Youth-Led Book Drive Tells a Different Story
Common notion of youth indifference challenged in Hermel.
Clan fights, honor crimes, and family feuds often make the headlines in Lebanon's Hermel region, and with few opportunities for constructive engagement, many young people in the region suffer from alienation and apathy, which also can find expression in violence.
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| Youth members of the Hermel Association for Development take part in training on citizenship at the organization's offices.
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Some young people in the region, however, are challenging the popular belief that they are violent and indifferent; instead, they are seeking to demonstrate that they are active, peaceful citizens committed to improving their communities.
For example, the Hermel Association for Development (HAD), with support from USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives, launched a book donation campaign to equip the library it had set up at its offices months earlier, enlisting its youth membership in "A Book from Each Home" campaign. HAD's young associates went door-to-door seeking donations and describing to residents the many benefits of their initiatives.
Mohammed Naser Deen, 19, said the participants were driven by the urge to "reject the tribal reputation that is haunting us." The strategy "enabled us to reach a wider audience that can be affected by our work and ideas. Hermel has a lot of social needs, and I am willing to participate in any kind of activities that add up to the common good," Deen said.
Early in the campaign, a bookstore owner donated 300 volumes and a local publishing house gave another 50 books. These gifts broadened the collection and attracted local youths to the library.
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"I used to be a very shy person but through the theater training, I overcame my timidity and became committed. My subsequent participation in the book donation campaign and other activities clearly proves this change and I guess encourages others as well."
—Ali Khayr Aldeen, 21,
youth participant in the HAD project
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"I believe the work we did was very constructive and required great commitment," said 20-year-old Moussa Taha. "Seeing that we were able to succeed in planning and accomplishing this idea alone has proved to us that youth are able to make a change. If each one of us tells a friend about the book donations, we will soon have a very rich library," Taha said.
HAD has pioneered a series of initiatives encouraging youth activism over the past seven months, including a mural painting activity and a theater workshop that was coupled with a series of trainings on citizenship, conflict resolution, and municipal governance. The workshop provided 60 young people with an independent platform where they could use art to express themselves and voice their concerns.
For further information, please contact:
Marialice Ariens, Program Manager, 202-712-4031, mariens@usaid.gov
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