by english.aawsat.com – Lebanon’s Mustaqbal Movement, headed by Prime Minister Saad Hariri, condemned on Saturday the latest speech of “Hezbollah” chief Hassan …

by english.aawsat.com – Lebanon’s Mustaqbal Movement, headed by Prime Minister Saad Hariri, condemned on Saturday the latest speech of “Hezbollah” chief Hassan …

by daily star.com.lb BEIRUT: Mecca’s Friday Grand Mosque attack Saturday drew condemnations from political leaders and parties in Lebanon. Prime Minister Saad …

by thenationonlineng.net

It is rather customary to say that a simple encounter can change the course of your life. Nothing holds more true for Zeina Saab. In 2009, the Lebanese-American took her first humanitarian journey with USAID to the isolated Lebanese village of Chmestar. There, in a maze of alleyways, she met Nadeen Ghosn. The unabashed 14-year-old spontaneously presented Zeina with a collection of her drawings.  What Saab saw were not clumsy children’s pictures, but a series of elaborate dress sketches that would easily be at home in a sewing atelier. Nadeen, however, had never even learned the basics of fashion design.

Zeina was blown away. Upon returning home, the young woman with an Master’s Degree in Urban Planning from MIT, had one idea in mind: to help Nadeen. “When I met her, I knew that she could one day become the next great fashion designer. Nadeen, however, had no support. Without means or resources, her talent would never be cultivated”, says Saab, now 33 years old. The idea continued to germinate in Zeina’s mind until 2012, when she founded “The Nawaya Project”, an innovative NGO that helps marginalised youth develop their talent so that they can integrate into the workforce.

During the three years following her initial meeting with Nadeen, Zeina took the necessary steps to launch the “Talent Program”, in which she and the 10 members of the Nawaya team connect youth from underprivileged backgrounds with mentors and professionals. There have been over 300 beneficiaries since the beginning of the project, their main  objective: to develop and cultivate their passions and talents in various fields, such as design, music, athletics, writing, performing arts and even coding and robotics. Though she is currently focused on Lebanon, Zeina Saab has her sights on growth. “We want to expand our platform to the entire Middle East. If it works, we will create a globally connected community engaged in the development and empowerment of disenfranchised youth around the world”, she says with conviction.