Rene Moawad Foundation

The Rene Moawad Foundation: Striving for Justice

A feature-story for Professor Andy Duncan’s Journalism Class, by Amber Asaad

            In our everyday lives, we like to complain if our coffee isn’t hot enough or if a Facebook post takes more than ten seconds to load. As human beings living in this day and age, it might seem so easy to complain about small, minute things as mentioned. We never think, even for a second, about losing our (sometimes entire) families, our loved ones, not having an opportunity for education, not having food or clean water. For many people living in Lebanon, this is a harsh reality. That’s where the Rene Moawad Foundation, or RMF, comes in to play. Founded on November 22, 1981, named after the former president of Lebanon, and founded by his wife after his assassination, the RMF strives to provide Lebanon – especially the youth of Lebanon – with opportunities for education, food, clean water, and more. (It is important to note that the foundation is a non-profit and tax-exempt foundation). You might be asking just how the foundation assists the people of Lebanon… Every year, there are three benefit/fundraiser galas for the foundation, held in Houston, Texas, Washington DC, and Miami, Florida. These galas help raise money to fund the foundation’s work.

 The RMF works to be inclusive, cost-friendly, and overall helpful, striving to nurture the youth of Lebanon and make a difference in the lives of the people of Lebanon.

            The RMF has sections they focus on, such as education, healthcare, and agriculture. The foundation’s sister, of the same name, is the one that’s in the US; the foundation and its sites are based in Lebanon.

As for the education, the RMF focuses on the youth of Lebanon in the nursery “Etoile du Nord”. Established in 2004, the Etoile du Nord forms the building blocks of education for children aged 1 to 3, and not only provides assistance for the children, but helps to form training for the teachers working at the nursery. The education doesn’t just stop there. The RMF’s Center for Education and Protection Services located in Bab el Tabbaneh, Tripoli, provides the children of the neighborhood with “remedial education classes, life-skills sessions, vocational training classes, professional counselling, psycho-social support, artistic and recreational activities, and literacy programs”. (info from the official website). Unfortunately due to the war, these important and integral skills that children require are not seen as a priority, however, the RMF helps to bring education to children who need and request it. The war doesn’t just affect the Lebanese children, it has also affected the Syrian people who have become refugees due to it. This center is also known for assisting Syrian refugees who are in need of counselling, psycho-social support, and education. Many Syrian children are depressed due to trauma and may need this support to function. This shows truly how generous the RMF is to children and people in need, extending its charitable efforts to other children from other countries who need help.

   

As mentioned before, the RMF assists the people of Lebanon due to war. As there are not many reputable doctors, nurses or clinics in Lebanon, the RMF has created Mobile Dispensaries in order to provide clean, safe healthcare to the people of Lebanon. They are located in rural areas to cut down on travel costs, travel time and to make healthcare services easier to access. “There is always a general medical practitioner, and a nurse practitioner present during the rounds of the clinic.  They provide free check-ups, distribute medicine, and provide information on vaccinations, general hygiene, and health education. These mobile dispensaries have become increasingly important as they have begun to serve Syrian Refugees who are living in and among the Lebanese population. They are extremely vulnerable, and in need of as much help as they can get. RMF now serves both Syrian and Lebanese populations.” There is also a community clinic, located in Zgharta, providing the same healthcare to at-risk patients. “RMF has been able to make significant upgrades in the quality and diversity of the services offered at the clinic. This includes a dental clinic, a medical laboratory, and a pharmacy. This holistic set of services ensures that those who use the clinics services can receive more holistic care, managing all of their primary care needs in one place. All health services provided by the clinic are at a reduced cost to the patients, and all medicines distributed by the pharmacy are subsidized.”

Finally, the RMF assists agriculture. In Lebanon, agriculture is very important as it employs 25% of the Lebanese population – that’s a lot! As so many people are employed in agriculture, the RMF sees that it is an integral part of the Lebanese economy, and therefore, promotes

§  Reducing initial costs for farmers, and providing them with training and know-how.

