Preparation d’un mariage au Liban… le bling bling hors prix et les lois obligatoires sont de retour

Préparer un mariage au Liban, c’est un vrai casse-tete!

les idées vues, revues, et refaites par je ne sais qui sont -parait-il “obligatoires”! 

voila quelques unes des remarques que j’ai eu…..

Fleurs, voitures, restaurant, église, robe, chocolat, danseurs, ahhhh j’oublie les escarpins!!

Un must: la voiture de la mariée doit être BLANCHE:

En faisant un ptit tour, un fleuriste a Dbayeh me dit, ta voiture n’est pas blanche??? mais tu es la mariée! la voiture doit être Blanche?!?! Walaouw!!

ok ok…. On note…. la voiture de la mariée doit être blanche…

Must selon les règles du mariage… La voiture de la mariée DOIT être Blanche!!

bon je ne sais pas toujours pourquoi… mais les règles édictées par une société pareille…ouf!! je ne peux pas faire la révolution partout!! ca fatigue!!

priorité 2: Coiffeur et Extension de cheveux  :

j’oublie… les cheveux… Rita, tu dois aller chez un des coiffeurs connus de la ville… parfait! j’y vais…. euh.. j’y suis allée pour payer le down payement d’une amie: 600$ en premier payement, le reste le jour du mariage!!! une coiffure a 900$????? mais que va-t-il lui faire?? Planter des cheveux!??!! désolée, la coiffure est celle de “BLANCHE NEIGE”… 🙂 oui oui je vous assure, dans son menu, puisque le coiffeur a un menu, c’est effet Blanche neige, ouiiiiiii!!! j’ai le menu!!

attention les extensions de cheveux sont Obligatoires!! oui, un chignon sans deux tonnes de cheveux synthétiques ou coupés et vendus par de pauvres jeunes filles je ne sais ou, n’en est pas un!!

Rita! tu ne veux pas changer de couleur de cheveux???? Non… pourquoi?? mais tu as une mèche blanche!!? euh…. Mais je l’adore ma mèche blanche! elle est naturelle, est BELLE!!!!

OkAY!!! La je m’insurge! on ne touche pas a ma meche!! je l’ai depuis mon plus jeune age!! et ils insistent! faut la couvrir!!! Mdr!!!

Encore faut pas oublier,  le prix de la coiffure de la mariée est juste pour la mariée, et sans le make-up, je veux dire make over!

Make-up ….Make over priorité 3: 

Un institut de beauté qui prend 45$ pour un maquillage, sans faux-cils s’il vous plait m’a demandé 250$ pour un maquillage de mariage…. euh….. des prix hors normes?!!  aussi j’ai claqué la porte gentiment, surtout que la maquilleuse avait un gros chewing gum…et mastiquait comme un chameau… ouiii je suis méchante, mais un peu de retenue dis-donc!!!

L”institut hors prix ce trouve à Zalka…

oops… coiffure de mariage…. a la cruella liban

Toujours a Zalka… les Scarbineh brillantes et Haute Haute Haute!!!

ehhh la c’est l’horreur totale, pas tant qu’aux prix qui sont passables, mais au MODELS!!!

Louboutin et gaga bi rasskoun!!! ce ne sont pas des talons , ce sont des pièces qui tuent!!! si je donne un coup de pied a quelqu’un avec un double semelle et des talons pareils (minimum trouvable 10 cm ) je serais arrêtée!!!

les talons pour mariage….. Souk el zalka en offre une panoplie!!!!

Les Zaffehs!!! 

ahhh, j’oublie les zaffehs, Rita, tu ne veux pas de zaffeh??? euh si j’adore!! mais pourquoi pas par des gens qui nous connaissent?? c’est pas le but d’une zaffeh?? avoir des personnes qui aiment les maries, et qui vont chanter et danser pour eux??

j’adorerais que des gens que j’aime chantent, jouent un instrument, ou dansent pour moi!!! cela serait un tres beau cadeau!!! et c’est comme ca que ca se faisait!!!!!!  sinon je pourrais appeler Jennifer Lopez, et chakira!! je suis Fan!

zaffeh… la troupe de danse traditionnelle libanaise

mais des gens que je ne connais pas?! euh… je deviendrais danseuse pour leur show! et leur “PORTEFOLIO”….oui, ils auront fait de la pub pour eux, dans un des grands mariage libanais, et ils ajoutent cela a leur carnet!! (el 3ariss jeyeh men franssa, w hiyeh ketbeh!) et walla… ana men achkout, w rodz  men deyr dourit….

