Provide Education for Vulnerable People in Lebanon

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