The Socio-Development Center (SDC) of Bab el-Tebbaneh was refurbished thanks to a project funded by EU-Madad and implemented by CARE international as part of the protection of women and gender-based violence.
“Now I go to work peacefully, the place is by far safer and more suitable for us and for visitors than last year”, says enthusiastically Rakia el-Ferri, director of the Socio-Development Center (SDC) of Bab el-Tebbané, in Tripoli, one of the poorest areas of the city.
“This year winter will be different. Previously with every rain, the water would seep from everywhere and we would put buckets to collect it so would not spill out. Often our office stuff was flooded with water. The summer was excessively hot too, “she says, adding that during the past years, the center “was so wet and cold that many people who visited in the winter had joint pain or easily got the flu”.
“CARE International has done a great job rehabilitating the center,” says Rakia, noting that the INGO also restored the building’s slippery and broken stairs making it more user-friendly.
Located in an old building in Bab el-Tebbaneh, the center has long needed a facelift. In treating the waterproofing, the specialists hired by CARE International did not only work on the roof of the building, they have also redone the electricity and repainted the premises. The bathrooms have been refurbished as well.
“It was by working closely with the director of the SDC that priorities were defined. There still remains to be done, such as the purchase of a generator or ensuring accessibility for Persons with specific needs by installing an elevator, but the work was carried out according to the available budget and the priorities defined ”, explains Roy Kobersi, responsible for GBV projects at CARE international in Tripoli. “This center is vital for the region; CARE has an office there and listens to women. Our social worker spends the day in this SDC where we organize many activities notably sexual and reproductive health activities, as well as awareness and life skills sessions”, he says.
Like in Bab el- Tebeneh, CARE international in Lebanon rehabilitated a total of 12 SDCs and established 3 youth spaces in Mount Lebanon, North, and Akkar.