Un violoniste connu pour 20 minutes prend la modique somme de 2500$… je ne l’ai pas appele, mon amie, docteure a l’universite l’a appele pour son mariage, il gagne plus qu’elle !!!!!

un triple salaire mensuel au Liban…. Mariage me dites-vous?!! mais c’est écoeurant!!

Violonistes au Liban… une panoplie trouvable sur Youtube

hummm… les restaurants et hotels? pour un mariage, tous les prix grimpent et changent… quant aux things to add… oulalalalaaaa… je pense que mon cheri va avoir lui même des cheveux blancs!

il a tellement entendu, sorry monsieur, cela c’est du extra pas dans l’offre!

Les Wedding Loans??? Une autre histoire au Liban…

oui au Liban, pour pouvoir faire un mariage les banques offrent des produits pour mariage! les wedding loans! pour moi prendre un prêt pour une journée et soirée, est une aberration… certains trouvent que c’est nécessaire….

voila quelques avis dont certains différents du mien trouvés sur le blog de E-Mabrouk:

“i don’t agree with you rami, not everyone in these days can make a wedding in lebanon…the minimum needed to make a wedding in lebanon bypassed the average of 20.000$…if we choose a normal wedding dresse, a normal zaffe,a normal photographer,ordinary cars, very small venue….these days the couples should work years just to make a wedding in lebanon which will pass in 24 hour as maximum….

LalousNovember 30, 2011 – 23:46

🙂 I like what’s happening below. From my point of view, I think the couple should not spend more than their in-hand budget and they shouldn’t take a loan for it; I think it’s weird to have loans for weddings! Besides, I will marry once in my life and I want it to be a great wedding but in the same time I won’t spend more that I can do. I will do whatever I can with my budget.
By the way, I think Lebanon is the best place on earth to make wedding in it. You can have a very small wedding and up ten million dollar wedding.

RamiNovember 28, 2011 – 16:26

honestly i disagree with Anna because we come life once and we get marry once, and the wedding in Lebanon became something very lovely to do and the couple must enjoy this event and spend all what they can to make it an unforgettable day. We have the finest wedding Zaffe in lebanon, finest wedding dresses in lebanon, finest wedding flowers in lebanon, finest wedding photographer in lebanon,finest wedding cars in lebanon…etc…so we need to take advantage from all of that…at least i will do that for myself when i get married 🙂

Rasha80November 27, 2011 – 23:32″

…..

Oui oui… les gens au Liban prennent un prêt pour se marier!!! certaines banques à hauteur de 30 000$ d’autres dans les 15 000$ ;

il faut dire que tout restaurant a besoin d’un premier payement de 15000$ juste pour garder la date libre….  mais oh jeunes gens, emprunter de l’argent pour une soirée?! ?! ?! oh la la

et vous serez avec Votre Famille et Amis proches!!!!

deux exmples de prets bancaires pour mariage au Liban byblos bank et la Libano francaise…

ceci mis à part…. je ne peux que dire qu’il y a de bons moments quand même…

les billets suivants montrent les steps by steps que nous suivons…. et qui nous font plaisir !!! car des moments pareils ne sont vivables qu’une fois!

Aussi je mettrais le nom et addresses des gens professionnels qui nous ont plu!! pas de ceux qui arnaquent a tout bout de champ!!

et pour ceux qui le veulent un guide pour les mariages va suivre!!!

Rita (z bride to be)

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Perdre un etre cher… l’experience la plus difficile de la vie

“La vie est belle… souriez! ” a toujours ete mon leitmotiv dans la vie;

récemment nous avons perdu un être cher a la famille.

et le leitmotiv ainsi que les sous-bassements auxquels on croit deviennent frêles;

comment sourire à la vie quand des êtres chers nous quittent? Comment ressentir le soleil du matin sans sentir le manque de l’autre… Oui l’Autre nous manque, et souvent cruellement.

Pere Joseph Abdel Sater nous l’a dit une fois a une de nos reunions (lejnet al kalimeh) : perdre un être cher est l’expérience la plus difficile de la vie.

lui avait perdu sa maman, les funérailles étaient le matin et c’est lui, pere joseph, qui avait insiste pour célébrer la messe de Paques le soir même;

J’avais mal pour lui, et lui  Sourait! ouiii…. il etait zen et souriait! ouiiii nous – a – t-il dit, vous êtes croyants? alors vous devez sourire, car El Massih Kam…

elle n’est pas partie dans un monde lointain… elle est la, avec LUI…

etre en presence de l’Amour est enviable oui, mais je prefere cher Jesus profiter de tous ceux qui me sont chers ici…

et la, je pense et si ils ont besoin de profiter de LUI , la -haut?

