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New Feed Mill at the COOP

The Animal Feed Mill at the Development Cooperative in Jizzine (COOP) was officially launched in December 2007 in a rented location near the Cooperative Center in Azour, Jizzine. The Feed Mill was mainly established to cover the needs of COOP members /Project beneficiaries (Poultry, Broilers and Goats beneficiaries) by ensuring quality feed at affordable prices and to generate additional income to the COOP from selling feed to COOP members as well as farmers (non-members) from various villages of the district.
The COOP buys raw materials from the local market and processes them in the Feed Mill; thus, ensuring the right mix to various needs, facilitating accessibility to feed at competitive prices, controlling feed quality, and generating income to the COOP.
Important to mention that, during February 2008, the COOP’s income from selling both poultry and goat feed reached more than USD 15,000.

With generous funding from the USAID/Leahy War Victims Fund, WRF launched in 2001 a project that aims at expanding economic opportunities for victims of war – including landmine survivors – in the Administrative District of Jizzine – South Lebanon. As part of this project, five income-generating programs have been launched so far (Poultry Raising for Free-Range Egg Production, Free-Range Chicken Broilers Production, Beekeeping, Herb Cultivation, and Goats Raising for Milk Production) in addition to several processing facilities that help in testing, processing and packaging the products before being sent to the market under a COOP-registered brand name B.Balady®.
WRF also provided the COOP with material and technical assistance to launch and sustain additional income generating programs including the COOP’s B.Balady® Retail Shop, the Internet Café, and the Animal Feed.
Moreover, with funding from USAID/Leahy war Victims Fund, WRF and the COOP also launched the process of building a new COOP Center in Azour that will house the COOP’s management and operational activities. This is expected to be completed by June 30, 2008.
 


Cornerstone Event – 10 December 2007

As part of the “Expanding Economic Opportunities for Victims of War in the District of Jizzine – South Lebanon” Project, the COOP and WRF started implementing the planned activities for Phase IV since September 2007 including the preparations to construct the Cooperative Center that will house all COOP functions by August 2008. Despite the numerous challenges – such as July-August war 2006 which delayed the construction and the transfer of the Phase III money obliging the concerned parties to relook the building design and postpone the tendering process – the COOP and WRF succeeded in starting with the excavation of the land on November 2007.
On December 10th, a cornerstone event for the new COOP Center was organized in the presence of the US Ambassador to Lebanon. The event was also attended by the USAID/Lebanon Mission Director, Director General of Cooperatives in Lebanon, COOP team, WRF team, and all concerned including Jizzine District Mayor (Qa’imaqam), village mayors, community leaders and COOP members.
During the ceremony that preceded laying the cornerstone, speeches stressed on the importance of the partnership between USAID, WRF and the COOP which helped to the success of the project and its expansion and extension beyond the initial plan . in addition, the director of the COOP thanked the US government and people for their continuous support to the Lebanese people especially their generous grants to the Cooperative of Jizzine thus helping more than 1500 war and landmines survivors.
 
Puppet Shows in South Lebanon as Part of the Mine Risk Education Community Interventions

Citizens of south Lebanon, children in particular, continue to face tremendous risks of being injured and/or killed by cluster bombs, unexploded munitions and landmines remnants of the war of July-August 2006. Through its Mine Risk Education (MRE) community interventions, WRF commissioned the production and performance of an entertaining and educational Puppet Show aiming at introducing and reinforcing MRE messages that would keep children in the villages aware of the prevailing dangers and informed about risky behaviors and safety procedures. 27 performances have been conducted in different regions of South Lebanon, thus targeting more than 8,600 children enrolled in elementary schools.
The show was performed in different regions of South Lebanon including the administrative districts of Nabatieh (2771 children), Marjeyoun (617 children), Bint Jbeil (2441 children), Tyre (1893 children), Hasbaya (300 children) and Jizzine (625 children). In addition to introducing and reinforcing the awareness MRE messages, the performers conducted a direct evaluation at the end of each show asking the children specific questions regarding what they have learnt.
 
