Munira Solh of Broummana, Lebanon will be one of several recipients honored by the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation on August 2, 2000 in Seattle, Washington. Mrs. Solh will be one of three recipients of the Rose F. Kennedy Mothers' Award, which is part of the 2000 Kennedy Foundation International Awards in Mental Retardation, intended to recognize outstanding contributions that have improved the lives of people with mental retardation and their families throughout the world. The awards have been conferred only seven times since their establishment in 1962. ADC extends its heartiest congratulations to Mrs. Solh.

Mrs. Solh is the founder of the Al-Amal Institute for the Disabled, a non-profit Lebanese society established in 1959. Al-Amal is the first and oldest center in Lebanon for the care of mentally handicapped persons. The center is home to over 60 mentally handicapped residents between the ages of eight and forty years. It thrives despite being damaged by shelling four times during the war.

Currently, Mrs. Solh and the other directors of the Center are planning to open a second, similar center in Arnoun, a town in recently liberated Southern Lebanon. The intention of this project is to be a rehabilitation center for handicapped persons, and people liberated from Israeli prisons. Mrs. Solh’s monetary award from the Kennedy Foundation will be a starting point for this project. Any support for this project would be greatly appreciated, since it will be quite costly.

For more information about the award, the ceremony in Seattle, or the new Arnoun project, please contact Cindy Hamra at chamra@adc.org.

EXCERPTS OF PROPOSAL FOR ARNOUN REHABILITATION CENTER:

AL-AMAL INSTITUTE FOR THE DISABLED ARNOUN REHABILITATION CENTER FOR HANDICAPPED THE LIBERATED ZONE : SOUTH LEBANON
TWO PIECES OF LAND THAT SHE OWNS IN THE VILLAGE OF ARNOUN, OVER 60000SQ.M.,WILL BE USED FOR THE PURPOSE ACCORDING TO HER WISH: PLOTS NUMBER 74 & 80, ARNOUN VILLAGE, NABATIEH DISTRICT.
THE PEOPLE OF SOUTH LEBANON SUFFERED FROM WAR AND ISRAELI OCCUPATION FOR THE LAST 22 YEARS, WHICH OBLIGED MOST OF THEM TO LEAVE BY FORCE THEIR LAND AND GO TOWARDS CITIES AWAY FROM WAR AREA.
INITIATING SUCH A CENTER WILL HELP THEM, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO HAVE MENTALLY HANDICAPPED & MENTALLY ILL CHILDREN, RESETTLE IN THE AREA TO RESUME THE LIFE THAT THEY FOLLOWED BY RECULTIVATING THEIR LAND, ETC.

AIMS OF THE PROJECT:
1- ESTABLISHING A REHABILITATION CENTER, COMMUNITY BASED & INCOME GENERATING.
2- EMPLOYMENT OF HANDICAPPED ,PHYSICALLY DISABLED & LIBERATED DETAINEES FROM ISRAELI PRISONS, AFTER BEING TRAINED, IN ALL SECTIONS OF THE PROJECT.
3- INTEGRATION THROUGH SOCIAL & CULTURAL ACTIVITIES THAT WILL BE GEARED BY THE SPORTS & CULTURAL CLUB.
4- INITIATING QUICK TRAINING COURSES ON DIFFERENT WORKS AVAILABLE WITHIN ALL WORKSHOPS IN THE CENTER.
5-ENABLING THE INSTITUTION BECOME SELF SUFFICIENT THROUGH AGRICULTURE & ANIMAL PRODUCTION & WORKSHOPS & OTHER ACTIVITIES DONE BY THE CLUB.
6- MAKING THE INSTITUTION GENERATE AN INCOME WHICH WILL ENABLE IT TO DEVELOP ITS PROJECTS, ESPECIALLY SECTIONS THAT DEAL WITH CARE FOR DISABLED CHILDREN 3-16 YEARS OLD AS WELL AS ADULTS.
7- PROVIDING HANDICAPPED, MENTALLY ILL AS WELL AS LIBERATED DETAINEES FROM ISRAELI PRISONS WITH A RECREATIONAL CENTER.
8- PROVIDING PHYSIOTHERAPY SERVICES TO THE PEOPLE OF THE AREA AS WELL AS THE RESIDENTS OF THE CENTER.
9- PROVIDING PRELIMINARY MEDICAL SERVICES TO THE VILLAGERS AROUND THE CENTER.

COMMUNITY BENEFITS:
1- HELPING THE HANDICAPPED BECOME SOCIALLY & ECONOMIALLY INDEPENDENT.
2- RELIEVING PARENTS OF CARING FOR THEIR DISABLED AND HANDICAPPED CHILDREN AND ALSO MINIMIZING THEIR ECONOMIC BURDEN.
3- RAISING SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS TOWARDS ACCEPTING THE HANDICAPPED AND DISABLED AS NORMAL MEMBERS OF SOCIETY.
4- ASSISTING IN MAKING THE COMMUNITY UNDERSTAND THAT THE HANDICAPPED HAVE THE RIGHT & CAPABILITY TO LEAD A NORMAL LIFE.
5- HELPING IN MAKING THE NORMAL LABOR MARKET ACCEPT THE HANDICAPPED & DISABLED.
6- ENCOURAGING THE PEOPLE OF SOUTH LEBANON STAY ON THEIR LAND, DISCOURAGING THEM FROM LEAVING RURAL LIFE AND GOING TO THE CITY WHERE THEY MOSTLY DO NOT FIND JOBS.

Courtesy of: ADC (www.adc.org)

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