L’Amour est si attachant que penser a lui, et aux cadeaux qu’il nous fait et au bonheur qu’il nous donne dans les autres et par les autres, colmate les plaies d’une absence physique de ceux qui sont allés le retrouver. Consolation? nullement. Notre volonté peut être si différente de ce destin incompréhensible.  Absence …oui mais réunion sure,

donc,

A un de ses quatre!  chers tous et toutes, et spécialement tonton….

Rita

Prière dite de Saint Augustin

La mort n’est rien. Je suis simplement
passé dans la pièce à côté.

Je suis moi, tu es toi.

Ce que nous
étions l’un pour l’autre, nous le sommes toujours.

Donne-moi le nom que
tu m’as toujours donné.

Parle-moi comme tu l’as toujours fait. N’emploie
pas un ton différent.

Ne prends pas un air solennel ou
triste.

Continue à rire de ce qui nous faisait rire
ensemble.

Prie, souris, pense à moi, prie avec moi.

Que mon nom
soit prononcé à la maison comme il l’a toujours été, sans emphase d’aucune
sorte, sans une trace d’ombre.

La vie signifie ce qu’elle a toujours
signifié. Elle est ce qu’elle a toujours été. Le fil n’est pas
coupé.

pourquoi serais-je hors de ta pensée simplement parce que je suis
hors de ta vue ?

Je ne suis pas loin, juste de l’autre côté du
chemin.

Tu vois, tout est bien.

Tu trouveras mon coeur, tu en
retrouveras les tendresses épurées.

Essuie tes larmes. Et ne pleure pas
si tu m’aimes.

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NGOs in Lebanon: Abusing Their Workers in the Name of Human Rights

 

NGOs in Lebanon: Abusing Their Workers in the Name of Human Rights

“Ability to work under stress, alone or in a team, and the ability to multitask.” These are some of the conditions repeated in most job ads for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Lebanon. “Under stress” and “multitasking” might not seem like the kind of expressions that call for closer examination, yet they often tacitly spell worker exploitation.

With a fragile Lebanese economy, many qualified young people look for work in the fastest “growing” sector in Lebanon and that is the NGO sector. Most of these people are forced to accept adverse working conditions under the pretext of working for the public good and supporting important humanitarian causes! Labor rights are seen as nothing but a minute detail that distracts from fundamental goals like “poverty reduction,” “the empowerment of women,” “good governance,” “conflict resolution and the dialogue of civilizations” as well as other such concepts shoved down people’s throats by funders.

The civil society organizations sector is characterized by an absolute lack of job security and stability.

Organizations in Lebanon are not new, they were one of the foundations of sectarian pastoral institutions shortly before Lebanon’s independence and the withdrawal of foreign forces in 1946. They also flourished during the war to compensate for the breakdown of the state. But after 1990, and with the rise of structural economic policies globally accompanied by the gradual withdrawal of the welfare state, civil organizations proliferated dramatically. Funds from international donors started pouring in to address the social repercussions of structural changes that occurred in state institutions.The number of associations registered, according to the Law of Associations, reached 5,623 in 2007. If we exclude from this figure political parties, clubs, scouts and family ties in addition to fictitious or inactive associations then the number would range between 1,200 to 1,500 organizations, according to the 2010 civil society organizations directory.

Open Job Opportunities

Civil society organizations’ fields of activity have varied over the past few years and so have the approaches they take, ranging from charity to services and development. Funding increased and the donors multiplied. This created new job opportunities that are rarely found in the public and private sectors especially for medium-qualified and highly-qualified young people.

For example, the number of job vacancies on the website Lebanon Support (a civil society portal) sometimes reaches about 800 positions, according to the executive director Bassem Chit.

The civil organizations sector brought with it new kinds of professions that are not recognized in the public and private sectors, including human rights trainer, facilitator and advocacy officer. Some Lebanese universities have started to provide disciplines for these jobs to respond to market demand.

As with the private sector, this sector has witnessed a decline in labor earnings… though hidden in its “non-profit” cloak.

It is hard to count the number of employees in these organizations because only a small percentage of them have work contracts that are registered with social security. And even if they have contracts, they often work for short periods of time (depending on the length of the projects), and herein lies the problem. The civil society organizations sector is characterized by an absolute lack of job security and stability.