Two billboards in South Lebanon part of the Mine Risk Education and Awareness Campaign
Citizens and visitors of south Lebanon continue to face tremendous risks of being injured and/or killed due to cluster bombs, unexploded munitions and landmines remnants of July-august war 2006. Through its experience in the field of mine risk education and awareness, the World Rehabilitation Fund (WRF) implemented two Risk Education and awareness billboard campaigns in South Lebanon. The first campaign was launched during the Christmas/ Adha/New Year holidays (December 28, 06 – January 22, 07) all over South Lebanon and its entrances. This campaign communicated a set of five messages to alert and inform people about types, shapes and colors of cluster bombs and unexploded Ordnances (UXOs), places where they could be encountered, alerting signs, possible injuries and their devastating nature and safe behaviors & reporting procedures. The second campaign was launched during the Easter holiday (April 1 – April 20, 2007) and communicated the same set of messages as the first campaign.
The project targeted the Region of South Lebanon including the administrative districts of Nabatieh, Marjeioun, Bint Jebil, Sour, Hasbaya and Jezzine. These districts are estimated to have a population of more than 350,000. The objectives of this project were to prevent injuries from unexploded munitions, cluster bombs, and landmines among residents in, and visitors to, infested areas of South Lebanon and to address some of the needs of individuals with disabilities caused by war or injuries from cluster bombs and landmines and worsened or compounded by war events and worsening socioeconomic conditions to help them cope and recover livelihoods.
 
Certificates distribution to the participants of “The Traditional Home Made Food Products” training sessions
Mr. Emile Jebran, Chairman of the COOP’s Board, distributed on April 3rd, 2007 the certificates of the “Traditional Home-Made Food Products” Training to the 11 women - COOP members and concerned community members - who had participated to the training. Although the training targeted around 15 women, certificates were issued for the ones who attended the entire training.

This training was part of the efforts of WRF to expand the community and sectoral commitments and support systems in favor of the development cooperative in Jizzine (COOP) as part of its expanding economic opportunities funded by the USAID. The training program started on September 4, 2006 and ended on October 10, 2006 with 12 sessions of 3 hours each. The main goal of this course was to develop the skills of participants in making traditional home-made food products (jam, pickles…) with the possibility of selling the products in the B. Balady® Retail and to motivate them to keep on preparing them at home, in addition to improving their abilities in packaging and marketing the products to be shown at the retail shop, which contributes in increasing the income of the COOP and helps the beneficiaries through promoting their home-made products.

The training that took place in the Cooperative Center in Azour was conducted by Mrs. Sabah Zibawi an expert in preparing this kind of traditional food. The participants who received their certificates are: Ms. Mirna Soueidy, Ms, rima Fadel, Ms, Thérèse Boutros, Ms. Christelle Khalil, Ms. Suzanne Soueidy, Ms. Antoinette Antoun, Ms. Siham Haddad, Ms. Hendawa Helou, Ms. Rita Kattar, Ms. Mitsi Abi Nader, and Ms. Dalal Azoury.

 

The COOP bunny is distributing boiled eggs during the Easter vacation in Jizzine – South Lebanon
The Easter check point of the Development Cooperative in Jizzine (COOP) has become a yearly tradition expected by all in the district of Jizzine – South Lebanon. As always the Easter bunny – with assistance from the COOP staff – stopped all cars passing by the COOP building in Azour and gave one boiled egg to every passenger and one Taaouniati issue per car. This event is originally designed to introduce people to all COOP programs supported by the World Rehabilitation Fund (WRF) and funded by the USAID and Leahy War Victims Fund (LWVF).

