Skill-building for Unemployed Youth in Lebanon

Dear Friends,

We've been quite busy here at Nawaya!  For the past few months, we have been building a new program in partnership with UNICEF to support over 600 unemployed and out-of-school Lebanese and refugee youth this year.

The program will be launched in July, and will train youth on how to innovate and create income-generating enterprises and projects that serve a critical need in their communities.  These challenges may relate to education, poverty, safe play areas, green/open spaces, shelters, lighting, drug abuse, suicide, and depression, among a host of other problems and challenges.

Our youth will be inspired to use their talents, skills, passions, and interests to come up with creative solutions that not only address specific needs, but which also provide them with an income, thus empowering them to become self-sufficient change-makers in their communities.  

The best proposals and ideas will be selected to enroll in an advanced bootcamp that will help them take their concept to the next level.  We can't wait to see what they come up with!

We are excited about this new addition to Nawaya, as the program aims to empower otherwise idle and vulnerable/at-risk youth by harnessing/developing their abilities and potential and channeling them into much-needed and overlooked sectors.

Our team has expanded from just two people to seven within a few weeks, and we will continue to grow in the coming weeks and months.  As our program will be launched after Ramadan, by August we will have exciting updates and photos to share with you.  We look forward to it!

In the meantime, our SE Factory Coding Bootcamp, which was launched in March, is going strong.  Students have been attending intensive lectures daily from 11am - 8pm, and have learned critical technical and soft skills needed to get them employed upon completion of the program in mid-June.  

Due to the success of the program, we will be launching round two in July with a new batch of students, and aim to replicate the program in at least one other city starting January 2017.

Many thanks as always for your continued support!

Dear Friends,

We are excited to announce the launch of a new program called SE Factory, which is a coding bootcamp catered to helping low-income, unemployed computer science graduates improve their skills and increase their chances of getting hired.

In Lebanon, there is a growing demand for coders and developers, but employers have been unable to find qualified candidates to fill these positions.  Based on our research, it appears that while thousands of computer science graduates are looking for jobs in Lebanon, they are indeed graduating without the right skills (in some cases due to outdated curricula and unqualified instructors).

As a result, we decided to take action and create a program to strengthen the qualifications of low-income computer science students graduating from universities and technical institutes by helping them improve their hard and soft skills, and connecting them to mentors and potential employers.

We first began working on this program nearly one year ago, and since then, we have come such a long way.  We are proud to partner with Bader Young Entrepreneurs Program, which is providing sound technical, managerial, and financial support.  In addition, we have received sponsorship from Asfari Foundation and Al Mawarid Bank.  The program is also in collaboration with Berytech. 

The pilot program will be launched in three weeks, whereby up to 20 students will commit to an intensive three month, full-time training program given by our highly qualified instructor and web developer, Bassem Dghaidy (who taught himself how to code at the age of twelve!) 

Throughout these months, students will be challenged in ways they have not experienced before, and will be given direct opportunities to meet and mingle with a wide network of companies in the tech ecosystem.  By the end of the program, we hope to be able to place our students in challenging and fulfilling jobs within the tech community in Lebanon.

We aim to replicate this program throughout Lebanon starting 2017, potentially reaching hundreds of students in Tripoli, Nabatiyeh, Mount Lebanon, and the Bekaa.

We look forward to updating you about our progress in the coming months.

Thank you for your continued support!