Skill-building for Unemployed Youth in Lebanon

Dear Friends,

I hope you're all keeping safe and well as COVID19 and its many variants continue to threaten our very lives.

Let me start by thanking you for believing in us, supporting our mission, and for your continuous support.

Youth in Lebanon now, more than ever need your support.

Here's why!

While the world battles COVID19, in Lebanon, and in addition to the pandemic our list of struggles continues to grow by the day. The economic collapse, shortages in food, water, medicine, fuel, and power, etc... have brought the vast majority of the Lebanese to their knees.

All of these factors have left youth in Lebanon crippled, confused, and hopeless. Thousands have left the country but those who cannot afford to do so live in deep despair.

As such, we here at Nawaya are committed to upskilling youth and equipping them with essential entrepreneurship skills for financial stability and in turn personal wellbeing. This is exactly what we continue to work and fight for through this program.

With over 6,843 youth trained and 929 micro-enterprises launched through this program over the past few years, you've given youth the opportunity to generate an income through these enterprises, but perhaps more importantly the opportunity to believe in tomorrow and hope for a better future. 

Amid these struggles, some youth within this program are shining beacons of hope and resilience. Such is the case with Karen and Yasmina!

Twenty-three-year-old Karen started a modern crocheting business inspired by her mum, whose hobby was crocheting. With minimal resources and a lot of creativity, Karen has managed to turn traditional crocheting into fun toys, ornaments, and decorative items.

When her dad lost his job, Karen doubled down on her efforts and despite the deep economic crisis, she's now enlisted her mum, dad, sister, and neighbor to work full time at Crochet by Karen! 

Karen is now the bread-earner in the family and was able to do so through this very program, thanks to the support of UNICEF.

Twenty-two-year-old Yasmina is another inspiring youth in our program. Deeply passionate about the environment, she sought to solve one of Lebanon's biggest challenges: glass waste management. She created a machine that breaks down this glass into small particles which are ten times stronger than cement and can easily replace it in construction and decoration.

With Lebanon's mountains being destroyed to extract and process raw construction material, and glass waste being largely ignored, Yasmina's simple yet creative approach is a perfect solution to these two problems!

Yasmina is now working to build relations with municipalities and waste management organizations for the collection of glass waste for processing! 

We hope these two stories have instilled a little bit of hope in your hearts, they sure have in ours.

Until our next update, please stay safe, and thank you again for your continued support.

Sincerely,

Celine