2006 press releases
USAID Gives $19,600 to Humanitarian Organization to Work with Individuals with Mental Disabilities
February 22, 2006United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Lebanon Mission Director Raouf Youssef presented $19,600 to the Lebanese organization Message de Paix at the U.S. Embassy in Awkar, on February 22, 2006.
Located in Ajaltoun in Keserwan, Message de Paix specializes in the care for individuals with mental disabilities, providing them with daily training, income-generating activities as well as day care programs. Forty individuals, male and female, aged between 17 and 50 years old, benefit from the center’s services. With the support of qualified staff and educators, the center teaches its clients activities such as candle-making, pastry-making, souvenir and mosaic handicrafts, enabling these mentally challenged individuals to acquire necessary skills to become active members of society.
USAID’s assistance to Message de Paix in the amount of $19,600 will help the center purchase equipment to improve its administrative facilities, workshops, as well as to open a new dormitory section. This donation underscores the compassion of the American people, and their conviction that every person is unique and valuable. As President Bush said in his 2006 State of the Union address, “For people everywhere, the United States is a partner for a better life.”
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has worked in Lebanon since 1951, funding development projects to benefit Lebanese citizens. USAID’s program promotes economic opportunities, job creation, good governance and environmental policies and practices in rural Lebanon. USAID provides $35 million assistance a year and works in partnership with U.S. and Lebanese organizations throughout the country. USAID strengthens the relationship between the people of Lebanon and the people of the United States, and promotes a shared vision of democracy and socio-economic development.
For more information about USAID’s projects in Lebanon, visit USAID’s web site www.usaidlebanon.org.lb.
