by Chiponda Chimbelu

30 August 2010

Beirut, Lebanon: Live Lebanon is an initiative that aims to connect millions of Lebanese living outside their country to those still living in it. The aim of Live Lebanon is to channel financial support from the Lebanese expatriates into quick impact for development and community projects in the most deprived areas of Lebanon. Since its launch in November 2009, more than 400,000 USD has been raised, and nine projects have been implemented in the most deprived areas.

Before Live Lebanon, “It was harder for Lebanese expats to send remittances directly to development projects,” says Kareen Baydoun, national UNV volunteer and Live Lebanon project assistant. The programme allows donors to “follow up on the projects” and monitor their progress, she explains.

Donors in the expatriate Lebanese community are not only able to monitor the progress of the projects on the initiative website, but also via updates on Facebook and Twitter. The social networks help “target different people, young and old alike,” Kareen says. There were 1,447 facebook fans and 600 followers on Twitter as of July 2010.

The social networks and the Internet will continue to play a role when the initiative appoints youth representatives at universities around the world and works on “trying to activate the online volunteering system,” Kareen explains. These will allow Lebanese around the world to participate and volunteer in projects in their country of origin.

“We are about to use the UNV online volunteering modality as a great tool to connect Lebanese expatriates from around the world for local development in Lebanon,” says Caroline Lensing-Hebben, UNV Programme Officer in Lebanon.

The online volunteering modality is a tool developed by the UNV Programme that allows people around the world to volunteer their skills over the Internet and contribute to sustainable development around the world from their computers.

But the online presence of Live Lebanon is not just connecting Lebanese expats to their country of origin, it is also increasing volunteerism in Lebanon.

“UNV and Live Lebanon recruited around 100 volunteers during the summer in various parts of the country to promote projects and raise awareness,” says Anthony Guerbidjian, national UNV volunteer.

Volunteers have allowed the initiative to accomplish many projects. On June 29, the Al Saaed Irrigation Canal was inaugurated. Kareen attributes success with this project and others to the volunteers: “Without the volunteers who were willing to work additional hours, weekends and do whatever can be done, such projects wouldn’t exist,” she says.

“And volunteerism gives us a sense of belonging to the project and this is what motivates us to work even harder,” she added.

But that’s not all. The UNDP-administered Live Lebanon has also set up a team of local volunteers to organise activities between Lebanese expatriates visiting in the summer and the local inhabitants, thereby creating a good relationship between the groups, said Hassan, a UNV field worker.

“The expatriates also have the opportunity to get information on the projects from the locals,” Mouhamad, his colleague, added.

So as the football tournaments, festivals and activities continue to bring together Lebanese expatriates and locals this summer, it is hoped that Live Lebanon will go on.

“The project has progressed a lot, and it should remain a sustainable network between Lebanese expats and their mother country in support of local development,” Kareen concluded.