Post by Souraya Hammoud

Greetings from beautiful Akkar. My name is Souraya Hammoud and I am the National Manager of the RESLOG programme by SKL International. Our work takes place in some of the most impoverished (and at the same time most beautiful) areas of North Lebanon, where we work on promoting best practices in Local Governance and – at the same time – active citizenship with Lebanese citizens and Syrian Refugees alike. Few months ago, and realizing that little concrete actions were taken to address the waste crisis in the area, we took the challenge of training a number of Lebanese and Syrian women on upcycling, with the full support of the municipalities and with an enabling funding from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden. The beauty of upcycling is that raw material is present abundantly and for free. It does not require heavy machinery or sophisticated equipment, but rather a good dose of creativity and lots of hard work. After a period of mutual learning, we have reached a stage where 7 women cooperatives and Syrian refugee women groups are now producing state-of-the-art material that has already found its way to the Lebanese market. In order to expand our outreach (and possibly the marketing opportunities for the women groups we serve), we are delighted to invite you to a “discovery day” to get to know our area and our work. The discovery day will take place on Saturday 23 October 2021 in Lebanon’s hidden gem, the Al Azr forest in Fnaidek. According to the current forecast, it will be cool and sunny. We have structured the day as follows: - A short easy hike (90 minutes, level 3-4) with a local guide that takes you from Qamouah (another Lebanon hidden) to Al Azr Forest - A rural brunch featuring some of what the area has best to offer in terms of food. - A display of the upcycling products by some of the representatives of the women cooperatives producing them. Stay tuned for an amazement and productive day that is happening TOMORROW! Thanks to my amazing colleagues who made this happen! Takla Khoueiry Ziad Moussa Firaz khodor Khalid Al Hamwi Erik Faxgard Ellen Ahlqvist Marléne Hugosson Rajaa Abeed Nour El Hajal Iyad Kayali Stay tuned! #Rural_development #womenentrepreneurs #innovation #Crafts_and_more #empowerement