Daily Star - Us Embassy Launches English Courses For Rural Women

By Dalila Mahdawi Daily Star staff

BEIRUT: Famous for phrases like “Hi, Keyfak, Ca Va,” Lebanon often seems like a trilingual country. But for many residents of small villages, it’s a struggle to learn French or English. The difficulty is often multiplied if the person wishing to learn is a woman. To help women from rural and underprivileged areas gain access to English-language courses, the US Embassy in Lebanon launched the “Teaching Women English (TWE)” program in 2008. TWE hopes to cater to the needs of women juggling work and household responsibilities, said Public Affairs Officer at the US Embassy Ryan Gliha. “English language education is something in demand in Lebanon, but there are no programs that are set on providing [specialized courses] to women.” Rather than making the women travel to urban centers to learn, TWE “brings the language to them so they can have greater access” to learning and personal development opportunities, Gliha said. Over 1,800 women have benefitted from the courses so far, learning basic English to help improve their employment, social and educational opportunities. Hiba, a librarian, said she had learned how to help library users find English-language books. “Now I am able to help them in the English reference section and I can communicate with foreign visitors and donors.”NGOs Hayya Bina and CESMO implemented the courses along with local libraries, women or cultural centers.On Thursday, the US Embassy and Hayya Bina held a graduation ceremony for 700 of the students. Sylvana, a TWE student from Broummana, said the courses had helped advance her career. “I was a legal researcher but now I’m a project manager for a bilingual project that consists of translating Lebanese laws into English.” Sylvana says she now has “better opportunities for promotion.” A woman from Deir Kanoun, meanwhile. said she was now running the accounts of her family’s gas station after learning how to use the English-language accounting program on her computer. Other students, like Danielle, say the course boosted their self-confidence. “English … lets me connect with others more easily and be more sociable in life. It’s not just about learning, it’s also to have more self-confidence.” As part of the course, students from different regions were brought together to learn about other communities and talk about their experiences. Funding has been secured for a third year of TWE, and “hopefully we’ll be able to continue this year after year,” said Gliha.