Chit said that while donors used to operate based on programs which lasted longer and needed a medium-term strategy, the current trend is to fund short-term projects and rely on contractors to cut labor cost.

Maya (not her real name) has ten years experience in civil society organizations, during which she moved between seven different organizations (the longest period she spent at one organization was a year and a half). Throughout those years she only received social security benefits for two years, therefore she was deprived of a large chunk of end of service indemnity. She admits that she has recurring anxiety about funding running out or the project ending. She remembers an incident that happened when she used to work for an organization concerned with women’s rights on a program addressing women’s economic rights, including social security. She says that she felt embarrassed working on this campaign: “How did we have the nerve to work for women’s social security at a time when the organization consisted mostly of women who lacked social security?”

Zeina (not her real name) has worked at many organizations since 2003. She believes that the basic offense lies in the manipulation of concepts and values which legitimizes many violations at work. She explains: “One can not ask for a raise or adhere to certain working hours or calculate overtime… because one’s work is divided between the job and volunteering.”

She says that at one of her jobs she was signing papers stating that her monthly salary was $900 while in reality she was receiving $700. When she complained about it the executive director justified it by saying that the association takes from employees’ salaries to pay for office expenses that were not taken into consideration by the funder in the budget.

Zeina’s case apparently is not unique. Based on the interviews we conducted, the problem is a common one in these organizations even if the excuses differ. Walid (not his real name), for example, has been working for a year at an association concerned with women’s rights. He says that part of his salary was deducted to pay social security contributions in full, including the employer’s contribution!

Zeina says that the problem she experienced most at work was the large number of tasks she was assigned that went beyond the scope of her “job,” under the pretext that part of the work is volunteer-based.

Farah remembers her first work experience in an organization concerned with refugee issues. When she asked her director about working hours, the director responded firmly: “There are no work hours here, we’re all volunteers.” Farah said she couldn’t stay for a long time in this organization as “employees” were on average putting in about 12 hours work a day in addition to working weekends, which was the normal trend. Of course there is no overtime pay because “the funder pays based on the tasks performed, not the hours of work,” says Maya.

The basic offense lies in the manipulation of concepts and values which legitimizes many violations at work.

The violations do not stop there, according to the editor of the Lebanese Observatory for the rights of Workers and Employees, Ahmad al-Dirani. He says that in addition to the problem of not having contracts and workers being deprived of social security and set work hours, most organizations do not have a mechanism for wage increases and most workers did not get the wage increase that was passed recently.Furthermore, under the pretext of being secular, some civil society organizations do not commit to all the official religious holidays and do not give vacations. In the last organization where Zeina worked, which was concerned with legal and human rights issues, she was allowed eight days of vacation annually instead of 15 – a clear violation of labor law.

Despite the human rights approach adopted by most civil society organizations, you find a lot of discriminatory practices between employees, whether in hiring or employment conditions. “We have the foreigner complex,” says Maya with a bitter smile. She says that during her work she came across many cases of discrimination between the “locals” and the foreigners. “With the same job description and indentical tasks and qualifications required, there was a $300 difference in wages between a French employee and myself, even though she did not know Arabic.”

Al-Dirani believes that the working conditions of civic association employees are still a lot worse, even though they enjoy job stability due to the flow of funds from religious and sectarian institutions.

Jinan is a nurse at a medical clinic that belongs to a religious organization. She has been working for five years for minimum wage, she has no work contract and does not receive social security benefits or health insurance and not even her yearly vacation.

Samia is in no better a situation. She’s been working for six years in an organization that belongs to a prominent political personality and there too “working hours depend on the work that needs to be done.” She indicates also that she does not have social security or private insurance.

Volunteering… or Cheap Labor?

Most of these violations take place under the guise of volunteering. The United Nations Volunteer Program defines volunteer work as “contributions that individuals make as non-profit, non-wage… action for the well-being of their neighbours, and society at large.”

If we step away from the idealism of this definition and we look at the dynamics of work and relationships between people inside organizations it becomes clear that volunteering has become in many cases synonymous with cheap labor.

The way money is dealt with in these NGOs is made evident in the examples that Walid cited about his work in this field. He saw how money is generously spent on hotels and taxis, so he did not have the audacity to convince target populations, most of them from poor and marginalized areas, to volunteer.

Who’s the Boss?

Labor relations in this field are no doubt ambiguous. The identity of the worker is lost between volunteering and working and the role of the employer is not clearly defined and is lost between the board of directors, the executive director and the funder.

