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THANKS to everyone who made this 2012 ALPHA kermesse such a success!

Sous le patronage de l'Union des municipalités de Kalaa et en collaboration avec Force intérimaire des Nations Unies au Liban (FINUL) et l'Ambassade de France au Liban, l'Association Libanaise pour la Promotion Humaine et l'Alphabétisation (ALPHA) a organisé sa 6ème kermesse de printemps ce dimanche 29 avril à l'Ecole de Soultanieh.
Près de 3000 enfants et parents des villages de Tibnine, Yater Haris, Toulin et Shaqra et de dix villages alentours ont participé à cette kermesse de printemps. La FINUL a pris une part importante dans l’organisation de cet événement mettant à disposition de l’association ALPHA ses moyens logistiques (tentes, bus…) et humains. Onze bataillons été présents et les casques bleus ont aminé divers ateliers.La kermesse a été l’occasion pour les enfants d’assister à de nombreuses représentations parmi lesquelles celle de Gino le prestidigitateur. Certains enfants ont pu profiter des jeux organisés en extérieur pendant que d’autres participaient aux séances de maquillage animées par les soldats français, espagnols et turcs.

La fin de la journée a été marquée par les différents spectacles folkloriques proposés par les soldats de la FINUL présente sur le territoire depuis 1978. Des costumes traditionnels indiens, aux danseuses chinoises en passant par les dragons de papier coréens et les joueurs de cornemuse irlandais, les enfants du Sud Liban ont pu assister à un spectacle autour du monde haut en couleurs. 

Le président de l’Association, Albert Abi Azar, l’a rappelé lors de l’ouverture de la kermesse, « il n’y aura pas de paix durable sans le sourire des enfants du Sud Liban ». 

Fondée en 1993, l'association ALPHA contribue depuis de nombreuses années au développement et à la promotion des droits humains au Liban. Depuis sa création, ALPHA œuvre en faveur des groupes les plus désavantagés à travers différents programmes de protection des enfants, d'éducation et d'alphabétisation, d'aide sociale et de développement économique. Grâce à ces cinq centres implantés dans la région du Sud Liban, l'association organise de nombreux événements et activités en faveur des habitants de la région.

Source: Institut Francais du Liban - 02/05/2012

The countdown started... Join us all on Sunday, the 29th of April for the yearly ALPHA Spring kermesse in Soultanieh (South Lebanon)!
You are all most welcome! :-)



Thanks to everyone who made the Women and Mums' Day Celebration at the ALPHA Tibnine library such a success last week!
300 people celebrated together with food, dancing and performances by the kids
... regardless of the rain! A big ALPHA hug to all!




March News! 

On the 16th March of 2012, the ALPHA team in cooperation with Tebnine Municipality and UNIFIL contingents from various countries (Malaysia, Ireland, Korea, France, Turkey, etc…) will celebrate the Women Day as well as the Mothers’ Day in Tebnine library. The children of our 5 centers will show for their Mums, food & juices will be offered and handmade souvenirs from kids will be gifted to women & mums. Five private schools are also participating to the ceremony and 250 women are expected to join for this day. All ALPHA team would like to invite you to join and to party with us in Tebnine. Personal invitations will be sent to all women and mums of Tebnine, as well as women and mums of the UNIFIL contingents. So if you are interested, send us a mail to get in touch, you are most welcome : the more, the merrier ! 


For 2012, we planned to work with a Bibliobus in 14 villages of the region. ALPHA is happy to inform you that the Bibliobus will soon be available, at the end of March 2012. We will make it functional with shelves, books and all necessary material to provide cultural openness as well as educational workshops on different topics to 500 direct beneficiaries and 500 indirect beneficiaries. Through the use of a Bibliobus ALPHA will be able to reach 15 villages, comprehensive of the ALPHA centers. Children will be able to browse through the mobile library with the assistance of a specifically trained librarian. He will encourage children to read, to pick age-appropriate books, and will, with the assistance of a social worker conduct public readings with the children in which children are encouraged to identify with the characters of the books and find their own special meaning in the story. Also film-screenings will be made available to the public throughout the year thanks to a special equipment. These activities are implemented in the frame of Article 31 – Leisure, Play, Culture & Article 29 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, which specifies that “Children have the right to relax and play, and to join in a wide range of cultural, artistic and other recreational activities.” (Article 31). A mobile screen will be carried around in the Bibliobus to provide regular film-screenings in all 15 centers in which also the reading activities take place, as a further tool for entertainment possibilities for children. We will inform you soon about the launching and first travel of the Bibliobus! Stay tuned. 
This project is kindly funded by the French Embassy to Lebanon & Fondation CMA CGM. 


