Success Story - August

Fatima like some of the Palestinian women living in the Burj Brajneh camp in Beirut Lebanon has taken on the responsibility of taking care of her two grown sons, as well as her mother after she and her husband got divorced. She now has to try to make ends meet in order to be able to support her family. Fatima began working in one of the local Palestinian NGOs based in the camp in order to be close to home so that she can raise her children.  A full time working mother and an absent father allowed for Fatima’s children to stray away from the path that she tried so hard to set out for them. They began by smoking then dealing drugs, and when their mother protested they moved out and went on to live with their sick grandmother. Fatima then stopped working and decided to try and do something beneficial with her time. 
After her sons left Fatima decided that in order to create a better life for her children she had to better herself first. With that in mind, Fatima began to work hard to find a suitable job, however with no proper training the chances of finding a job were very slim. Upon hearing of her dilemma, Fatima’s friend decided that a good place for Fatima to start would be the Center for Excellence (CFE) in Burj Brajneh, where she decided to enroll in the free English and computer courses.  After a short period of time at the CFE Fatima began to work in diverse occupations the most recent of which was a secretarial position that also required
some typing. Fatima’s dream is to become a translator, and with the help of the English class that she took at the CFE, she hopes to achieve her dream utilizing her newly improved language skills.
In her class the teachers regard Fatima as one on their most dedicated students. She has greatly improved inEnglish and is now learning Photoshop in her computer class to acquire a various set of skills Fatima has been promised a position at the UNERWA, after the successful completion of her English and Computer courses.
Finally, Fatima aspires to improve her English language skills, so that she can speak on behalf of the Palestinian community, and on women that have been and are going through what she went through. She would like to become an advocate and to try and address issues concerning Palestine.