On December 25, 2004 and within the context of the Jizzine Project, the Executive Board and the Monitoring Committee of the Development Cooperative in Jizzine (COOP) celebrated the completion of the first phase of the “Management Capacity Building Training Program”. Seventeen participants in the training program received their certificates in presence of the trainer, the COOP Board and members, and the Beirut and Jizzine teams of the World Rehabilitation Fund (WRF). The celebration took place during a reception dinner organized by the COOP and attended by 165 individuals including COOP members and their spouses.

A member of the COOP receiving her certificate

The Development Cooperative in Jizzine (COOP) organized, with collaboration with the WRF and the Landmines Resource Center (LMRC), a mine awareness and educational event targeting children of landmine survivors benefiting from the Jizzine Project and their friends. The event, which was held on December 30, 2004, included a mine risk education session and an educational theater play titled "Holiday Night Love”. The aims of the event, which was attended by more than 350 children, were to (i) enhance interaction between families of landmine survivors and their social counterparts, (ii) social reintegration of landmine survivors’ children by means of educational and recreational activities, and (iii) mine risk education.

During the mine risk education presentation

At the end of the event, all attending children received from Santa Clause small gifts and goody bags, many of which were generous donations from several local individuals and shops in Jizzine area. This event proved to be successful in transmitting appropriate mine awareness messages, enhancing social reintegration, empowering disadvantaged families, and promoting coordination among all concerned, particularly the COOP, concerned communities, and the private sector.

With support from WRF, the Jizzine Resource Cooperative (COOP) participated in a few local festivals and fairs. Such activities included Souk Al Tayyeb Farmers’ Day, Jizzine Summer Exhibition, Marjeyoun Touristic and Cultural Exhibition, and the Made in American 2004 Fair. Thousands of local community members and tourists visited these fairs where they were introduced to the Project, its production lines and B.Balady products.WRF and the COOP will continue participating in such activities in
the aim to (i) advocate the objectives of the Jizzine Project, (ii) mobilize community involvement and support, and (iii) promote the marketing and sales of B.Balady products.

 
COOP stand in the Jizzine 2004 Summer Exhibition

During the period from 5 until 12 July, 2004, four of the children of landmine survivors benefiting from the Jizzine Project, age between 18 and 22 years, participated in the “Youth Training Camp 2004” in Ras-el-Matn area of Mount Lebanon.
The camp, which was organized by the Young Men Christian Association (YMCA), aimed at developing participants’ personal skills and knowledge related to “Managing Children’s Summer Camps”. The program of this training camp covered the: (i) major objectives of Children’s Summer Camps; (ii) basic techniques and management skills required in activities applied in children’s camps like craft work, group work, interaction, and the like; (iii) enhancing the participants’ independence; (iv)

Participants in the Camp

On August 11, 2004 and within the context of the educational activities that WRF organizes in collaboration with the COOP, 47 children of landmine survivors benefiting from the Jizzine Project attended a musical play titled “Open a Book” at Audéon Theater in Beirut, whose theme revolved around good and evil, love, acceptance and forgiveness.
The participating children, whose ages ranged between 5 and 12 years, wore white shirts that carried the name of the Jizzine Project and the logos of WRF and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Moreover, the children were accompanied with two of the WRF Jizzine staff in addition to the 4 adults who attended the “YMCA Youth Training Camp 2004”.

The participating children on stage

At the end of the play, storybooks were distributed to the children and they were accompanied to an amusement park where they had lunch and played for around two hours before going back to Jizzine.

Within the context of its mission to achieve effective social integration for landmine survivors and their families, the World Rehabilitation Fund (WRF) extends its community mobilization activities to reach school and university students in order to promote mine risk education, awareness about landmine victims, social integration, human interaction, and volunteering spirit among the children and youth.
Since the beginning of 2004, more than eight visits have been arranged for students from different schools and universities to the Jizzine Project [American Community School (ACS);

 

A student collecting eggs from one of the farms

 Christian Teaching Institute (CTI); Maria Aziz Technical Institute; Lebanese University (LU); and American University of Beirut (AUB)]. Visits to the Jizzine Project included field visits to beneficiaries, poultry farms, medicinal herb fields, apiaries, the Development Cooperative Resource Center and the WRF office in Azour. Moreover, some of the visits included community work where students volunteered to help out in several activities and tasks including cleaning poultry farms and herb fields, packing beeswax candles, assembling B.Balady egg cartons, egg packing, as well as several other activities.

On April 6, 2004 a stand was set at the Christian Teaching Institute (CTI) during the lunch break for 30 minutes to display and sell B.Balady products that landmine survivors benefiting from the Jizzine Project had produced. The B.Balady products included eggs boxes, honey jars, dried lavender in decorated bags, distillate lavender, rosemary, and sage water, in addition to beeswax candles.
Almost 500 students from different age groups and grade levels visited the stand and bought from the B.Balady products.