If legally the employer is the administrative body then actual power is likely to lie in the hands of the executive director who is hired by an organization to be in charge of personnel management and to perform daily tasks. That is, the executive director is the decision-maker when it come to the terms and working conditions of the rest of the employees.

For Zeina, the executive director is the boss, meaning he is the person with whom she negotiates for her labor rights while “the role of the administrative body in this respect is often marginal.”

Walid points out that despite the direct daily relationship with his executive director, the funder bears a huge responsibility whether directly or indirectly in terms of determining working conditions.

With the same job description and indentical tasks and qualifications required, there was a $300 difference in wages between a French employee and myself, even though she did not know Arabic.

Based on her experience in dealing with donors, Zeina stressed that in the best case scenario, some funders force management to sign model contracts (that include tasks, duration of contract and salary) but without determining the hours of work, social security, end of service indemnity and mechanisms for complaints.Maya is sure that most funders do not observe the working conditions at the organizations they deal with and even if they notice violations at work, they turn a blind eye.

It appears then that work relationships are three-pronged and consist of the employee, management and funder. The last party might seem absent but has a lot of influence. If exploitation of workers in the private sector involves reducing their share of added value for the benefit of increasing the corporation’s capital and the investors’ profits, exploitation in civil society organizations consists of reducing labor costs (wages and social security) to invest in projects and activities in order to compete with other organizations and attract more funding.

The ambiguity of labor relationships and the resulting “invisible” exploitation are not the only obstacles to organizing this sector and defending the rights of its workers. The problem also lies in the workers’ way of thinking and the logic of their work that relies on dialogue to “resolve conflicts” and the “we all benefit and no one loses” mentality regardless of who has the authority and the capital.

The question therefore remains, are employees of NGOs who are used to legalizing conflict and diluting it able to engage in a battle to defend their labor rights?

This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.

an Article by CAROLE KERBAJ

Source: http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/ngos-lebanon-abusing-their-workers-name-human-rights

 

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rethinking tactics in the NGO world in lebanon….

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Lebanese Mothers: Missing Their Babies … an article about maternity leave by C.Benoit

Lebanese Mothers: Missing Their Babies

Lebanon currently has one of the shortest maternity leave periods in the world, offering only 49 days off work for new mothers. (Photo: Marwan Bu Haidar)

By: Chloe Benoist

Published Tuesday, September 11, 2012

A draft law addressing maternity leave is set to be presented in the upcoming fall Parliamentary session, aiming to lengthen time off work for new mothers. However, mothers, doctors and activists are saying it’s still not enough.

Lebanon currently has one of the shortest maternity leave periods in the world, offering only 49 days off work for new mothers. This embarrassing record is beaten only by Bahrain and the UAE, who both allow 45 days of recuperation after childbirth. A current draft law to increase the maternity leave to ten weeks is set to be presented in front of the Parliament in the upcoming months. However, it still falls short of the minimum 14 weeks recommended by the International Labor Organization.

The proposal, presented by MPs Gilberte Zwein of the Free Patriotic Movement and Michel Moussa of the Amal Movement Parliamentary Bloc, has already been approved by the Women and Children Committee, the Public Health, Labor and Social Affairs Committee and the Justice and Administration Commission. The proposal was also given the green light by Prime Minister Najib Mikati in April. For Moussa, the draft law represents “an acceptable step forward for both mothers and employers.”

Having time off work to care for your newborn is not a benefit, it’s a need.

But what might seem an acceptable compromise for politicians is far from sufficient for those directly affected by the law. For Jinane Khashouf, a 31-year-old human resources consultant and creator of a blog entitled Lebanese Working Moms, it was a struggle to conciliate work with the responsibility of caring for a newborn.

 

 

Khashouf said she was “lucky” that her now five-year old daughter was born in the summer while she was working as a teacher, hence giving her two and a half months off. However, she only had the seven-week long maternity leave after the birth of her son two years ago.

“It was not enough,” she said. “You want to go back to your daily life, but you are not ready: you are still breastfeeding, the baby is awake most of the time, but the show must go on.” Khashouf added that if it hadn’t been for her mother being able to take care of her youngest child while she was in the office, she would simply have chosen not to have a second child.

The pressure of balancing a career with motherhood is heightened by the fear of many women that they will be replaced at work, and this despite the existing law which prohibits the firing or women who are pregnant or on maternity leaves. “The law might say many things, but it is not always respected,” Khashouf said, noting that she knows of several women who were unlawfully dismissed from their jobs during or right after their pregnancy.