This year, the check point was set up on Friday April 6th, 2007 in its usual post in front of the B.Balady® retail shop in Azour. Nine packs of 30 eggs were boiled with a total of 180 eggs and an average of 120 issues of the 12 and 13 Taaouniati issues were distributed. In addition, a stand of the B.Balady® products was set to attract visitors to the retail shop. The stand displayed a variety of the products of its four income-generating programs (the Poultry Raising for Egg Production Program, the Chicken Broilers Production Program, the Beekeeping Program and the Herb Cultivation Program) as well as a few homemade natural products produced by members of the COOP.

The COOP in emergency situations (July-August 2006)
From July 12 till August 14, 2006, Lebanon suffered from air, ground and sea attacks by Israel. Many civilians have been killed, including women and children; and homes, businesses, properties and civilian infrastructures have been destroyed, including roads, bridges, gas stations, transportation and telecommunications.
Casualties were estimated at more than a thousand dead persons and four thousand injured. More than half a million persons were displaced, having left regions directly affected by the war to seek shelter in less risky areas.
The Jezzine region in South Lebanon, away from military activities for its bigger part, witnessed an influx of families displaced from South Lebanon to its different villages.
Within the emergency situation, and despite the numerous challenges, the “Development Cooperative in Jezzine” (COOP), with the support of WRF team in Jezzine and Beirut, was operational during the entire war time facing and surviving emerging challenges.
The COOP products including eggs and chicken were being marketed mostly in the region of Jezzine, as circumstances were making it very difficult and often dangerous for the COOP team to reach other markets. The situation had also created increased demand inside the district, since there was little movement of goods in or out of Jezzine with Israelis targeting among other things moving vehicles.
Despite the scarcity of fuel and the increase of the price of poultry feed, thus affecting the cost price of the product, the COOP did not increase the prices of its products, for it strongly believes that part of its mission is to contribute to alleviating the economic burden on war affected persons.
Along with its busy schedule in distributing the products, the COOP was also involved in relief activities which it performed in collaboration, cooperation and support of WRF. On July 20th for example, COOP members and staff participated to the emergency team in charge of preparing the evacuation of US citizens from South Lebanon. US citizens that happened to be in South Lebanon on July 12th and were not able to leave it after the hostilities started, gathered in two places (St. Joseph University in Abra and the COOP’s internet café) where they received food awaiting to be transported to Beirut in order to be evacuated.
As many other businesses in Lebanon and especially in South Lebanon, the COOP suffered enormous losses related to products, etc. Many chicken raising beneficiaries had to leave their farms and homes, thus leaving the chicken without food or water for 33 days. The situation was the same for bees and herbs beneficiaries. This resulted in the death of a large number of chickens and the destruction of many lands and beehives.
WRF and the COOP always rely on the cooperation between them and on the willingness of their teams to face any challenge or hard situation. It is with this spirit that the COOP will grow and with this spirit that WRF will keep working to enable people with disabilities to achieve social integration through rehabilitation.
 
Love for Knowledge Vacation Camp

With WRF technical and material support, 40 children of landmine survivors and war victims, members of the Development Cooperative in Jizzine, participated in the “Love for Knowledge Vacation Camp” along with nine other children from the Jizzine community. The participating children, aged between 6 and 13 years, had met 3 times per week over a period of 6 weeks — extending from July 11 until August 22, 2005 — at Mashmoushi Convent Amphitheater, in Mashmoushi, Jizzine.
A group of professional experts organized the camp, which included the following activities: (i) Teaching of dancing, theater, music and computers, (ii) introduction to the movie world;


Souvenir photo for a group of participating children
watching educational movies, (iii) story reading, (iv) general knowledge, (v) healthy nutrition (in coordination with the Landmines Resource Center (LMRC) of the University of Balamand - UOB), (vi) preservation of the environment (in coordination with the LMRC - UOB), (vii) educational games, activities and crafts, and (viii) outdoor camp activities, like marching and visiting the Scouts’ Center in Sabbah village.
The aim of the camp was to (i) promote integration of children of landmine survivors and war victims within their community; (ii) enhance cooperation and group-work spirit among war-affected children; (iii) increase children’s self-expression and self-concept; (iv) enhance their involvement in community activities and encourage community volunteerism; (v) build up their artistic, creative and social skills; (vi) develop their interest in reading, computers, art, music and theater; and (vii) expand their knowledge about issues related to landmine awareness, environment, and healthy nutrition.

