BT4 Europe February 2023 Edition 11 The Briefing.pdf

Mariam is from Idlib Syria, and she is 13-years old. She lives in Masaken, South of Lebanon with her parents, six sisters, and a brother.

Five years ago, the family fled from war-torn Syria. Apart from the time they spent there harvesting olives, Mariam doesn't recall much about her childhood home in Idlib. Her mother is a stay-at-home mom, while her father does drywall and ceiling tiles.

Life changes at a young age had an impact on Mariam’s learning and Mariam was turned down by a number of local schools. She fortunately joined our community center’s informal education program and began participating in a variety of activities, including Mourjjan4Children, digital training, and music. Due to her delay in accessing education, Mariam initially struggled to participate in class and converse with her friends. Since Mariam had never been to school, she was too hesitant to talk to anyone, even her teachers; it was difficult for her to engage in class and interact with her friends. She was also timid to express that she did not know how to read and write.

Mariam's teachers admired her calm attitude and worked hard with her so that she could read, write, and do math like her friends. With time, Mariam gained more confidence, and her participation in the Mourjjan4Children creative program played a major role in her character building. She was passionate about drawing and would practice for countless hours without getting tired or bored. Mariam was able to overcome her shyness and demonstrate her ability to contribute to the project constructively. She generously offered advice to everyone and supported her pals. It pleased her and boosted her self-confidence. This was also evident in Mariam's routine activities at the Masar community center, run by Swiss4Lebanon, where the teachers saw the improvements Mariam made as a result of the workshop. She has learned that the road to success is paved with obstacles that she can overcome, so she now strives harder and is less scared to fail.

Mariam responded enthusiastically when asked about the second part of the program and how excited she was to hear the facilitators were returning. She added that creating and wearing the "emotion hat" was a fantastic experience that she loved.

Mariam hopes to work in the beauty industry as a hairdresser or makeup artist when she grows up because she believes these are careers where she can apply her artistic abilities. Her mother is very supportive of her in doing it and encourages her to "Be Creative."

www.swiss4lebanon www.masarcenter.org

Methkal is 5 years old and resides in Massaken, a village in South-Lebanon, with his parents, two brothers, and one sister. He is part of the Masar community center’s special needs program.

Since Methkal was a baby, he suffered from oxygen shortages at birth, leading to several days in an incubator. His mother expressed to the center’s social worker how she always struggled with Methkal’s increased physical activity and hyperactivity; when Methkal was 2 years old he fell from the balcony from a height of 4 meters. They were living in an abandoned structure that was unsuitable for habitation. As a result of this accident, Methkal had a severe concussion.

Methkal's mother attempted to enroll him in formal schooling, but after just two weeks he was expelled for repeatedly attempting to jump off the balcony. Methkal enrolled in the informal education program two years ago. His excessive energy and hostility toward his classmates were noted by the teachers. He used to shout and hit them, while refusing to participate in any class activities. Methkal was unable to concentrate in class, and refused to follow teacher instructions. As a result of this, Methkal was one of the students to be evaluated by a special education specialist for the special needs program.

The evaluation showed that although Methkal is a very bright and talented child, his current learning delay and behavioral problems have been instigated by his living situation at home, where the mom is subject to regular domestic violence.

Months after Methkal began to receive the proper guidance and care from the center’s special ed teacher, he demonstrated tremendous progress in his behavior and learning. He started to comply with classroom rules, and his concentration level enhanced greatly. Methkal regularly asks his teachers whether there will be school the following day as his only wish is to “attend the community center every single day.” He now assists his teacher, shows friendliness, and makes an effort to behave properly. He supports his pals and has made significant academic progress. The teacher is incredibly proud of him and the person he has developed into. She claims that all he required was some special attention and someone to listen to his needs.

More information about our Center: www.masarcenter.org

As a result of the current uncertainties for air travellers, Kuoni Business Travel is giving customers access to the services of air passenger rights experts AirHelp. The new pre-flight service package "Complete" includes access to premium lounges if departures are delayed by at least one hour, real-time advice and the legally required refunds in the event of flight delays, cancellations or baggage problems.

