Tyre, Lebanon - February 2007 — The waiting list for the Saydoun Vocational Training Center in Tyre is more than 100 students long.

“That’s always a good measure of success,” said Center Director Jamil Madi. “It’s more students than I have room for, because the demand for the classes has grown so much.”

The vocational center is part of an IRD project funded through the Department For International Development (DFID), the UK government department dealing with humanitarian aid, to provide economic development assistance to areas in southern Lebanon adversely affected by the conflict between the Israeli Defense Forces and Hezbollah. At two vocational training centers in Tyre, fifty students from smaller, rural villages in southern Lebanon have been taking classes for anywhere from five to nine weeks. Each session begins with classroom instruction and includes practical, hands-on training in workshops where students practice under the guidance of qualified instructors.

Both centers provide vocational training in such areas as computer training and repair, hairdressing and make-up, travel ticketing and booking, sewing, and child care. 

“I’m very happy to be in this class. All of us are,” said Faten Saad, a student from Tayr Harfa enrolled in one of the child care courses. “Where I’m from, no one has this kind of education, and this gives us many more opportunities than were available before.”

Madi credits the success of the courses to IRD’s outreach in surrounding communities.

“It’s a community center, and the more involvement you have from local leadership, the better,” said Madi. “Most of the time, our students are from Tyre, because they’re the only ones who are interested in and can afford this kind of professional training. So we’re thankful the project was able to both engage smaller rural communities and make the classes available to them.”