A new cycle

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LAU News Bulletin

http://www.lau.edu.lb/newsevents/news/archive/a_new_cycle/

A new cycle

Dahr el-Megher women at work.

After a visit to Dahr el-Megher LAU students take the hand-made products to present and sell

them in Beirut.

Click on any photo above to view all four images.

July 25, 2012

WEcycle, an LAU student-led project aimed at empowering local women in North Lebanon by

training them to turn waste materials into saleable handicrafts, was recently announced as thewinner in Lebanon and one of the five winners internationally of the Ripples of Happiness

competition.

Designed by Coca Cola and INJAZ Al-Arab, Ripples of Happiness fosters socialentrepreneurship and leadership skills among university students across the Arab world. Students

from several Arab universities competed to develop various initiatives that respond to critical

needs in their respective communities.

The WEcycle project emerged as a result of a close collaboration between LAUs Outreach andCivic Engagement (OCE) unit and the University Enterprise Office (UEO), who helped to

provide proper exposure to the venture.

WEcycle (Women Empowerment - Cycle) collects solid, recyclable waste (including glass,wood and plastic) from various high schools in Dahr el-Megher district of Tripoli, and allows

women to transfigure them into a variety of salable goods, such as necklaces, bird cages, trays,tissue boxes and garbage cans.

Each product has a tag bearing the name of the woman who made it, with the earnings from thesales going directly to the women themselves, as well as the schools that provided the solidwaste.

The students at Dahr el-Megher High School have been playing a key role. By collectingmaterials to recycle, they help to reduce the waste polluting their neighborhood, and learn the

importance of youth leadership on environmental issues.


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They are the future of this region, says project coordinator Reem Assi, a psychology studentwho just graduated from LAU. We want them to realize that change is in their hands.

But these students are left with more than a moral lesson. In exchange for providing the solid

waste needed for the fabrication of the artifacts, one of the schools of Dahr el-Megher was

equipped with a small library, thanks to the revenues generated from the selling of thehandiwork.

Using the yield of WEcycle in improving the situation of public schools in Lebanon is asignificant added value, says OCE Executive Director Elie Samia, adding that the energy of the

youth in local development has a crucial impact on economic growth in Lebanon.

For LAU students, the project is an opportunity to give something back to society and develop

practical skills as they prepare to enter the international workforce.

If a group of university students can accomplish so much with so little, just imagine how many

lives could be changed with sufficient resources, says active WEcycle team member GeorgeAyoub from LAU Byblos.

By winning the Ripples of Happiness competition, the students behind WEcycle will receive agrant and be given two months to implement the project, recruit a trainer who will help these

women develop selling strategies and find a decent market for them to sell their goods.

While the pilot project gave the women total freedom regarding the sorts of goods they were

making, more attention will be given this time around to the most popular items among buyers,thus boosting the womens entrepreneurial skills and understanding of market needs.

According to Assi, the grant will go to building a sustainable organization whose main goal is tospread environmental awareness by organizing recycling duties within the contributing schoolsin Dahr el-Megher, in addition to supplying the women involved with the required support to

improve the quality and usability of the recycled goods.

WEcycle will give these women a source of income, explains Assi. This job is not youraverage job. It employs housewives who, prior to this initiative, were never privileged to work

before.

Inaya Taleb a mother of five in her late thirties has been part of what she calls a unique

experience. To be able to be part of this process makes me feel proud and gratified, she says.

But its not all about the money, says Assi.

Most importantly, this project boosts the participating womens confidence and sense ofproductivity, while arming the school students of Dahr el-Megher with a feeling of responsibility

toward the environment, and allowing them to see the fruits of working as a team.


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This project has transformed waste into beauties, allowed a school to build a small library,helped the environment, and brought hope and smiles to women in Dahr el-Megher, says

director of UEO Dr. Walid Touma, who hopes that WEcycle will help to create ripples ofhappiness all over Lebanon and the region.

LAU would like to thank Maroun Al Asmar, the man behind the idea, who initially trained thewomen of Dahr el-Megher; Chadi Nachabe, coordinator with Injaz, who assisted the team infocusing their plan; Carmen Geha, trainer from Beyond Reform & Development, who trained the

team in fine-tuning their idea and work plan and LAU alumna Dima Khoury, executive directorwith Injaz, who initiated LAUs engagement in the project.

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A new cycle