VZCZCXYZ0007
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLB #0796/01 1501600
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 291600Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY BEIRUT
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2097

UNCLAS BEIRUT 000796 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF LE
SUBJECT: LEBANON: AMBASSADOR'S FUND FOR REFUGGES NOMINATION 
 
REF: STATE 6779 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. Post recommends using the PRM's Ambassador's Fund for 
Refugees to fund a summer program for refugees and local 
children living in Lebanon sponsored by the Caritas Lebanon 
Migrant Center (Caritas).  The estimated total cost of the 
summer program is $20,000 and would provide positive 
experience of diversity, emotional healing, and develop 
attitudes and skills that foster tolerance and 
reconciliation. 
 
Project Proposal 
---------------- 
 
¶2. This summer program will take place near the mountains of 
Fariaya and will host 70 children between the ages of 6 and 
14 including Palestinian, Iraqi, and Sudanese refugee 
children and some local Lebanese children as well.  It will 
be implemented over three weeks in late July/early August 
2008, with age-appropriate educational and recreational 
activities.  The program will be designed to provide 
positive experiences of diversity, emotional healing, and 
develop attitudes and skills that foster tolerance and 
reconciliation. 
 
¶3. Although Caritas has organized similar summer programs in 
the past, the Summer 2008 program will have a greater focus 
on Iraqi refugees and peace building.  Rising food costs and 
general political uncertainty in Lebanon have created tension 
between the local Lebanese population and newly-arrived 
refugees, who are seen as a strain on an already fragile 
society.  The inclusion of local Lebanese 
residents is integral to help with reconciliation between the 
refugees and their Lebanese neighbors. 
 
¶4. The 70 children, who will take part in the summer camp, 
will be recruited through networks that serve these 
populations, including UNHCR and Caritas social workers. The 
targeted mix of children will be: 12 children between 6 and 8 
years of age in 2 groups; 21 children between 8 and 10 years 
of age in 3 groups; 21 children between 10 and 12 years of 
age in 3 groups; and 16 children between 12 and 14 years of 
age in 2 groups. 
 
¶5. There will be an emphasis to recruit children from 
economically disadvantaged families and who otherwise do not 
have access to summer recreational activities.  While 
religion will not be a criterion for selection, the final 
selection will ensure that the group includes a mix of 
Shiite, Sunni, and Christian children. 
 
¶6. Young adults will provide supervision to each group of 
children, including one supervisor monitor and one assistant 
monitor per group.  These monitors have been trained to care 
for children during summer programs.  In those trainings, the 
young adult monitors learned to develop activities, games and 
songs adapted to the appropriate age and development stages 
of the children to best assist them in acquiring the desired 
skills and attitudes. 
 
¶7. The children will be assigned to different groups of mixed 
nationalities and will spend the full three weeks together. 
All of the groups will eat in the same dining room, but each 
camp group will eat at its own table.  The three-week program 
will include activities by group and also events in which all 
of the children participate. 
 
¶8. The program will include cultural activities that 
celebrate the richness of the different national groups 
attending the camp and benefit of bringing this diversity 
together.  These cultural events will include demonstrations 
of the traditions and songs from each country.  In addition, 
there will be six field trips away from the camp to permit 
the children to discover new regions of Lebanon. 
 
¶9. The Caritas Migrants Center Coordinator and the group 
supervisors will monitor the summer camp during the three 
weeks.  All team members who will be in direct contact with 
the children will sign a code of conduct, and be given clear 
instructions to be followed in their work.  The group of 
supervisors will meet every night to discuss whether and how 
the children are developing a sense of community in the 
groups.  Monitors will observe the interactions among all of 
the children, especially those of different 
nationalities.  In the nightly meetings, they will also raise 
problems encountered and help one another to solve them with 
ideas about resolving conflicts and about activities that can 
aid group and individual development.  The nightly meeting's 
highlights will be recorded and preserved as "best practices." 
 
¶10. At the conclusion of the camp, the children will be asked 
to write a short letter about their experience.  The 
compilation of these letters will be used to evaluate the 
impact of the camp on the children.  The supervisor monitors 
will also write evaluations of the camp and their experience, 
with particular attention to whether or not the camp achieved 
its stated objectives. 
 
COST 
---- 
 
¶11. Caritas estimates the total cost of the program at 
$20,000.  Post, which has partnered with Caritas on other 
programs, has the authority and capacity to award a grant to 
the intended recipient agency prior to the end of the fiscal 
year. 
 
The following is the budget breakdown: 
 
Personnel                      2,000 
Accommodation                  3,500 
Utilities                      1,500 
Food                           9,000 
Activities Material            1,500 
Traveling/Transportation       1,000 
Insurance and Medical Care     1,500 
TOTAL                         20,000 
 
Personnel include two cooks, a kitchen assistant, and four 
cleaning and maintenance personnel. It also includes stipends 
for a nurse and a camp assistant. The monitors are volunteers 
and the project management is provided by Caritas. 
 
Accommodation includes rental cost for the camp facility, 
including repairs made as an in-kind contribution in place of 
rent. 
 
Utilities include fuel oil for the generator and other 
utilities at the camp facility. 
 
Food includes food for the children participants and monitors 
and other camp staff for the 21 days. 
 
Activity Materials includes all materials required for the 
programmed activities. 
 
Traveling/Transportation cover the costs of field trips in 
the course of the summer camp. 
 
Insurance and medical care provides for medical insurance for 
the camp participants and basic first-aid materials. A 
qualified nurse will be at the camp to ensure proper care of 
any injuries or illnesses that might occur. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶12.  Embassy Beirut chose this project because it meets 
important objectives not being currently met by UNHCR or 
other organizations, namely: repairing some of the 
psychological trauma that many refugee children have suffered 
since their displacement and helping ameliorate tension that 
exists between local citizens and refugee populations.  We 
are confident that with Caritas, with which we have 
successfully partnered on many other projects, will work 
seriously to achieve the program objectives.  End comment. 
 
SISON