Rima’s Life-changing Journey

In a small village located in Baalbek, Rima* welcomes us to her house where she lives with her mother and four siblings. Looking into her eyes, one could learn a lot about persistence and dedication. She sits next to her mother and happily shares her life-changing journey.

Like most young people in Lebanon, Rima, 15 years old, strives to keep going in a country where instability is the only constant. She is the eldest daughter in a family of five children. After her parents’ divorce, her mother became the only caretaker for the family. “It was so hard for me to provide all of my children’s needs”, says Rima’s mother. INMAA was of great support for Rima’s mother to provide for her family, including essential items like food and medication, as well as her children’s transportation to school.

To support her family, Rima used to work at a dentist’s clinic in the morning and attend school in the afternoon. “This was a tough thing for me to do. I was about to quit school. Sometimes I even had to leave school earlier for work.”

Rima was introduced to the project “Sustainable Social Protection and Livelihood Solutions for Severely Vulnerable Households in Lebanon”, funded by the European Union and implemented by the INMAA Consortium, by the Lebanese Organization for Studies and Training (LOST).  

“We received regular visits from the case manager. We discussed, among other things, the importance of prioritizing education and participating in the training and awareness sessions as part of the project”, recalls Rima.

“Those visits, along with the life skills sessions I attended, were very helpful. They made me reconsider working and encouraged me to focus on my education. I feel much better now. I’ve set one goal for my whole day; to study and complete my homework because I truly want to learn. I’m back to school and in the future, I would like to major in business.”

About INMAA

“Sustainable Social Protection and Livelihood Solutions for Severely Vulnerable Households in Lebanon” is a European Union funded project implemented by INMAA consortium, composed of four partners (LOST, Akkarouna, Plan International and Save the Children - Lead) aimed at ensuring severely vulnerable households in Lebanon are more self-reliant and less dependent on social assistance. This is achieved through social protection; Livelihoods promotion; Financial inclusion and social empowerment.