From Producing to Selling Food Products Locally
MECC Supports Women in Akkar
Despite the deplorable economic conditions hanging over the country, the Service and Relief – Diakonia Department, Beirut’s Office, at the Middle East Council of Churches, launched a project aiming to enhance women’s resiliency and improve their livelihood. As such, the department chose Akkar, one of the most neglected and poverty-stricken areas in the country, to implement the project that would promote women’s products and their sale. Three villages namely Andket, Bazbina and Chadra were taken into consideration.
To achieve such a task, women were coached on the preparation and provision of food for long-term use. They were also mentored on how to identify products and legally sell them. Afterwards, the women were introduced to exhibitions and were connected with other exhibitors within and outside their areas. As a result, this created sustainable conditions for income generating.
“We thank the Middle East Council of Churches for its assistance”, Mrs. Najwa Makhoul, one of the beneficiaries said. She added “It helped us with learning new things. Being from a rural and secluded area, we greatly benefited from the project. Now we can make home-made goods while financially supporting ourselves.”
From her end, Mrs. Minerva, one of the participants thanked MECC for its support. “Over the past three years we have been working with the Council and we are very thankful for their great support. We learned a lot of new things we didn’t know. We also thank them for their assistance in applying to exhibitions. They even made for us our very own logo. We are truly grateful for their endeavors.”