While hailing the draft proposal as progress, obstetrician Souha Nasreddine emphasized the need to aim higher, citing the negative health concerns a short maternity leave might entail.

There is a chance that the current political tensions could negatively affect the outcome of the vote.

“Having time off work to care for your newborn is not a benefit, it’s a need,” she stressed. She recommended a minimum of three months off, while noting that it is highly preferable for mothers to breastfeed until the age of six months. Unfortunately, working hours and a persistent taboo concerning breast pumps at work has meant that many mothers have had to stop breastfeeding their children much earlier than they would have liked.

 

 

According to Nasreddine, forcing mothers to get back to work so quickly also has a psychological effect on the newborn child. “The bonding during the first six months of a baby’s life is important for personality building,” she said, estimating that children separated too early from their mothers have a tendency to be more agitated, anxious and insecure.

The slow pace of reform also has some activists worried that Lebanon will continue to lag behind on international rights standards for decades. The former president of the League for Lebanese Women’s Rights, Linda Matar, recalled the last time the maternity leave law was updated twelve years ago, when private sector employees were granted nine extra days, finally on par with their public sector counterparts’ 49 days off. “It made no sense,” Matar said, referring to the old status quo. “Childbirth is the same, regardless of your place of employment.”

Additionally, while employers could previously legally fire women before their fifth month of pregnancy, women have been fully protected from termination of employment during the entire duration of their pregnancy and subsequent time off since 2000 – at least, according to the law.

Women’s issues are always forgotten because they are not supported by the government.

Although they recognize the limitations of the current draft law, those who contributed to it highlighted the fact that this proposal represents the best possible outcome of negotiations between the feminist movement and economic actors. Rita Chemaly, a blogger and activist who also works at the National Commission for Lebanese Women, noted that while the commission initially hoped for a 12-week maternity leave, there was resistance from employers against extending the leave so dramatically.

 

 

However, Chemaly said she was hopeful. “I feel pretty confident that this law will pass,” she said. “This is not a polarizing subject. It transcends communitarianism and will benefit all women.” The fact that the proposal has already been approved by three parliamentary commissions strengthened her belief.

While Moussa shared Chemaly’s optimism about the proposal’s potential to pass, he did have a word of caution. “There is a chance that the current political tensions could negatively affect the outcome of the vote,” he noted. “We will have to see how the discussions go.”

For Matar, the relegation of this law to the backburner wouldn’t be anything new. She has been advocating for around sixty years trying to improve conditions for women in the country, and said that time and time again, progress is stifled by political paralysis.

“We are always told ‘now is not the time,’ whether we are at peace or at war,” she said. “Well, if not now, when? Women’s issues are always forgotten because they are not supported by the government.”

There must be a change of mentality. People need to stop thinking it is a shame for a man to change a diaper before we can even think of passing a law.

But more importantly than legal change, many agreed that Lebanon needs a drastic change in mentality regarding its perception of working mothers. For many women, being a stay-at-home mom is no longer an option the way it was a generation or two ago.

 

 

“Many women work because they have to work – otherwise they would simply switch to part-time jobs,” Khashouf said. “Quitting your job also means losing a huge part of your identity. We need to find options that work for everyone.”

Zeina Ibrahim, an office manager, agreed. “Working mothers have a lot of pressure in our society,” she said. “There is that expectation that you should give up your job, and that you are a bad mother if you don’t.”

Ibrahim changed jobs after giving birth to her son because of the long hours at her previous place of work, which made it impossible for her to be there for her child. Yet, she never considered giving up working altogether, knowing it would be very hard to find work again.

Another factor often cited as making life more difficult for working mothers is the lack of involvement of fathers in day-to-day childcare. For Chemaly, a paternity leave would be a great step for families to bond, “but there must be a change of mentality. People need to stop thinking it is a shame for a man to change a diaper before we can even think of passing a law.”

Nasreddine summarized the imperative to keep aiming higher and not relegate mothers’ rights as “simply” a women’s issue: “Working mothers need real support, and it’s not only for them, it’s for the whole society. Everybody needs to remember that they are not doing this simply for their own benefit; they are raising the country’s next generation.”

soruce: http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/lebanese-mothers-missing-their-babies

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l’Homosexualite au Liban dans l’attente d’une décriminalisation et d’une acceptation dans un pays ou les normes patriarcales et religieuses priment par Rita Chemaly

Le nouveau Special de Septembre est en vente dans les librairies avec dans ce numéro, un dossier spécial sur l’homosexualité au Liban, par Rita Chemaly.  Un sujet qui reste dans l’attente d’une décriminalisation et d’une acceptation dans un pays ou les normes patriarcales et religieuses priment.

