I felt particularly lucky to be among my colleagues for this rare moment of sharing, empathy, communication and community. The physical distance between Lebanon and Brussels is difficult to manage admittedly; not only because of the different realities between the two contexts, related to daily life and the work that we do in each location, it’s also the fact that my life in Brussels allows me to go to Lebanon and visit my colleagues. My colleagues are not able to do the same. It’s a heartbreaking thing to think about, but that’s also what makes it so important for SB to exist in both these spaces. For my Syrian colleagues, the men, women, youth and children that come to our centres — SB OverSeas in Brussels is a communication line between them and the powerful international community in order for them to express what their lives, their reality, their struggles, their needs, their power, their capabilities are even when their physical presence here is not possible.

While it’s difficult for this element of our work to be clearly evident in Brussels due to the distance, the difference and the comfort of our lives here, it’s constantly at the basis of every report and project we propose, and each article, video and photo we publish. So the answer to why is SB OverSeas in both Brussels and Lebanon — because we have to be.

The post Our mind in Brussels but our heart in Lebanon: Working to bridge two refugee realities appeared first on Brussels Express.

For many, volunteering is an activity that habitually takes place throughout the years. For some individuals, volunteering begins at a young age with bake sales, helping at local churches or leading sports activities in community centres. For others, volunteering begins later in life, sometimes with a move to a new city looking for ways to integrate with the local community Regardless of age and stage of life, volunteering is usually motivated by one common sentiment, an innate human feeling that compels others to help those less fortunate and create a positive impact on the lives of others.  

In today’s day and age, with the ability to travel further, travel longer, and connect with so many others from different cultures, the ability to create a positive impact is no longer constrained by geographical limitations. The question now is not so much how much would you do to create a positive impact, but rather how far would you go to make a positive impact?

For those wanting to go further they can contact SB OverSeas. SB OverSeas is a non-profit organization active in Lebanon and Brussels, dedicated to providing humanitarian aid to refugees and victims of conflict through sustainable empowerment projects and non-formal educational programmes. The on the ground operations spikes the interest of international volunteers, particularly those who wish to learn first-hand of the challenges that the Syrian refugees face in Lebanon and who wish to contribute first-hand to the success of the operations.

This is often the common narrative many candidates recount in their interviews, the want to create a positive impact of which they can visually capture, monitor, and sustain. It is this sentiment that drives many to Lebanon. However, for most volunteers who return after their volunteering experience, this narrative changes. More often than not, it is the volunteers themselves who are the most impacted.

Our international volunteers enter our centres with the idea that they will face challenges when it comes to motivating children to learn and love learning. They are not wrong, this is undoubtedly one of the greatest challenges when it comes to teaching. However, the most common occurrence we find, is that it is the children who teach our volunteers.

Despite the crisis around them, the inequalities, and isolation perpetuated by surrounding communities, these children live ferociously active lives, resilient to lifes challenges, and open to the mind and heart of others. They welcome our volunteers, grow with them, and become the visible proof of a successful impact. They teach our volunteers the acts of selflessness, self-motivation, and resilience. They motivate our volunteers to come to the centres each and everyday with fresh ideas, interactive games, and new spin-offs to engage their students. They are motivated because they can see that their impact is working.

There exists a symbiosis of impacts, helping others helps you grow and it helps open the mind of others around you. So how far would you go to impact and be impacted? SB OverSeas is the perfect place to start!

For more information about volunteering in Lebanon with SB OverSeas, visit our website or send an  email to

The post How far would you go to Give Hope? Volunteering in Lebanon appeared first on Brussels Express.

Monday morning, organize evaluations from weekend activities, afternoon call with centres for next weekend’s activity, evening attend EU Parliament conference on protecting child refugees in the Middle East.

Thursday morning, workshop at PICUM on fundraising, Afternoon, get updates from ESL officers in Saida and Beirut, evening testing activity materials.