• Strengthening farmer cooperatives and associations, improving rural civil society.
• Introducing new equipment and cutting edge technology and into the local agricultural practices.
• Working on improving quality of products grown or produced through enhanced inputs, and quality controls.
• Supporting supply-chain development, improving profit for small farmers, and improved quality produce for agro-industry and consumers.
• Focus on sustainability, and environmentally friendly agricultural practices.”

One can see, based on the information above, that the RMF plays its part in assisting the youth and people of Lebanon, providing them with resources they DEFINITELY would not have access to otherwise. Interviewing people involved with the foundation is an integral part of research, and presented below are the interviews conducted with various people working closely with the foundation, sharing its same goals, who have worked tirelessly to provide information about the foundation, gathering notable people for donations and honor, and doing this all with the goals of the foundation in mind.

Interview with Deya Dresner, who does community service for the RMF.

Phone number: (202)-415-8321

Question: “How did you first get involved with the RMF?”

Answer: “Years ago, somebody asked to help because of the fashion show (part of the fundraiser), and I’m the only Arab that has a background in fashion in DC…Nina Idriss, who also works with the RMF, recommended me to help. That’s when I met your mother, who’s a very clever woman, saw the potential in me to help with the gala. I moved to England shortly afterwards and Nadia kept reaching out to me, and I would come back to DC frequently, so she asked me to help because I was a fashion producer and big in the fashion industry.”

“The RMF works with marginalized communities in Lebanon, and my family moved to Lebanon as refugees in 1948. The Lebanese were kind and took in my Christian Family, and my Family still lived there despite being Palestinian outsiders…this is my way of paying back… I offered my time and expertise, which is worth a lot of money – I charge a lot for fashion shows but I don’t charge the RMF – and this is my way of giving back for the support that the Lebanese has offered my family. Been doing it for 18 years.”

Interview with Nadia Abourizk-Asaad, the Rene Moawad Foundation’s executive director

Phone number: (240)-988-8661; office number: (202)-338-3535

Email: rmf@dc.net  

Question: “How did you first get involved with the RMF?”

It was 1993 and I was working at the Embassy of Lebanon as media and public relations assistant to the Ambassador. I became friends with the Military Attache at that time who admired my work and whom I had lent a helping hand in dealing with Congress during the period of the travel band and the military education ban on Lebanon as a result of Lebanon’s 18 year civil war. His name was Tannous Moawad, related to the assassinated President of Lebanon Rene Moawad whose name this organization bears. Mrs. Nayla Moawad, the widow of Rene Moawad, had decided to start a charitable organization to commemorate her husband’s legacy in promoting national unity, justice, and equality for the Lebanese citizens. Mrs. Moawad and the RMF Lebanon Board decided it was crucial to reach the Lebanese American community that was quite successful and played an important part in the fabric of US Society and in the overall US relations with Lebanon. So they decided to establish a Rene Moawad Foundation USA with an independent board to harness support from both private us citizens as well as institutional funding from other NGOS working in the region and USAID. Tannous Moawad recommended me for the job and I thought this would be a challenging and at the same time rewarding job to establish a new entity while at the same time helping my ancestral homeland, me being of Lebanese descent who had to flee Lebanon in 1975 due to the raging civil war.”

Question: “How does being the Executive Director of this foundation have its challenges?”

The challenge for me was to establish an organization from scratch and to muster support for an entity  that no one had heard of before that promotes a multitude of humanitarian and developments issues, like education, health care, economic and agricultural development, women’s empowerment, democratization, but all for one distant country far away from our shores; one that was recently banned from visiting by US citizens due to the civil war and the tragic bombing of the US Embassy there in 1983…ten years earlier. Furthermore, things were complicated by the sectarian divisions that existed in Lebanon that were mirrored here in the US. This became even more challenging as time passed and the Founder Mrs. Moawad aligned herself to one political faction in Lebanon. So, again it was difficult to gain the support of the Lebanese Americans that supported the opposing faction, even though the organization had no political or religious color but was for all the Lebanese. Even to this day, not only do I have to convince donors that RMF is for all of Lebanon and the Founder’s political affiliations do not impact our work, but I also have to share the donor community with other organizations that have popped us since for Lebanon.