Kinder Garden students at the B.Balady stand

During this activity, more than 300 beeswax candles of different models and shapes were sold, in addition to 105 decorated bags of dried lavender, 19 small honey jars, 3 big honey jars and 5 bottles of distillate lavender, rosemary, and sage water.The total amount of sales in this activity exceeded 550$ where the profits went to landmine survivors benefiting from the Jizzine Project.

On the occasion of the Global Youth Service Days (G.Y.S.D) which took place between the 16th and 18th of April, 2004, and within the context of promoting reactivity, volunteerism and philanthropy among the youth, WRF cooperated with the Association for Volunteer Services (AVS) to host a group of students to work (help out) in the Jizzine Project. Thus, on April 17, 2004 a group of 22 students accompanied with 8 monitors visited the Jizzine Project. These students, whose ages ranged between 12 and 14 years old, came from four different schools from Hasbayya area and

Volunteers cleaning a herb field 
 

volunteered to clean a herb field for a landmine survivor benefiting from the Jizzine Project. The value of the cleaning process, which took around six hours to accomplish, goes way beyond the cost of needed labor that was not affordable to this person.

During the period extending from 19 to 22 May, 2004, and within the context of the Jizzine Project, the “Development Cooperative in Jizzine” formed from landmine survivors benefiting from WRF Project participated in the first garden-event initiated in Lebanon, “The Garden Show”.
Thousands of people from different backgrounds and nationalities visited the Show, which included one-hundred fifty stands of: garden-related items, garden furniture, eco tourism, in addition to natural food and agriculture.

B.Balady stand at the Garden Show 
 

Participation in this Show aimed at advocating the Project's objectives, mobilizing community involvement and support, expanding mine risk education, and promoting the marketing and sales of the Project products (eggs, honey, dried herbs, distillate water, and essential oils), which are found in the market under the brand name B.Balady®. The B.Balady participation in this Garden Show left a positive impact on the people who visited the Show.

On February 23, 2004 Lebanon Web Awards 2003 was organized for the first time in Lebanon and the Arab World by the Assembly of Professionals and Technicians and in partnership with Microsoft. The objective of the competition was to promote the innovative spirit of graduates in related fields in addition to the intellectual and financial productive opportunities. Moreover, the competition aimed at encouraging all sectors to be involved in the electronic world and show the best design for websites.

 

WRF and IDM representatives receiving the
Bronze Medal and a Certificate

Participants in the competition included companies, web designers, web developers, and students of related fields. A Technical Committee, which consists of judges from Microsoft cooperation and a group of university professors and high technical institutions and specialists in the field, nominated 33 websites to participate in the Lebanon Web Awards 2003. Within the category of “International Organizations”, the website of the World Rehabilitation Fund-Lebanon (www.wrf.org.lb), which is designed by IncoNet-Data Management (IDM), won the Bronze Medal for its structure, concept/creativity, aesthetics (visual design solution), and technical skills.

On March 20, 2004 and on the occasion of the Child’s Day, the Education Student Society (ESS) at the American University of Beirut (AUB) organized its Annual “Reading Day”. Forty-nine children of landmine survivors benefiting from the Jizzine Project (aged between 6 and 12) participated in the activity along with other children from different geographical areas of Lebanon.
The objectives of this activity included (i) encouraging and promoting reading, (ii) enhancing social and cultural interaction, and (iii) enhancing social reintegration and psycho-social rehabilitation of children of landmine survivors.
 

At the "Create a Book" corner

The program of the day, which extended from 9:00 am until 3:00 pm, was distributed over the following activities: reading stories; discussing and acting out the stories read; drawing and coloring; face painting; singing and dancing; and watching musical and cartoon videos. At the end of the day, monitors from the ESS took the children on a tour around AUB campus and distributed a story book to each child.

With support from the World Rehabilitation Fund (WRF) and in cooperation with the “Development Cooperative in Jizzine” (COOP), a gathering was arranged to the mothers of families benefiting from the Project on the occasion of the Mother’s Day at the WRF Office in Azour.
 
Thirty mothers participated in this activity that aimed at enhancing interaction and social integration among landmine survivors.
During the gathering the mothers filled in a questionnaire with questions relating to their social interests, vocational capacity, needs, suggestions, and recommendations to the WRF and the COOP.
 

Distributing red roses to the participating mothers

Within the context of the Jizzine Project and during this Easter Season, the “Development Cooperative in Jizzine” (COOP) continued the tradition of celebrating Easter in a unique way.
An “eggs road block” was set in front of the Cooperative Center in Azour on April 8 and 9, 2004 where boiled B.Balady eggs were distributed to the people passing by, who stopped to purchase B.Balady products from the COOP B.Balady Retail Shop and take photos with Easter Bunny.
Some people were interested in supporting the work of the landmine survivors benefiting from the Jizzine Project by donating cash money to the COOP.

A COOP member and the Easter Bunny distributing B.Balady eggs

Beside revenues that were generated from the sales of the COOP products in the retail shop, a total of $766 was donated to the COOP during this activity.