Saturday afternoon, pick up snacks and materials, coordinate volunteer participation, facilitate workshop, write post-activity report.

Repeat.

While it’s perhaps uncommon for an organization based in Brussels, at SB OverSeas we keep the focus of our work as close to the ground as possible—both in Brussels and Lebanon. A normal day of all SB workers is a combination between desk and hands on work.

We believe that is the best way—if not the only way—to properly do our work in order to have a real positive impact. For this reason, our Brussels HQ team joined our teams in Lebanon during July and August, and during this time both teams will have the opportunity to compare ideas and experiences face-to-face and plan for a future in which we can continue Giving Hope to more people in need.

For a humanitarian NGO, daily work goes beyond engaging with the immediate community: they play and important role in influencing the agenda for policy-makers and provide them vital information about the conditions on the ground. This is especially true at SB: our HQ office is in Brussels, the heart of the EU, and therefore we have the possibility to have a direct contact with EU policies. By keeping our ear to the ground in Brussels and Lebanon, we ensure that our contributions remain true to reality.

In Beirut, while in the morning we may have meetings and emails, in the afternoon we can take an hour or two to walk right across the way to the Bukra Alha centre and help a volunteer test their activity or participate in one of the kindergarten classes.

Being on the ground not only means we are a first-hand source of information for the rest of the world, but also that we are directly accountable to the community which is, at the end of the day, to whom we work for. We have forged such a relationship of trust with the youth and the centers in Brussels and the refugees that attend our classes and workshops, as well as the community around the centers in Lebanon. We have the chance to listen to them, their needs and take feedback to improve our work.

To learn more about our work in Brussels and Lebanon visit our website

The post Working from the ground up appeared first on Brussels Express.

What happens when more than 8,000 minds from all over the world come together to think twice about EU development programs?

Last week the SB Team participated in the 2019 version of EDD, The European Development days which focused on the many ways of addressing inequalities. Many of the conferences addressed the need to provide education as the main driver for an equal and peaceful society. But, even though policy makers agree on the fact that every child should be attending school, it was stated by the Representative for the Council of the EU that, “Children are still not on the political priority of the world”. More than 260 million children around the world remain out of schools, which should become an immediate worldwide priority.

Our organization has been able to find a way to give future and hope to thousands of refugees through non-formal schools and empowerment centers as well as through social inclusion programs. We agree with Feras Oyoun, one of the panelists who is a Syrian refugee who lived in Lebanon, when he says that “education is not a gift, when we give this right, the right to education we are giving life”. It is for this reason why the work of SB Overseas in Brussels and Lebanon is imperative.

The Brussels team also gave a conference to the parliament trainees who would be designing and implementing the future EU policies around the world, maybe even be the future practitioners in other EDD editions. As an on the ground NGO, we can create awareness and bring these young leaders closer to the needs and realities of refugee population, since understanding the inequalities that still exists is the first step towards building a world which leaves no one behind.

The post What happens when 8,000 minds globally think twice about EU development programs? appeared first on Brussels Express.

On Saturday evening, 280 members of SB OverSeas’ community in Belgium attended a traditional iftar dinner, to break the Ramadan fast together and to show support and appreciation for the projects that we do in Brussels and Lebanon.

A total of 5,125 euros was raised from the event, both the sale of tickets, and the raffle of items made by refugee women and youth in our empowerment programmes in Lebanon go right back to those projects. As well it will help support a new extension of the SB Espoir programme in Belgium that works with asylum-seeking women and girls at the Red Cross Centre in Jette.

Each table was given an adjective like “ambitious, courageous and bold” to that describe the strength of the women and girls in our programmes. Also on each table, guests found the story of one of the refugee women or youth from Lebanon, along with hand-made dolls which were available for purchase.

While we arrived to the venue with 46 dolls, we left with only four!