Another challenge is historically the Lebanese are not prone to charitable giving as it is not part of the Lebanese culture to support charitable work on a national level but more towards their immediate circle of the inner family and the extended family. Every Lebanese expatriate helps a family member back in Lebanon and sends remittances to their families or villages there, so they feel that those closer are more deserving of their donation.  Hence, I needed to establish fund raising galas that enticed the attendees in addition to the worthiness of the cause…like bringing entertainment like a Lebanese fashion designer or a singer…  so the signature of our events is to always have a fashion show…which also falls within our mission to promote sustainable human development, the fashion industry being one of the very successful ones in Lebanon as well as internationally…Designers like Eli Saab or Reem Acra are world renowned.

Question: “Have you personally seen a drastic change in the youth and people of Lebanon through RMF’s work?”

Absolutely. Our educational programs have made a great difference in the lives of the youth in Lebanon, especially in giving them hope and promise for a brighter future. I will mention two of our  programs that have had a big impact; The Bab Tebbaneh project that combats child labor. Here our work was concentrated in the poorest area of Tripoli in North Lebanon-Bab Tebbaneh- whereby we have reached out to the children who were being put to work by their parents in very dangerous work environments, and enticed them to come to after work classes so that we can help get them out of the cycle of poverty and violence they live in.  This way we set them on the right path of getting an education to give them a skill whereby they become income generators. We also reached out to the parents to educate them on the dangers of putting their kids to work at such a young age. Not only has this project helped get them to a better place but it has made sure that the do not become future terrorists as poverty is the breeding ground for terrorism.

The other one is the RMF Vocational School that has graduated many young people with a marketable skills, like culinary chefs, or electricians or car mechanics or hair dressers and more. This was a good educational alternative to those who could not get a higher education or finish their high school education.

RMF’s motto has been give someone a fish he feeds himself; give them a fishing pole he feeds himself and his family.

Interview with (former) Congressman Nick Joe Rahall

Phone number: (304)-860-9489.

Email contact: (Washington, DC)

Chief of Staff Kent Keyser: kent.keyser@mail.house.gov  

Nick Rahall, originally from Beckley, West Virginia, is a former congressman who represented his home state. He was the longest-serving member of the United States House of Representatives from West Virginia. He was the guest of honor for the RMF’s benefit gala in 2016, and he is also the chairman of the board. He is indeed of Lebanese descent, therefore has roots and history in Lebanon, and is dedicated to supporting and continuing to support this organization.

Question: “Why did you choose to support the RMF?”
Answer: “I’ve long been aware of the tremendous work that RMF does for Lebanon (esp for the youth of Lebanon) and been aware of the former first lady, Nayla Moawad. You can’t say no to her- she is a tremendous lady, and in my opinion will always be the first lady of Lebanon.”

Question: Did you get to see or experience first hand the work that the RMF does in Lebanon?

“I personally have visited Lebanon to see the work that they have done with Mrs. Moawad. We  traveled to Tripoli to see first hand the fantastic work on the ground- at the sites- that RMF does.”

Question: After being a guest of honor at the gala, did you continue to see an impact from the foundation’s work?

“Yes and it is demonstrated by the fact that USAID is a partner with RMF, and another foundation, the Baladi foundation, have joined as partners of RMF…and these people don’t commit their time and resources to projects that they don’t see as helping the people—and RMF is a tremendous benefit to the people – especially the youth – of Lebanon. RMF provides a solid future for the children of Lebanon, and provides activitites for them to embark on when they otherwise could be embarking on bad activities. They are keeping the youth on track and keeping them away from evil.”

“Did you have anything else that you wanted to add?”

“Yes..the staff, including Nadia (your mother and the executive director of the foundation), and the board of directors are all tremendous people that are dedicated to helping RMF and Lebanon.”

To view the foundation’s work, you can check out these websites:

http://rmfusa.org/ (The official RMF USA website)

http://www.rmf.org.lb/ (The official RMF Lebanon website, detailing the programs in Lebanon and how the RMF helps)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1R2iFDQTjEZY8KvnaYgHsQ (RMF USA’s YouTube channel, providing videos and pictures of the sites in Lebanon, footage from the fundraiser galas and more.)