Kuoni Business Travel and AirHelp are giving customers access to premium lounges in airports worldwide in the event of regular departure delays of one hour or more. This newly launched offer is part of the "Complete" pre-flight service package put together by the partners. It also includes the refund checks offered in the "Air Help Plus" package based on national and international legislation and access to real-time advice in chats by experienced experts. The prices for the services are in the single-digit Swiss franc range and are invoiced by Kuoni Business Travel depending on the individual needs of the customer before the flight.

The fees owed by airlines for delayed and non-operated flights range up to 600 euros for flight disruptions, up to 1,400 euros for baggage problems and up to 6,000 euros for necessary passenger expenses.

"Many business customers are foregoing refund requests"

Andreas Schneider, Head of Kuoni Business Travel, explains: "Air passenger rights are worth hard cash. Together with AirHelp, we help our customers to get their rights". Philipp Strässle, Head of Switzerland at Air-Help, adds: "I am delighted that we are able to expand our services with our partner Kuoni Business Travel to include pre-flight services. Especially in the business travel segment, many customers refrain from making refund requests because they consider the effort involved and the waiting time to be disproportionate. We want to further expand our services in this segment.

factsheet-airhelp.pdf

In response to the climate emergency, more and more companies are concerned about the impact of their operations on the environment and want to move toward a more sustainable model. At the same time, as investors and other stakeholders demand action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, companies are seeking ways to understand and manage their carbon footprint.

At Hcorpo, we believe that each player has the power to contribute, at its own level, to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. We are also aware that Business Travel makes up a significant part of a company's carbon footprint and that the hotel sector, like rail and air travel, should not be neglected. This is why we have developed H-Carbon, a new feature that helps companies quantify the emissions generated by their employees' hotel stays.

A calculation method developed by the hotel industry

To support its clients in their journey, Hcorpo has chosen to rely on the expertise of Greenview, the world’s leading provider of sustainability programs and data management for the hospitality and tourism sector.

The Greenview Hotel Footprinting Tool is based in part on the Cornell Hotel Sustainability Benchmarking Index. This industry-led global data collection and benchmarking initiative takes into account factors such as energy, water, and carbon emissions from over thousands of hotels around the world.

Using real data supplied by the industry’s global benchmarking index, Hcorpo teams are able to provide their clients with a robust estimate of the carbon footprint of their hotel nights, directly in their monthly reporting.

HC_ARTICLE_ASTM_H-CARBON_EN.pdf

Lilian Jouni is a 14 years old Lebanese-Ethiopian student that attends the Masar community center daily. She lives with her mother and sister in Sur, Lebanon while her father lives abroad maintaining limited contact with his children.

Due to challenges of accessing formal papers, Lilian was unable to register in formal schooling. Her mom, who works daily cleaning houses to make a living for her and her children, was so eager for her daughters to gain an education that she hired a home tutor so they could learn to read and write. For Lilian, it was never enough. She was unhappy since she was never able to make friends or experience what it was like to go to school. Her mother learned of the Masar community center and asked if she could enroll Lilian and her sister Zainab in the informal education program so they could be as “close to a "normal life as possible.”

Since then Lilian and her sister have had no trouble integrating with their classmates and making new friends, they express positivity and dedication to learning that was witnessed strongly by the teachers. Lilian claims that "the center is her happy place" because she gets to experience what she was unable to as a child growing up. She claims it is also her “safe space” because at the center she doesn’t face any bullying as she does in her own community, mainly due to racism and discrimination, with most people outside viewing her as “inferior.” Lilian is currently enrolled in the music and digital training programs, and Mourjjan4Children's Creative Workshop. Lilian aspires to be a doctor in the future and believes that studying and education are the first steps towards success.

DER Touristik Suisse launches third school construction project

For the third time after 2018 and 2019, DER Touristik Suisse is supporting a school construction project of the FLY & HELP foundation. The latest project is for a project in northern Namibia and is being driven by business travel specialist Kuoni Business Travel. A talk by FLY&HELP founder Reiner Meutsch in Zurich marked the start of the collaboration and generated donations of around CHF 15,000.