The night’s programme included a performance by Yasmine Said, a 6 year old musician who plays the Kanoun, an instrument traditional in the Middle East. She is a student of the distinguished Kanoun instructor, Suhad Najm. After the breaking of the fast with a meal prepared by the « King of Shawarma” restaurant which is owned and operated by a family of Syrian refugees, we presented our projects in Belgium and Lebanon with two videos produced by our volunteers. Then, we did a quiz on the rights of women followed by the raffle of items from our centres. Finally we ended the night with a performance of whirling dervish, by Ahmad Alkhati, a traditional Sufi dance.

For many of the guests, breaking the fast with a large iftar gathering is not uncommon, including for our community of supporters with a Syrian refugee background, from the Moroccan-Belgian community and a group of asylum seeking women and families who have just arrived in Brussels. But for some, this was their first traditional iftar dinner: including our SB Espoir volunteers, student supporters from the Brussels School of International Studies, the Univerisité Libre de Bruxelles, partners at pwc and supporters from the EU Commission.

Thank you to everyone that attended for showing your support. Without you, we would not be able to continue supporting our three centres in Lebanon as well as the SB Espoir and Son Choix, Son Avenir project in Brussels.

A few messages from some of our guests that enjoyed the night:

« Un tout grand merci pour l’invitation hier… j’ai été bluffée par le cadre, la nourriture. Un grand bravo aux organisateurs. Ma première sortie pour l’iftar… bonheur de découvrir et partager… Cette plateforme ouvre mes horizons et me fait rencontrer de belles personnes et pas que chez nos invités donc..Bises »

تحيه لفريق المنظمة على الجهد المبذول والرقي في التعامل

انبسطنا كتير وكله كان مرتب وبياخد العقل

نتمنى لكم التوفيق الدائم في مسعاكم لنشر السلام والعلم و المعرفه بين جميع المجتمعات

« At SB Overseas 7th Annual Iftar Gala! SB OverSeas are angels with all the work they are doing for refugees. Bravo and keep strong. We are forever at your side! Well done to you and your team for all the hard work and selfless dedication. Last night was truly a wonderful evening. »

The post Breaking Ramadan fast together to support refugee women and girls appeared first on Brussels Express.

SB OverSeas intern Mariana Batista shares how the SB OverSeas community in both Brussels and Lebanon participated in the #ΤrashTag Challenge.

Everyone loves a good challenge, especially an international one that transcends boundaries and connects people via the internet. The viral online #trashtag challenge has done just that. In the last few months eager volunteers, conscious of their impact on climate change, gathered together and took part in the #trashtag challenge by cleaning up their beaches, parks, and roads in their communities and posting their before and after pictures online. This challenge was done to raise awareness of the quantity of plastic litter that international society produces.

SB Overseas has taken part in this international movement both in our Lebanon centers and here in Brussels.

In our Saida Centre in Lebanon, 1^st Grade students were given a lesson on trash collection and recycling distribution. This new found skills were then put to the test when they took a school trip to the Saida beach where a litter-cleaning activity was conducted. Our center in Beirut did a similar exercise in their respective beaches. The project aimed to take part in the international movement but to also engage children from an early age on the positive and negative impact they can have on the environment.

This activity presented a valuable lesson: there is plenty of work to be done, but with the right precautionary measures and the willingness to take care of our planet, the work can be lessened, and the act of cleaning can bring a community together.

SB Espoir also conducted a session of recycling activities with our Brussels teams working in the Woluwe-Sainte-Pierre and Uccle Centres. The activities aimed to engage the youth in the ethical ways of disposing of waste by teaching them the basics of recycling and garbage sorting pertinent to the Brussels community. Then the creative part came, in which the youth participated in fun Do-It-Yourself projects using common but rarely recycled materials such as papers and plastic cups to create something new. The leftover waste was viewed not just as a material to be recycled, but a material that could be reused to create something new and innovative.

Both activities, spanning over kilometers of distance, presented a new issue that permeates our international communities.

The existence of a waste hierarchy, in which many individuals refuse to reduce, reuse, and recycle their waste. In many cases, this occurs due to the lack of awareness and knowledge regarding the impact each individual has on our immense planet.

