YES - A March in March
Marching across Lebanon for regional meetings!
On March and the first two weeks of April, we arranged weekly regional meetings under a campaign called "A March in March". It was a great opportunity for the board to meet with all the alumni in their respective regions. President Sarah Rifai was present in all meetings where she listened to the alumni's input and shared what the board and other regions had came up with.
Of course, not all alumni were able to be there due to other commitments, but we encourage them to attend upcoming regional meetings in order to stay updated on what’s going on and to participate in future YES events!
Here are some of the regions’ updates:
1. Beirut:
Four alumni were present during this meeting. Ali Akil suggested a football/soccer tournament for the alumni, and if we can do it during the retreat, then why not? Also, Ahmad Houjeij suggested we shoot a video instead of a play to promote YES during International Education Week.
The play was initially proposed by the board as a new way to promote YES, where its scenes will be showcasing the different stages any YES student goes through starting from the day he/she applies to the program until the experience ends.
2. Bekaa
Seven of the YES alumni attended the Bekaa meeting, and it was a fruitful discussion where they came up with many ideas. For instance, Sbidag Demerjian suggested that the YES alumni collaborate with the Ministry of tourism in a project where they visit different touristic places across Lebanon and take pictures / videos in order to advertise our country on social media. Moreover, Antonio Semaan suggested to have a Red Cross first-aid training session in the Bekaa Region.
3. Chouf:
Eight alumni attended the meeting. We were blessed to have motivated new YESer’s with us, not to forget the older alumni who are still active and present in every event. It was a great opportunity to get to know each other more and share common stories from the states! On the other hand, a lot of ideas were discussed some of which were really good and will be implemented in the near future.
One of the ideas was to do workshops on craft making or pottery for the youth since they are part of the Jabal’s tradition and culture, besides having other activities that would give exposure to talents such as poets, zagal.. This could be in the form of a poetry club that Shouf’s alumni would manage.
Another idea proposed was doing awareness campaigns in high schools on the dangers of fast driving in collaboration with the Red Cross or NGO’s like Kunhadi, especially after the many accidents happening in Mount Lebanon during last year.
Helping in renovating and redecorating the house of an un-privileged in collaboration with “Hue Design” family is also one the projects that was discussed.
4. South Lebanon:
6 alumni attended this fruitful meeting where many ideas were discussed during it and will be put into action soon.
One of the nearest is an iftar for underpriviliged families where food will be catered from our YES student Raneem’s new catering business.
Also, we will adopt the movie night idea from the North. In addition to that, CV writing and Interview skills workshops will be held in Saida's public library.
We encourage more alumni from the region to attend and commit to have a fruitful year altogether.
5. North Lebanon
Only 3 Alumni attended the meeting alongside Sarah Rifai and the coordinator Sandra Sleiman, however multiple ideas were discussed and hopefully will be accomplished.
Gabrielle El Hachach Suggested that we collaborate with DSC and spread awareness about blood donation in the region through the YES social media pages and then have a blood drive day with the help of DSC .
Roudaina Al Zohbi's input was very brilliant. She proposed a movie day where the same movie will be screened in all regions across Lebanon at the same time. The admission fee to watch the movie will be 3 food cans and then all food cans will be collected and donated for charity.
We wish that on our upcoming meetings more alumni will attend so we can together have a great year full of success.