Dot Lebanon Graduates The Participants Of The “Let’S Communicate” And "aswatouna" Projects

DOT Lebanon, the Solidarity Association for Social & Cultural Development (SASCD) and the Women's Program Center (WPC) organized a joint graduation ceremony for the youth and women in the Ein El Helwe Palestinian Refugee Camp on January 07, 2012 to celebrate the completion of DOT Lebanon's "Let's Communicate" and "Our Voices (ASWATOUNA)" projects.
DOT Lebanon, the Solidarity Association for Social & Cultural Development (SASCD) and the Women's Program Center (WPC) organized a joint graduation ceremony for the youth and women in the Ein El Helwe Palestinian Refugee Camp on January 07, 2012 to celebrate the completion of DOT Lebanon's "Let's Communicate" and "Our Voices (ASWATOUNA)" projects.
The event was held under the auspices of Canadian Ambassador to Lebanon Her Excellency Hilary Childs-Adams, the Swiss Ambassador to Lebanon Her Excellency Ruth Flint, and in the presence of the President and CEO of Digital Opportunity Trust, Janet Longmore
The "Let's Communicate" and "Our Voices" projects were a great success, with 184 women and 9 men from the refugee camp benefiting from training in computer technology, livelihood skills, advocacy and protection, women's issues, and business skills.
The programs focused on providing Palestinian youth and women an opportunity to develop their skills and to gain the 'know-how' to be able to find and create jobs. It also strengthened individual self-esteem and raised awareness of social issues. The training was delivered by four DOT Lebanon Interns.
The "Let's Communicate" and "Our Voices" trainings were a key component of the programs "Women in IT - Power of Tomorrow" and "Modern Voice for Protection," which are led by DOT Lebanon in partnership with the Solidarity Association for Social & Cultural Development and the Women's Program Center.
The impact of these programs has been observed in three critical areas:
Participants are exercising new communications, marketing, advocacy, awareness, research, and planning skills using ICT Participants are interacting and collaborating using ICT With the skills needed in the job market, the graduates are finding jobs. The celebration of program completion took place in the Municipality of Sidon (Saida) and was hosted by the Mayor of Sidon. Representatives from DOT and the Solidarity Association joined the graduates, their families, and relatives.
The graduation event started with opening speeches by the Ambassadors and executives from the program partners. Two DOT Interns delivered a PowerPoint presentation that described the project objectives, activities and achievements.
The graduates were visibly proud of their achievements and both Interns and program graduates spoke positively of the experience:
"The most important thing I have learned in this experience as in intern is to give more, since at the end it will work and the participants are happy with a big smile on their faces when they find something they are looking for," said Ahmad Reda Mahmoud, DOT Lebanon Intern.
"I joined the Aswatouna project to learn how to use the computer and the internet, and after the completion of the training, I'm now able to create a PowerPoint presentation and I have used it to elaborate a project on family violence. As well I learned how to create an email and to connect with my friends on Facebook," said Daad Kasem Badran, a graduate of the Our Voices (Aswatouna) program.