The Center for Working Children (Bab el Tebbaneh)

Duration of the project
June 2004 - July 2008

Partners
Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Cooperazione Italiana
Associazione Ricreativa Culturale Italiana (ARCI)

Beneficiaries
All working children living in Bab El Tebbaneh (see below for exact figures from 2005 to 2008)

Introduction
Due to the very difficult economic situation in the Tripoli area, many children are forced to drop out of school and to search for a job, in order to contribute to the livelihood of their families. Children usually get jobs in small shops or in garages. The working environment is often unsafe: they are exposed to dangers of various kinds, such as solvents vapours and high-tension cables. They are exploited by their employers who make them work all day long, sometimes from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The average salary is ten thousand Lebanese Pounds a week, (less than one dollar a day). The Project aims at improving these working children's living conditions.

Description
After the completion of the setup stages (finding the best location, buying and furnishing the center, contacting the working children and parents, hiring teachers and administrators, finalizing the curriculum, etc.) the center started functioning from March 2005. An official inaugurational function was held on the 16th January 2006 in the presence of the ambassador of Italy in Lebanon.

The center consists of a reception, 2 administrative rooms, a computer room, a teachers' lounge, a medical room, and 4 classrooms for literacy courses and other classes (one of the classrooms is exclusively for girls). The staff includes a general coordinator of activities, 5 teachers, 3 social assistants and 2 education specialists. A doctor, a nurse and a lawyer visit the center regularly to provide needed assistance.

Objectives
The Center strives to improve working children's condition through:



schooling for reintegration into the educational system

life skills sessions

vocational orientation

professional counseling

 

To support these programs, the Center also provides:

medical services

legal services

teacher training

public awareness campaigns on the hardships of working children

research and field studies on the situation of working children in Lebanon

The center also targets children who are at risk of dropping out of school due to learning difficulties or for financial reasons. It has adopted an experimental educational curriculum, tailoring it to the needs of working children in Lebanon, with a special focus on girls' needs. Through this work, it aims to become a reference center for introducing new curricula in literacy programs.

[Click to visit a photo gallery of children at the center]

Activities
On the 2nd of April 2006, the children of the center participated in the Tripoli Marathon.

On the 27th of October 2006, the center was visited by the new Italian ambassador to Lebanon, Mr. Checchia and a delegation from ARCI Italy. The event featured the distribution of electrician diplomas to eight children and the inauguration of an exhibition.

From January to March 2008, 12 children from the center are taking intensive courses in technical formation at the Don Bosco technical school in Fidar (Jbeil).

In collaboration with the public health department at AUB (American University of Beirut), a study on the health environement conditions of working children is underway since December 2007.

All the working staff at the center have had the occasion to visit ARCS youth centers in Italy in October-November 2006 and February-March 2007.

In September 2007, 3 trainers from ARCI youth in Italy gave a training and exchange of dedactical methods of working with the children.

The annual handicraft's exhibition was held on 1 to 3 October 2007 at the center

In July 2008, the center received a donation of 2500 Euros through the Cooperazione Italiana from Trentino Alto Adige region in Italy. The donation is dedicated to buy computers, photocopy machines and digital cameras.

Numbers of the children benefiting from the center:

	2005-2006	2006-2007	2007-2008
Literacy classes	151	46	69
Computer classes	151	46	69
Crafts	151	46	69
Back to school	33	-	15
Remedial sessions	43	20	-
Assistant cook	13	10	-
Electrical skills	13	17	10
Hairdressing & Make up	-	21	16
TOTAL	256	114	110