Rami is very satisfied with the training he attended in El Ain Amel center over the last 18 months. He had to stop studying due to the war in Syria, but he did not give up to improve his skills.
“It is an opportunity,” he said, “gives you the chance to improve yourself, especially that you are outside your country. Now, wherever you go, you have a certificate.”
Rami is one of the 6,500 students, Syrian and Lebanese women and youth, who joined Empowering Now project, implemented in nine Amel centres all over Lebanon.
The project’s goal is to empower women and youth to access the labour market through vocational training schemes, job placement/internship services, support to business start-ups or
cooperatives and psychosocial support.
Many students found a job during and after the trainings, and some of them were able to achieve a long-dreamed goal. It is the case of Nour, a 19 years old Syrian girl who is now planning to work in a Beauty center: “My dream was to learn how to do make up and now my dream became true. Moreover, this activity is beautiful and entertaining.”
The realization of the project has not always been easy, as Ghouroub El Flitty, Amel social worker in Ersal center, explains: “The challenges started from the very beginning. There were problems to merge the Lebanese with the refugees and the hardest thing was to convince boys and girls to seat in the same class, but we do not have this problem anymore and now you cannot distinguish the refugees from the local.”
Amel implemented this project in partnership with Culture and Science Foundation (CSF), Youth for Development (YfD) and Akkar Network for Development (AND) in their community centers located in Ersal, El Ain, Hayye Sellom, Ain El Remaneh, Haret Hreik and Chiyah (Amel), Saida (CSF), Mar Elias Camp (YfD) and Halba (AND).