The Kuoni brands are continuing their collaboration with FLY & HELP, an aid organisation specialising in school construction projects in developing countries. This year and next, Kuoni Business Travel is carrying out various activities to finance a project in northern Namibia, where the cold in winter and the heat in summer make it difficult to run schools in an orderly manner. The construction of buildings and the securing of teachers' salaries are at the heart of the project, which is also receiving support from local partners and authorities.

15,000 Swiss francs thanks to a lecture evening in Zurich

A lecture evening by FLY & HELP founder Reiner Meutsch in Zurich last week generated an initial donation of CHF 15,000 for the project. Kuoni Business Travel financed free tickets for the event and also made a contribution of CHF 10,000 to the aid organisation. The 150 or so visitors contributed to the continued financing of the school construction project, for example by making donations or buying merchandising articles. Further activities initiated by the business travel specialist of DER Touristik Suisse to support the project are planned for 2023.

Already made possible by DER Touristik Suisse and its brands were the construction of a primary school in Cambodia at the beginning of 2018 and the extension of a pre-school in Namibia in 2019.

Ghazalas Story

Ghazala first came to the community center with her family in 2019 in hopes to be involved in Swiss4Lebanons informal education activities. At the time, Ghazala was 7 years old, and, like her elder brother and father, suffered from profound bilateral sensorial hearing loss. Her family, who fled from Syria just before the war in 2010, was unable to afford tending to Ghazala’s hearing condition.

Teachers at our community center welcomed Ghazala and tried as much as possible to involve her in activities, yet any full and active engagement could only happen by first treating Ghazala’s condition. As local staff began to witness similar cases as Ghazala, S4L realized the necessity of opening a special needs classroom in order to cater to children with learning difficulties and special needs. Ghazala was one of the first children to receive assistance. In April 2021, her and two other children visited a specialty hospital in Beirut to assess the level of hearing loss. The doctor presented Ghazala with two options, to first try a high power bilateral hearing aid, yet given the very late intervention, there was a probability the hearing aid would not provide the desired result. In case of the latter, Ghazala would have to undergo the second option, which would be a cochlear implant for improved hearing. Accordingly, it was decided that Ghazala first try the hearing aid for a period of three months in conjunction with intensive speech therapy sessions. If there were signs of limited to no improvement, an implant would be required.

S4L carried out all the necessary measures to ensure that Ghazala’s hearing loss would be gradually improved and restored. A bilateral hearing aid was installed on April 6, 2021, with follow-up consultations to confirm proper usage and handling of the hearing aid. A speech therapist carried out an assessment to detect the level of speech and language disorder associated with Ghazala’s hearing impairment in early June. The assessment showed significant difficulty in the domains of articulation, phonology, and oral language (vocabulary and syntax were limited to one word sentences), and hence, speech therapy sessions were scheduled for Ghazala twice a week. Seven months into working closely with Ghazala, the level of improvement exceeded all expert expectations. Ghazala can now produce phrases of 3-4 words on demand with no visual support. Articulation of the sounds “k, ħ, s” has been attained with visual prompts and the sounds “x, z, r” are in progress. Intelligibility of speech is improved even for some complex and/or long words. Further intervention and support is needed to maintain progress and improve communication. As reinforcement, Ghazala attends the special needs classroom at the community center three times a week where her learning is enhanced.

Ghazala has acquired a stronger sense of self and confidence and she is no longer the timid and cautious girl she used to be. She shows an unyielding commitment and determination to grow despite the hardships and dire living conditions she endures. In the summer of 2021, Ghazala’s mother passed away due to COVID without getting the chance to witness Ghazala’s progress. Her only worry was Ghazala’s future, and her only wish was that she would become empowered through treating her impairment and accessing education.

Ghazala continues to demonstrate true potential and a passion for learning in hopes that she has the brighter future her mother desired for her.

Links to film and documentary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_e73ykVvCg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLw-SXwzhQU

 

Schweizer Fernsehen SRF Sendung Mitenand: https://www.srf.ch/play/tv/mitenand/video/libanon---eine-schule-fuer-fluechtlingskinder?urn=urn:srf:video:8ccab300-07bd-4849-a1c1-1ac7781c8003

Read the full full report of the Board of Directors meeting in Malaga on November 15 2022.