 
Advocacy for Mine Awareness and Mine Victims Assistance in Schools

A Mine Risk Education documentary film, titled “Beware Mines”, was launched on February 7, 2005 within the context of the “General Mine Action Program”, implemented in Lebanon by the World Rehabilitation Fund (WRF) since June 1998. Beware Mines was developed by WRF in collaboration with the National Demining Office (NDO) – Lebanese Army and the National Mine Awareness Steering Committee (NMASC) and with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The film contributes to mine risk education interventions through informative material and real life testimonies of a teenaged survivor, a widow of a mine victim, and a father of a four-year-old victim.


Director of WRF giving a speech about the film

The launching of the film took place at the Landmines Resource Center of the University of Balamand in Beirut in presence of General Salim Raad, the commanding officer of the National Demining Office, USAID-Lebanon Mission Director, Mr. Raouf Youssef, and the Program Management Specialist at USAID, Mrs. Sana Saliba Khoury along with officers of the NDO, the Landmines Resource Center (LMRC), concerned UN agencies, embassies, local and international non-governmental organizations, education and psychosocial specialists, schools, universities, and the general public. The Ambassadors of Canada and Switzerland were also present.
The launching of the film was followed by an open discussion on how the film can best impact children, especially that this film could be used as part of a Mine Awareness Education and Training Kit.
 

Landmine Advocacy on Television
Following the launching of the documentary film “Beware Mines”, a series of live television interviews and testimonies about the film and the status of landmine risk education and that of landmine survivors in Lebanon were conducted on Future Television in collaboration with the World Rehabilitation Fund and all concerned. Within this context, “Aalam Al Sabah” (The Morning TV Show) program dedicated 20 minutes daily for a period of five days extending from February 7 to February 11, 2005 to host landmine survivors and representatives of concerned local and international non-governmental organizations working in mine action in Lebanon. It is estimated that the show is watched by millions of spectators locally and internationally.


Advocacy for Mine Awareness and Mine Victims Assistance in Schools

Within the context of the Jizzine Project a stand was set at the Christian Teaching Institute (CTI) in Horsh Tabet, Beirut, on December 14, 2004, to exhibit and market products produced by landmine survivors benefiting from the Project within the framework of the “Development Cooperative in Jizzine”. Hundreds of students, teachers, and staff members visited the stand and purchased B.Balady® products that included free-range eggs, honey, beeswax candles, dried and distillate lavender, rosemary and sage water.
This activity was believed to be affective in (i) increasing mine awareness among school children, parents, and teachers; (ii) exposing needs and rights.

 
 B.Balady display stand at CTI
of landmine survivors; (iii) promoting the concept of mine victims’ assistance; (iv) promoting the Jizzine Project and the partner cooperative; and (v) marketing the “B.Balady” products.

Members of the Development Cooperative in Jizzine Change the By-laws

Within the context of the USAID-funded project, “Expanding Economic Opportunities for Landmine Survivors”, implemented by the World Rehabilitation Fund (WRF) in the District of Jizzine, South Lebanon, a special General Assembly was held by the Development Cooperative in Jizzine (COOP), on December 25, 2004, aiming at changing its by-laws to expand its membership to include war victims in addition to landmine survivors. 94 of the currently enrolled 118 landmine survivors attended the Assembly. All of the 94 attending members voted for the change of the by-laws, which opens the door to other war victims to benefit from the project and to be part of all the activities of the COOP.


Members of the COOP voting in the Special General Assembly

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