Support Small Entrepreneurs in Lebanon & Jordan

Bourj Hammoud, a densely populated and diverse city on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, is home to over 94,000 people from several ethnicities, nationalities, and religions. Living conditions in this suburb are very crowded and substandard. Commonly known through the years as the “hub for refugees”, Bourj Hammoud is now home to over 18,000 Syrians who have fled to Lebanon for a better life.

Most refugees have little to no source of sustainable income as their savings have been depleted—pushing them into risky coping strategies like child labor and exploitative, illegal, or demeaning work. With an aim to improve access to food and increase the economic resilience of at least 150 poor Syrian and Lebanese families over the coming months, NEF is focused on cost-effective solutions to achieve self-reliance through urban agriculture, small business development, financial literacy, and group savings.

NEF is working with the American University of Beirut (AUB) and the YMCA-Lebanon to help vulnerable families grow fresh fruits and vegetables at home by providing training and start-up materials for container gardening, vertical gardening, and/or rooftop gardening.

The very first woman to welcome the idea of urban agriculture into her home is Araxi. Araxi is a Syrian refugee who escaped the war three years ago. Like most Syrian refugees in Lebanon, she is struggling with insufficient financial resources as she and her husband try to put their two children through school, pay rent, and put food on the table.

After installation in early October, Araxi is already benefitting from the vertical garden which will yield enough onions, garlic, thyme, marjoram, and mint to use in her kitchen—reducing expenses she would otherwise incur purchasing these vegetables elsewhere.

“The kit was just recently installed, but the onion leaves are shooting, and my aunt and I already ate from them. On another note, the week I harvested the green onion leaves, I did not go to the supermarket to purchase onions or green onion leaves. In the long run, this will make a lot of difference.”

With diminishing humanitarian aid, your support is appreciated more than ever. Thank you for your continued support of the Near East Foundation, and for helping women like Araxi and her family find safe and sustainable solutions to achieve food and financial security!

Links:

• http://www.neareast.org

Today, Lebanon hosts more than 1.1 million Syrian refugees and Jordan hosts over 600,000. As the crisis enters its fifth year, refugees have depleted their savings and humanitarian aid is declining—leaving refugees to survive on just 50 cents today, and vulnerable families to resort to harmful coping mechanisms such as begging and child labor.

While immediate humanitarian aid is important, NEF is focused on cost-effective actions that have long-term sustainable impacts by enabling refugees to meet their own needs with dignity, and becoming productive members of their host communities. 

This month, the Near East Foundation held its first workshops in Lebanon as a part of its project to help refugees and vulnerable members of their host communities in Lebanon and Jordan build economic resilience and food security.  

On December 9^th, NEF led an urban agriculture workshop at the YMCA in Beirut, Lebanon. Thirteen Syrian and Lebanese women from Bourj Hammoud attended, and were trained by American University of Beirut experts on urban agriculture topics, such as: vertical and horizontal planting, composting techniques, and how to use a sun-dryer.

As the workshop came to an end, the participants were enthusiastic to apply the newly learned information in their own homes. Many mentioned that they would like to attend similar workshops to further refine their skills. 

That same week, NEF led a second series of workshops on enterprise development. The aim of the four-day workshop was to help Syrian and Lebanese women study the aptness of their business ideas to ultimately translate them into viable business plans. The workshops also taught participants how to write clear, concise and effective marketing strategies, and the appropriate techniques needed to formulate a sound organizational and financial plan. 

One participant, Ada, who is a Syrian refugee and mother of two remarked “I have enough self-confidence to become an entrepreneur…but I need to refine my skills”.

A committee, comprised of representatives from NEF, YMCA-Lebanon, the American University of Beirut, and other business professionals, will evaluate the proposed business plans and give feedback and guidance where necessary so that these plans may one day transform into operating businesses. 

With a focus on women and adolescent girls, NEF’s overall aim over the next two years is to help at least 5,000 Syrian, Lebanese, and Jordanian families restore their livelihoods and achieve some degree of economic stability.

As always, thank you for your support of NEF and for supporting our project to “Help Syrian Refugees Help Themselves”!

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