“Si dans ses poèmes Abou el Nouwas célèbre l’homosexualité, dans la réalité, le sujet au Liban reste un tabou, pire le sujet est criminalisé par les lois pénales, et religieuses. A la lumière des lois et pratiques en vigueur, les homosexuels au Liban comme dans les pays arabes sont stigmatisés par les communautés religieuses, les groups de pairs, leur collègues au travail, les medias et surtout leur famille. D’ailleurs le mot arabe « chazz » « déviant » très longtemps utilisé par les medias, souligne la discrimination à laquelle font face les homosexuels dans la société.

Sur le plan des lois, au Liban, le Code Pénal libanais datant de 1943, stipule dans son article 534 que “les relations sexuelles contre nature sont punies d’emprisonnement pour une durée entre un mois et un an, et d’une amende entre 200 000 et un million de livres libanaises”. Dans les textes l’homophobie au Liban est pénalisée et surtout criminalisée, dans la pratique sociale, même parmi les étudiants, l’homophobie fait rage ;….”

Pour continuer à lire l’article n’hésitez pas à lire le Special du Mois de Septembre 2012, en vente dans les librairies….

Le célèbre ouvrage « Bareed Mista3jil », « Courrier urgent » préparé pendant 3 ans par MEEM, une organisation qui apporte son soutien aux lesbiennes et transsexuelles du Liban.

Une manifestation de soutien a eu lieu le samedi 11 août 2012 devant le palais de la Justice. Une centaine de jeunes activistes, se sont virulemment opposés aux tests de virginités encore appliqués dans certains cas sur des femmes, et contre les tests annaux.

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The Social Good Summit will discuss the power of innovative thinking and technology to solve our greatest challenges… are You joining?

The Social Good Summit is where big ideas meet new media to create innovative solutions. Held during UN Week, the Social Good Summit unites a dynamic community of global leaders to discuss a big idea: the power of innovative thinking and technology to solve our greatest challenges. This September, we want YOU to join the conversation with leaders and citizens from around the globe. The most innovative technologists, influential minds and passionate activists will come together with one shared goal: to unlock the potential of new media and technology to make the world a better place, and then to translate that potential into action.

 

This year’s Social Good Summit will be more engaging than ever. People from around the world, in both the developed and the developing world, will unite in person and online to participate in The Global Conversation – the world’s largest conversation on how technology can grow communities and improve life for all of us as we move toward being a networked society. The Social Good Summit in New York City takes place September 22 – 24, 2012, but this is just the beginning of the global conversation.

 

On September 24, 2012 the Social Good Summit is coming to China and Kenya. Key leaders and citizens of Beijing and Nairobi will unite and explore the same themes that inspired the birth of the Social Good Summit. You’ll hear directly from these countries via Livestream, and can witness the live intersection of New York, Nairobi and Beijing on Monday morning from the stage of the 92Y in New York City.

The 2012 Social Good Summit is brought to you by Mashable, 92nd Street Y, the United Nations Foundation, Ericsson, the United Nations Development Programme, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

 

You can take action by joining this global conversation:

 

-Attend the Social Good Summit in New York City from September 22 -24

-Organize or attend a Social Good Summit Meetup in your own hometown or anywhere around the world as part of The Global Conversation

-Watch the Summit on YouTube and interact in real-time with the Social Good Summit community via social media with the hashtag #SGSglobal

 

to know more about the event:

http://mashable.com/sgs/#sgs_venue 

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Ils aiment le Liban, pourquoi ? ….

 

avec la situation politique et economique, beaucoup d’etrangers ont “peur” de venir au Liban…. je ne les comprends pas. S’ils font un peu de recherche , ils vont constater que c’est tres bon de vivre ici, ou meme d’effectuer des vacances meme lors des  peripeties…..

a vous, chers et cheres que je ne comprends pas l’histoire de ces stagiaires:

Rita Chemaly

“STAGIAIRES ÉTRANGERS AU PAYS DU CÈDRE Ils ont choisi le Liban pour leur stage. Depuis deux mois, ils subissent les coupures d’eau, d’électricité, les embouteillages et le stress de la ville. Et pourtant, ils adorent le Liban !

À l’unanimité, ils admettent que c’est « la chaleur humaine, la joie de vivre et la gentillesse des Libanais envers les étrangers » qui les attirent. Pour eux, le côté « exotique et chaotique de cette ville » lui donne un charme très attachant. « Mes copains libanais à Paris m’ont tellement parlé de ce pays qu’ils m’ont vraiment donné envie de le connaître, » confie Alice, 23 ans.

