For its 17^th consecutive year, The René Moawad Foundation (RMF) is organizing its annual Christmas village from 19 till 22 December 2017 at St. John’s church square, Zgharta. Four days of festive activities featuring a special Christmas market, Ghinwa, a concert by Abeer Nehme and George Nehme, a concert by the official band of “Ecole d’art et de musique” and a performance by Mia Haddad and her band await you. RMF’s Christmas Village is a yearly opportunity for the residents of Zgharta and the neighboring towns to celebrate joyful moments like no other with their friends and families.

The René Moawad Foundation launched an initiative to raise awareness about the importance of personal hygiene and environmental cleanliness for 150 children and adolescents in the Bab al-Tabbaneh area between the ages of 7-18.

Based on a mini-study done by the students of the hairdressing course at RMF for Education and Protection Services within the framework of the UNICEF-funded “Youth Support through Education, Capacity Building and Employment in the North” project, many children in Bab El Tebbaneh lack the culture of a hygiene and cleanliness in general.

The students proposed a recreational educational program on hygiene and protecting the environment, dealing with the problem of waste and recycling, presented in a fun and interesting manner in cooperation with the actor Nazih Youssef and a group of students of the center.

“Supporting vulnerable girls and boys with learning, soft and hard skills and employability programmes in the North” project implemented by the Rene Moawad Foundation allows young Lebanese and non-Lebanese youth to participate and empower themselves to pursue meaningful lifestyles, engage in activities that benefit their communities, develop their abilities and life skills, and increase their self-confidence to be active in their environment.

RMF launched a new initiative to help the Lebanese apple growers export their produce to new foreign markets. The initiative was an answer to the serious crisis that the Lebanese apple farmers have been enduring for the past few years, not being able to find markets for their produce. It is an initiative that comes under RMF’s ‘Providing support for Agriculture and for Rural Development’ program.

The efforts put by RMF’s Executive Director Michel Moawad led to opening the Russian markets for the first time to the Lebanese apples. RMF worked in cooperation with a company that specializes in finding markets for Lebanese vegetables and fruits in Russia.

The packaging was done according to high quality specifications to meet the quality norms required by the Russian market and International Quality Standards set and verified by ‘Bureau Veritas’. Entering the Russian market for the first time, this initiative is an experiment to test the Lebanese apples’ appeal to local consumers. Hopefully, with a positive response, the initiative will be opening new export markets for larger quantities of Lebanese apples produce in the future, helping the Lebanese apple farmer to stick to his farming activities and ‘stay in his land’!

The apple crisis

The Lebanese apple grower depends on this activity to earn his livelihood. Closed borders and poor marketing in foreign countries had caused him recently to face extremely challenging conditions while trying to sell his produce. What added to his plight this season was the issue of the compensation proposed to him by the government, for not being able to sell his produce. Consequently, most of farmers were left with no gains or profit.

The urging appeals to the government and the authorities to support and help the apple producers reach foreign markets hadn’t led to any relevant initiative. Trusting the quality of the Lebanese apple and the potential to export it to the various parts of the world, RMF moved forward with the ‘Russian market’ initiative.

The endeavor is in tune with RMF’s main objectives to help the Lebanese citizen stay in his land, and help establish foundations for his social stability. In this case, the initiative will help the Lebanese farmers live with dignity and have access to social justice.

Rene Moawad Foundation (RMF) celebrated on November 21 the completion of the Irrigation Water Conveyance Network project in Bhannine, Minnieh-Dinnieh as part of the USAID funded Building Alliance for Local Advancement, Development, and Investment (BALADI) program.  The celebration took place in the village of Bhannine in the presence of USAID staff, RMF General Director, Mr. Nabil Moawad, the mayor and members of the municipal council of Bhannine, representatives of Sada El Minnieh Association, farmers of Bhannine, and community supporters.

Through BALADI, USAID contributed $123,000 to establish and rehabilitate 1.9 kilometers of irrigation canals over 100 hectares of agriculture lands, benefiting 350 farmers in Bhannine.  The municipality has also contributed $26,000 in construction works.  Prior to the project, the farmers of Bhannine suffered from significant water loss and an inefficient irrigation system as a result of their reliance on earthen canals and old conveyance networks.  With the rehabilitated canals, farmers are now able to better irrigate their crops, look forward to increased production and save approximately $500 per year (per farmer) in irrigation costs.

The five-year $26 million USAID BALADI project is currently implementing 54 activities which engage 137 municipalities to promote socio-economic development throughout Lebanon.  These activities meet the needs of communities in multiple sectors including electricity generation through solar power, improved irrigation systems, access to potable water, equipment for public schools and community health clinics, community social and sports centers, and income generation through rural tourism, agro-processing, entrepreneurship, and skills training.  More information about BALADI can be found on http://baladi-lebanon.org/en

Under the UNICEF funded project “Supporting vulnerable girls and boys with learning, soft and hard skills and employ-ability programs in the North”, The Rene Moawad Foundation along with Omar Karami Foundation organized various fun activities at the Forum Of the Handicapped, in Al Mina , Tripoli. This community initiative was initiated by the youth under the Unicef project and targeted children with/without disability at the forum.