Recycling is an excellent way to jump-start community involvement, but education on the fundamental values of waste reduction is just as important. SB OverSeas recognizes education as a valuable tool and has actively incorporated the importance of preventative climate change measures in our education curriculum.

The youth is the future; we must provide them with the knowledge they need to care for the planet.

The post Refugees in Brussels and Lebanon take the #TrashTag Challenge appeared first on Brussels Express.

No matter the distance both physically and mentally that we may have, people that may seem to be from completely different worlds are much more similar than we often think.

In this post, SB Espoir volunteer Diana-Alexandra Andrei explores the talent and personal expressions of the emotion via art of a young person displaced and adjusting to a new environment.

In the rush of everyday life, we often forget to celebrate the little (or big) things that people do. Crises, refugees, terrorism are always the three words kept in mind when we look at the actual situation of the world. This one side of the story is always emphasized in political, social and communicative spheres—but not today. Today, I will celebrate other people talents and strength.

The post From the eyes of a volunteer: Refugee youth finding their strengths and talents appeared first on Brussels Express.

Mariana Batista, intern at SB OverSeas, shares her take-aways from a recent conference hosted by the UN University where SB OverSeas gave a presentation:

Women are not victims, and when empowered and included in peacekeeping operations, solutions are much more tangible and sustainable. This was the central message that resonated from a discussion on International Women’s Day at the UN University, of what could happen when women are given leadership roles in post-conflict situations and what can happen when they are empowered in their everyday lives.

The United Nations University on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS) invited SB OverSeas to be part of the panel discussion in their workshop in Bruges on “Women in Conflict and Emergencies: Lessons Learned and the Way Forward.” The panel consisted of academics, students, and practitioners from all across the board in this field of study. The speakers included: Dr. Vanessa Newby, Dr. Adriana Banozic, Louma Albik, and two research interns Olga Petrova, and Nani Makubalo.

As these emotional stories of empowerment came to the forefront, it was clear that the energy in the room had changed. There was an urgent feeling of motivation and encouragement to research more, to bring data to light, and to change the way we describe women.

The topic of this year’s panel discussion revolved around potential remedies on how to address social violence and conflict and how to promote gender equality and women’s rights. The panel discussion began with the role of women in peacekeeping operations and the importance of female representation in conflict-driven areas.

Louma Albik, the chairwoman of SB OverSeas, provided on the ground perspectives and recounted her testimony of what empowerment of women truly looks like. SB Overseas runs schools and centres in Lebanon for Syrian refugee women and youth. She presented the work SB OverSeas has been doing at the three women’s centres in Lebanon, which focus on vocational training, psychological support, and literacy programmes. These programmes are fundamental to the empowerment of women and youth in post-conflict settings. The stories recounted varied, but they all had one commonality; the more women were included and participated in programs that gave them the tools to better themselves, they more likely they were to better the lives of others around them.

The discussion also extended beyond conflicts, focusing on the role of women in natural disasters. Through various fieldwork studies, it was shown that women who had a role in the post-disaster operations were able to minimize risks and work better in a team setting which led to a positive progression in the recovery of a disaster.

As the workshop came to an end, we could not help to think of all the things that are still understudied, all the programs that still need developing, and all the discourse about women that must be changed. However, on this particular day, a day of celebrating women, I could not help but feel a strong sense of empowerment and hope. Thanks to this workshop, and many of its kind, and all the amazing work these women, and millions of others have done, we are one step closer to celebrating women every day.

The post Women in conflict: A discussion with the UN University appeared first on Brussels Express.

Since the launch at the beginning of the year, the CLOTHESUP project of SB OverSeas has been picking up clothing donations from all around Brussels.

Our pick up team has been busy at work: they collected clothes from households and business in Sint-Pieters, Leeuw, Laken, Forest. Uccle and Jette. The week before, we collected from our partners, the Brussels School of International Studies in Etterbeek as well as the De Palaver Community centre  in Denderleeuw.

