EDF Newsletter - December 2000

Alam Eddine Altanouri

EDF not only gave Alam Eddine Altanouri a loan andsome background in business administration. It also gave him guts. Guts to expand his computer shop and to use his business judgment to invest in an item even if he did not guarantee its sale.“I’ve been in this business for 3 years, but I used to feel insecure,” he said. “But after taking the training course, I have the confidence and initiative to take some measured risks.” Mr. Altanouri, whose shop sells computer hardware, software and accessories, said that he gained a lot of valuable skills from the EDF training. His enthusiasm and excitement about future plans for his business seemed evident as he described the improvements he’s already accomplished. “I’ve learned better bookkeeping and to be more careful in my commercial dealings,” he said, “Now I’m more organized and self assured,” he said.

Elie Anbar

Without the EDF loan and training, Elie Anbar, a teacher at the Rashaya and Marjayoun vocational schools, might have lost more than just a feather in his cap. “In all honesty, without the financial support we received from EDF, I would have seriously considered leaving my town,” he said. Anbar, who claims to be the only architect in his newly liberated southern town of Kfeir -Hasbaya, said that his remote village felt forgotten for more than two decades during the Israeli occupation. For this reason, it was important to create means to encourage residents to stay in their villages and towns. He believes that his engineering office, which provides consultations on building permits, blueprint and other engineering-related services, will facilitate the construction process for locals. “It’s very important to make it easier for people to build a house,” he said. “It will encourage them to stay in their villages and not emigrate to urban centers.”

Ali Badr Eddine

With his chickens clucking behind him, Ali Badr Eddine updated us on his project to set up an organic chicken farm starting with up to 200 chicken. Mr. Badr Eddine who refuses to bring into his home anything commercially grown, thought of breeding his own, free from chemical products and artificial growth methods. “I am someone who used to drive 30-35 kilometers to buy organic eggs, 3 for 1000LL,” he said. “So why not provide them for my community,” he added. He noted the significant demand for organic eggs when observing that cartons of organic eggs “disappear” within minutes of display, at local supermarkets. Mr. Badr Eddine explains that he had wanted to start his project two years ago, but didn’t have the required capital. “Now, with the EDF loan and the entrepreneurial training we got in the profession, I’m ready to roll,” he added. Indeed, Mr. Badr Eddine says that he has already bought 100 chicken, each of which he expects to lay between170 and 220 eggs per year. “Later, I will buy more and increase the flock,” he said.

Mohammad Naim

For villagers in Labaya, a visit to the dentist might not be any less painful, but with Mohammed Naim’s efforts, it will at least be less laborious. “We used to have to rent a car to drive 25 kilometers to the nearest village with a doctor,” said one of the villagers. “Now we can save the cost of that trip!” Naim, the only dentist in the village, managed to update his clinic, which consisted of outdated equipment, “ that would keep breaking down.” Since the clinic is located in a remote village, repairing the equipment was no easy task. “It’s not easy to convince technicians to come all the way out here to fix my tools,” he said. The end result was that his clinic was often out of commission. But that is now a thing of the past. Villagers can once again welcome the sound of a dentist’s drilling tools. [That is, if anyone can actually appreciate such sounds!]