In collaboration with Peace First, an international youth movement for social change, Kayani Project hosted a workshop entitled “Planning my Community Initiative Workshop” that targeted young people from the refugee camps in Lebanon to develop pitches approach that aim to tackle local problems present within their communities.
Conducted by Peace First fellows in residence Mohamed Ghanem and Yousra Mshmsh, the workshop aimed at allowing the participants to be able to recognize an issue within their communities with which they identify with and are passionate about. This was followed by drafting a solution to the proposed problem with a pragmatic and calculated approach.
“I learned to channel my passions and places of interest in order to benefit my community,” said participant Zeinab Berhsally after attending the workshop.
Over the course of the four-hours workshop, the facilitators were able to grasp the participants’ full attention and engage their interest in collaborative and dynamic tactics. Moreover, the workshop consisted of direct skill implementation to be practiced by those who attended.
Participant Souad Maarouf expressed that before partaking in the workshop, she had the goal of getting an idea across but did not feel like she had the tools and resources to fully deliver on it.
“After my time here today, I realized that I am able to bring about change,” Maarouf told Kayani project. “I advise those who are not fully confident about launching their initiatives to attend similar workshops in the near future.”
Throughout the workshop, the facilitators ensured to train the participants on how to have efficient planning through applying SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound) framework to their plans. Afterwards, they were prompted with questions that guided their train of thought towards root causes for effective planning.
Along with the workshop, participants were divided into teams with each offering a solution to a problem they have identified in the community. This was followed by pitching to the facilitators as well as the Founder of Kayani Project founder who offered to host the proposed projects when being launched on the ground. The proposed initiatives entailed targeting issues related to mental health, reproductive health, out-of-school children, employment of people with disabilities, and that of caregivers. Participants were then encouraged to apply through the Peace First platform to the chance of being offered a mini-grant of 250$ to launch their projects.
“We are very excited to see the results of these initiatives,” ended Mshmsh who encourages anyone who would like to propose a social initiative to visit peacefirst.org.