Lebanon

Dar El Awlad Children's Home

The Dar El Awlad Children’s Home provides a home for up to 40 boys, ages three to twenty, who have been orphaned or are from very poor families who are unable to care for them. The boys come from Christian, Muslim and Druze backgrounds, though our staff members are Christians and our main goal is to teach the children the Christian faith and disciple those who make commitments. Kids Alive gives the boys shelter, food, clothing, medical care, education, a ‘mother’ to love them and care for their day-to-day needs, and a living example of Christ’s love. Each child lives in one of five family apartments and is cared for by a houseparent. The apartments have bedrooms, sitting room, bathroom, and kitchen, while the Home also has a central kitchen, chapel, multi-purpose hall, and outdoor play facilities.

Our older boys, aged 16-plus years, live in one apartment on campus called the ‘Bell House,’ which provides them with more freedom and responsibility while still receiving the love and support of a family as they transition to independence.

We consider it vital that we provide the boys with educational and technical training skills to equip them for future employment. Unfortunately, many of the boys arrive several years behind in education, while some have learning difficulties that made them unable to cope with the stress of studying in a ‘mainstream’ government school – which is one reason Dar El Awlad School was started.

Dar El Awlad School

Dar El Awlad school has classes for kindergarten through sixth grade, both for our residential children and for many poor children in the local community. These children come from a range of different nationalities, such as Sudanese, Sri Lankan, Filipino, Iraqi and Palestinian backgrounds.

The school has eight classrooms, a library, and an outdoor playground area. Each class has a maximum of ten students so they each receive plenty of help, care, and attention, while children with learning disabilities are provided one-on-one instruction. The walls of Dar El Awlad School are painted bright colors, which is most unusual for a Lebanese school. The school is closely linked to our technology center where children are taught a range of practical skills such as woodworking and mechanics.

Moses' Basket Care Center

The center is open during working hours on weekdays to care for preschool children from very poor families, reaching out to them with practical Christian care and support. Many of these poor families are not Lebanese, and the program provides care for children who are Filipino, Sri Lankan, Sudanese, and Syrian. The Center has two brightly colored playrooms, a bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, and outdoor covered play area. Activities include playing with water and sand, cooking, painting, and ball games. Children also learn some basic Arabic and English, and every day the children are taught Bible stories and songs. A maximum of twelve children are in the program at one time, and some children transfer to Dar El Awlad School when they reach the age of four years.

The Bread of Life Bakery

The bakery was started in 2007 by a Kids Alive missionary on the main campus at Dar El Awlad. The main aims of the bakery are:

• To provide 220 loaves of free bread each week to other Christian organizations working with children at risk;

• To provide training and work experience opportunities to some of the older children in Kids Alive’s programs in Lebanon;

• To provide part-time employment for several visually impaired young people;

• To generate income for vocational training programs through the sale of bread and pastries in the local community.

Two visually-impaired young ladies and an older boy from Dar El Awlad work in the bakery under the supervision of a Kids Alive missionary. The program currently operates four days a week. The bakery develops a range of work experience and training opportunities, while sale of bread and other produce generates income which can be used for vocational training programs at Dar El Awlad.

Home of Serenity for Girls

After the Dar El Awlad Boys Home was founded in Beirut in 1948, Kids Alive supporters often asked, “But what about the girls?” This need finally led, in 1996, to the opening of the Home of Serenity for Girls in the Shouf Mountains outside Beirut. The buildings of Serenity Home are on a beautiful campus which houses bedrooms, meeting rooms and a large dining room. Girls in the Home range from four years old up through high school age, with some girls being sisters of boys in Dar El Awlad. All the needs of the girls are met — housing, food, clothing, and medical care, while they attend a nearby local school for their education. Most importantly, they are introduced to Jesus and shown what day-to-day Christian life means.

Advanced Education Fund, Lebanon

Kids Alive Lebanon is experiencing growth – and as the ministry grows and matures, so the children under our care do too! Therefore we have established an Advanced Education Fund to help transition the children under our care into well-trained, independent healthy adults that can make a positive impact in their society.

The Advanced Education Fund will help pay scholarships for qualified students attending high school, university and/or vocational training, as well as help cover some of their living expenses. Because every child in Kids Alive care has been rescued from a desperate living situation, these young people have little or no access to other sources of funding for their education.

Beneficiaries of the Advanced Education Fund will be studying to become doctors, teachers, lawyers, accountants, managers, engineers, information technology professionals, and other skilled professions. They may also be learning valuable vocational skills such as woodworking, sewing, mechanical repair, and construction.  

New Horizons Care Center

The New Horizons Center operates in an area called "Zahrani" in Southern Lebanon, providing vital education, health care, vocational training, assistance with developing micro-enterprise activities – and the love of Christ. The families that we are working with live in very basic tents, constructed of plastic, corrugated iron and wood. These "homes" have only limited access to basic utilities and often do not have running water, proper washing facilities, or electricity. Very few of these people have had any formal education, and many are illiterate. Now the younger generations have a strong desire to become more literate. To meet this need, a literacy program is being established for the children and teenagers. This program will help them develop their skills in Arabic, English and mathematics.

For the women of the community, vocational training workshops will be set up, teaching sewing and jewelry making. The products from these will be sold in the markets in Beirut, a portion of the profits returning back to the project (so that it becomes self-sustaining) as well as the women and their families.

A medical clinic is also being established to meet the needs of these communities. Nurses will provide basic care as well as health education and advice, and they will be supported by a doctor and dentist who will perform surgeries on a regular basis.

The foundation of these programs, which are run in partnership with two other local organizations, is our desire to be sharing the love of Christ with these families, showing them the love that He has for them, and encouraging them to come to know Him in their own lives.