Beirut’s ongoing garbage crisis has become an opportunity for a group of Syrian women, who have converted discarded corkscrews, aluminium containers and egg cartons into a variety of items, from tables to photo frames. Their recycled products were offered for sale last month at the Glass Hall, a cultural center connected to the Ministry of Tourism in Beirut’s bustling Hamra district.
"I think this type of craftsmanship can be a sort of business for us," Lama, a 23-year-old Syrian woman with dark black hair and golden skin, said:"This work can help us support our families."
More than 1.2 million Syrian refugees have fled to Lebanon amid the ongoing Assad’s war against Syrian people in their home country. Many either rely on aid or face exploitation in the black market.
The Abaad Resource Center for Gender Equality, a Lebanese NGO, realized that Beirut’s garbage crisis presented a chance to address two problems at once. Last August, the organisation launched a programme to train Syrian women in craftsmanship and carpentry by using materials they could salvage from waste. A total of 70 women participated in 10 separate training sessions, with workshops held in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, the southern town of Tyre and a village in the Bekaa Valley.
Ramy el-Kaissy, the project officer for Abaad, said that introducing the concept of reusable waste was in itself a major task.
"Our trainer worked with these women for three months. At first, they didn’t understand the benefits to recycling," Kaissy commented. "But once they realized that they could make arts, crafts and furniture without paying any money to gather the supplies, they relished the task."
Social conventions also posed a challenge for the women who participated, many of whom said they were criticized and verbally harassed for sorting through trash. They also recalled being mocked for performing what some considered traditionally "masculine" work.
Despite the social stigma, the women remained motivated to learn a skill that would ultimately make them more autonomous, said Roula Chamseddine, a Lebanese artist who spearheaded the workshops.
"They were so enthusiastic," Chamseddine told Al Jazeera. "They wanted to see results. They wanted to help their families. But more importantly, they wanted to help each other succeed."
Some of the program’s participants lost their husbands to Syria’s war and are now struggling to provide for their families. According to the United Nations refugee agency, nearly one in four Syrian refugee families is headed by a single mother.
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