Women in Brussels empowering women in Lebanon

Back in March, Federica Mastroforti wrote her first article in Brussels Express about the Belgian humanitarian organisation SB OverSeas and its chairwoman, Louma Albik. Louma, originally from Syria, started up SB OverSeas in face of the unfolding humanitarian emergency caused by the outbreak of the Syrian conflict.

Five years later, what began as a small endeavour to help those in need, culminated in three schools and women centres in Lebanon, as well as integration and inclusion projects with unaccompanied minors in the Belgian asylum centres.

One of her main aims is to provide the women tools to regain control in their own lives. With approximately one in every five refugee’ households in Lebanon being led by a women, Louma was determined to equip these women with the necessary skills to provide a stable and secure environment for them and their children. With this in mind, she set up vocational courses to help the women provide themselves with a modest income. Women like Baida were able to explore their almost forgotten dreams of becoming a fashion designer and women like Fatima had a reason to “leave the tent she lives in and the sadness she feels, and enjoy the company of other women.”

How can you help?

Now we turn to the readers of Brussels Express, after a few years of these courses, the sewing machines are starting to become old and run down. In light of this, we started a new campaign to get 12 sewing machines for each of our 3 centres: a total of 36 sewing machines. So far we have 10 machines. We are looking for suport in this endeavour, if you have a second-hand, please contact us or alternatively you can donate to our gofundme here.