Ce qu’ils aiment le plus ? « Difficile à expliquer, répond Lucie, stagiaire dans une société de films de production, qui adore le Liban et admet que c’est son côté méditerranéen qui l’a poussée à le choisir comme destination pour son stage. « C’est peut-être l’ambiance grouillante de cette ville qui ne dort jamais, ce sentiment de ne pas savoir où l’on va, ce qu’on doit faire. Tout cela est tellement différent de la France. » Sentiment partagé également par Nicolas, 22 ans, qui fait un stage dans une association caritative. « Ici je fais tout ce qui est interdit chez nous, dit-il en riant. C’est cela qui est génial !

Ce côté un peu libre, sans contraintes ni lois. » Ce qui l’impressionne le plus : le côté fonceur des Libanais. « Alors qu’en France on se noie dans de petits détails, ici les gens continuent à vivre, travailler et s’amuser en faisant fi de tous ces problèmes qui empoisonnent leur existence. C’est une vraie leçon de vie. »

Ce qui les gêne au quotidien ?
Si pour les Libanais le chaos et le manque d’infrastructures sont un vrai cauchemar, pour ces étrangers cela représente de nouvelles expériences qu’ils apprennent à gérer différemment. « L’anarchie et la saleté m’amusent parfois, mais c’est le manque d’électricité par ces grosses chaleurs qui me dérange et me choque le plus », avoue Alice, qui trouve « inconcevable de nos jours d’être privé d’eau et d’électricité dans un pays développé ». Lucie, venue visiter le Liban, adore « la vie chaotique et palpitante de cette ville », admettant toutefois que « ce chaos peut finir par être dérangeant ». Pour Claire, stagiaire dans un quotidien français, « c’est le rythme du travail et la lenteur des choses » qui la dérangent le plus. « En France, on vit à trois cents à l’heure et on court beaucoup. Ici, le rythme est plus lent. Souvent il me faut plus d’une semaine pour décrocher un rendez-vous, ce qui est frustrant parfois. » Mais tous ces jeunes admettent que ce ne sont pas ces problèmes qui les choquent le plus en arrivant, mais plutôt « le contraste flagrant entre la richesse et la pauvreté extrême » qu’ils côtoient à quelques ruelles près, ainsi que certaines situations ou manque de lois qu’ils ont du mal à concevoir en tant qu’étrangers, les droits des femmes, des homosexuels, des travailleurs émigrés, les conflits religieux et sociaux… Autant de problèmes qu’ils ne maîtrisent pas et qu’ils trouvent très compliqués lorsqu’ils arrivent au pays.

Comment s’adaptent-ils ?
« Il y a tellement de choses qui compensent qu’on finit par oublier tous ces problèmes, répond spontanément Alice. Lors des coupures de courant, on sort, on s’amuse ou on discute entre copains. » Elle avoue que « la qualité des services au Liban, que l’on ne trouve pas en France, est incroyable ». « Ici le client est roi et les étrangers sont très bien accueillis. Cela touche et aide beaucoup à l’adaptation. » Lucie admet qu’elle a appris à prendre les choses avec beaucoup d’humour et à faire face aux difficultés d’une façon très positive. « En l’absence de courant, mes copains libanais prennent leur guitare ou discutent à la lumière de la bougie. Finalement, cela nous pousse à faire des choses qu’on n’a plus l’habitude de faire. Et ce n’est pas plus mauvais. » Souvent ils s’arment de patience, et finissent par s’adapter au rythme du pays. « On attend que les choses se mettent en place tranquillement, patiemment, et on travaille selon le rythme de chacun », raconte Claire.
Mais une fois de plus, tous ces jeunes étrangers admettent « accepter facilement ces problèmes, parce que cette situation est temporaire et que dans quelques mois nous serons partis ».
Reviendraient-ils vivre au Liban ? Si pour Lucie, ce choix « a orienté sa carrière professionnelle et lui a donné envie d’apprendre la langue et de travailler au Moyen-Orient », pour les autres, les réponses restent mitigées, partagées entre « l’envie de rester dans ce pays si attachant » et le besoin de retrouver « un monde plus organisé ». Leur venue au Liban reste « une excellente expérience qu’ils ont vécue avec beaucoup de plaisir ». Mais de là à revenir vivre plus longtemps, les avis restent très partagés.”

source L’Orient Le jour.

 

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