This spring 2019, SB OverSeas and our partners have secured a 25-ton container to fill, but we have to collect that many donations by April 20. So far, in two months we’ve collected from 40 companies and individuals, of top of many drop offs at our office every day. 

In order to meet the goal of filling the container, SB OverSeas has expanded its clothing aid project to now being able to PICK UP donations directly from your DOOR. As an important member of your local community, you or your business can help us in collecting donation items for refugees in Lebanon and Turkey from your communities.

The only thing you have to do is make a request through the CLOTHESUP project and we will pick up the clothes in any place at your convenience. Therefore, if you have 5-6 bags (60 litre size) and you want to donate, with any type of shoes and clothes which are in a good condition.

What DO we accept?

Any sort of clothes, both for winter and summer seasons, mainly for women and children, but
Bed sheets and blankets
Shoes and socks
Gloves, scarfs
Soft or plush toys

What do we NOT accept? 

Torn or dirty clothing items
Furniture
Electronic devices
Plastic toys and toys with battery or functioning with electricity

If you’d like to donate these types of items, consider bringing them to your local Les Petits Riens.

Giving clothes a second life

This is not only a way of providing people in need with clothes, but it is also a way of helping the environment by recycling your unused clothes. When you donate your clothes, you are saving the environment from a lot of harm. According to the EPA, it costs $45 on average per ton to dispose of waste in a landfill. Clothing that sits in landfill releases toxic greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane into the environment when they break down. Lastly, making new clothes takes hundreds of gallons of water, and the production of new textiles accounts for 10% of all carbon emissions on the planet. All these things can be avoided if you donate your clothes for reuse.

Helping people in need

So, you’re ready to clean out your closet—you have a lot of clothes that you don’t wear anymore, and you’re ready to revamp your wardrobe. While you’re doing that, you’re probably wondering what you’re going to do with all the old clothes. Before you throw them in the trash, consider donating them. Even though you don’t want your old clothes anymore, it’s almost guaranteed that someone else will. There are many people in need of usable clothing, and children in need of clothing, and your donations can help. When you throw away your clothes, they have no chance of reaching people who need them the most.

A central part of SB OverSeas’ activities is emergency aid in the form of the distribution of basic necessities. Clothing and other vital goods are frequently collected all over Europe to be shipped to Lebanon and Turkey, where they are distributed to Syrian refugee communities by our SB OverSeas team on the ground.

Read more about SB OverSeas and make a request for pick up

The post Help us send 25 tons of clothing donations to Lebanon appeared first on Brussels Express.

Amara lives in the Saida shelter in Lebanon and she was a star student in SB OverSeas’ classes, until she no longer could come to school. She got married, pregnant, had a miscarriage and got pregnant again and had baby Amina.

But she was just 13 years old.

Read her story as told through the words and illustrations of our incredible storyteller, Félix Brassier.

Each time Félix brings another story to life through his illustrations, I get to the last page and can’t help but to have the shocking realisation that the story I’ve just read is not just a story but a young girl’s life. In this iteration in particular, the last point– that Amara’s little sister was about to go through the same traumatic journey.

At the end of last year, the attempted suicide of a 16-year-old girl in Arsal, Lebanon who was forced to marry her cousin when she was just 14 highlighted the harrowing effects of early marriage. Human rights organisations have renewed their call to the Lebanese parliament to pass a law regulating marriages to a minimum age of 18, a change from the current minimum of 15 years old.

But it’s a complicated situation.

For many Syrian families living in refugee camps, marrying their daughter means one less mouth to feed or what they hope will be a better future for her. As we see in the case of Amara’s family, the struggle she faced doesn’t deter her family away from marriage for her little sister.

‘Just Married’: Amara’s Story

‘Just Married’: Amara’s Story

The post A vicious cycle: Early marriage for young Syrian refugee girls appeared first on Brussels Express.