekaa. The topics covered in the last four months included the following: stress management, coping strategies, social interaction, violence, defense strategies, emotions, self-esteem and gender equality among others.

Thank you for supporting us and the vulnerable communities in Lebanon.

Best Regards,

The Insan Team

Marhaba from Insan School,

We always promise you to get back with news and here we are happy to give you updates from Insan School.

Despite all the harsh economic conditions Lebanon is passing through, we are still able to support parents, youth and children from the vulnerable refugee and host communities. In December 2021 Insan School started a new pre-vocational training program for women in two different areas across Lebanon: Mount Lebanon and Bekaa. The young women beneficiaries are excited to improve their language and math skills, aiming at becoming empowered economically and socially.

Women are also receiving psychosocial support sessions with a focus on their role in society and their equal rights. They are learning coping skills, positive relationships, social inclusion and gender equality. All activities are progressing in a timely manner in Mount Lebanon. In Bekaa we faced some delays in our sessions due to harsh weather conditions this winter but we will make sure to compensate for the few sessions missed for our beneficiaries. On the bright side, women have spent the best day of their lives this Mother’s Day as they said. They celebrated this day outdoors, ate cakes and pies, took memorable photos, played games and engaged in interactive activities as they sang and danced all together. We are happy that we were able to put joy in their hearts and beautiful smiles on their faces.

In Ghazir (Keserwan) and Ein El Remmeneh (Beirut), Insan continued to provide adults and children with PSS and arts and crafts sessions. We faced some delays in Ghazir due to snowy weather and Covid-19 that found its way to our staff, but we made up for the missed sessions in the following weeks. Adults are getting better in positive parenting, attaining coping mechanisms, empathy and support for their children using different engaging techniques including group workshops, group therapy and games. At the same time, they are enjoying arts and crafts activities such as drawing on pottery or chinaware and making straw baskets.

Children in these two areas are continuing their PSS session with a focus on child protection. They are getting more able to express their emotions, overcome traumatic events, being positive and having self-esteem. Due to the increasing video game and social media addiction in children, they are learning about its negative effects and the ways to limit the time spent on these devices.

Last but not least, children are discovering their capabilities and hobbies in the arts and crafts sessions through painting and recycling waste like creating bowling game using toilet rolls. In addition, they are getting the chance to socialize with new groups in the day events by doing different group activities.

Thank you for supporting Insan and vulnerable communities in Lebanon. We will make sure to get back with good news soon.

Best Regards,

The Insan Team