Overview of 2011...

May

The annual ALPHA kermesse was held at the School of Liberation of Soultanieh for 2000 children and 250 parents. The television NBN and other journalists (al Akhbar, Shououn Janoubiyah, El Liwaa) supported us in spreading the information on this event.



June
Launching of the Mapping Pilot Project in the center of Toulin. 

July
Start-up of the counselling service for adults led by our ALPHA social worker Nazek Ismail, during which she visits the parents of the ALPHA children directly at their homes to help them overcome daily problems. Nazek also supervises the work of the other social workers in their assistance to children who encounter particular difficulties.




ALSO... a marathon in the forest of Tibnine for 200 children, 50 parents was organized in collaboration with the UNIFIL, the Lebanese Red Cross, members of the local municipalities, the scouts and the Lebanese Army.

 

September
Beginning of the training of the specialised ALPHA staff on new interactive, socio-educational techniques to work with children and involve their parents in the centre activities. Main partner in this step was the French NGO ASMAE. 

October
A new centre was opened in Chakra which hosts weekly approximately 35 children, after the Kafra centre was closed due to insufficient participants in the activities.



December
A new ALPHA volunteer was recruited in connection to the ALPHA Christmas Market at the French Institute (French Embassy) in Beirut. Sahar was responsible for the stand, selling our hand-made products to raise funds for the association.



ALSO... a day of activities for 600 children was organized in collaboration with the magician Chico, UNIFIL soldiers and the association YMCA to celebrate Christmas.

 

PAST EVENTS

  • Christmas Market @ Institut Francais (French Embassy to Lebanon)
    Thanks to all attendees we were able to sell our greeting cards, notebooks, bookmarks, magazine and gift basket and raise significant funds for our association!
    It was also an     occasion to exchange with the public on our activities! 

  • Launch of our Blog "ALPHA Live!" at the link: http://lebalpha.blogspot.com 
    Sign Up and INTERACT with us! 
     
  • CHECK OUT an interview with the ALPHA Team on MTV Lebanon's morning show "Blocnotes" under the following link: www.youtu.be/oBcllpg9uNE (Arabic & English) 
     
  • GREETINGS CARD @ CAFE SHO: Send your greetings in a colorful way!
    Buy our ALPHA greeting cards at CAFE SHO in Rue Monot 304 - Achrafieh and help us support our activities! 

    For the greeting cards we chose one of the paintings, produced in the ALPHA Tibnine Center by a collective of children (aged 10 – 12 years)     in the frame of a psychological assistance project aimed to elaborate the traumas of the July 2006 war. Each card costs $ 3! The money collected will be used to support our activities at the ALPHA Tibnine Centre. Special thanks go to the French Cultural Centre (Beirut) & Sybille Sho (owner of Café Sho) for their kind support and collaboration
  • Fifth Annual Spring Kermesse in Sultanieh
    Organized by ALPHA in collaboration with the Liberation School of Sultanieh and UNIFIL. 
    Visit our WebAlbum and/or Blog to see pictures from the event! 
     
  • The Art of Italian Cooking: Italian cooking workshops as a fundraising evenst for ALPHA.
    Check our press section for more info on these events. 

  • EXHIBITION @ the French Cultural Centre (Beirut) 
    From the 1st of March to the 21st of March 2011 the French Cultural Center of Beirut hosted the ALPHA exhibition entitled... 

    “Aperçus du passé, espoirs du futur”    The paintings were produced in the ALPHA Tibnine Centre by a collective of children (age: 10 to 12 years) in the frame of a project, which both encouraged an elaboration of the past traumas (caused especially by the July 2006 war) and at the same time stimulated the participants to take a glimpse at their wishes for the future.

    This exhibition wants to open a window on the psychological impact that war can have on children and invites us to remember that certain wounds take a long time to heal.
    Soon the paintings will be displayed in other spaces around Beirut… We will keep you updated! 

    Follow this link for the article on the exhibition, that appeared on the Daily Star on the 13th of March 2011: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.aspedition_id=10&categ_id=4&article_id=125881#axzz1GPN8SgEj

    Very special thanks to the French Embassy to Lebanon and the French Cultural Center (Beirut) for their precious support.

 


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