ADEEB KIMEH, Volunteer with Techfugees Lebanon, Beirut
👉🏼 Could you please introduce yourself?
I am Adeeb, I am 34 years old, from Syria, I live in Lebanon. I studied at the University of Aleppo and specialized in management information systems. I then started to work in a variety of fields such as information technology and marketing or even HR departments of Middle Eastern companies.
I came to Lebanon in 2012 after the war in Syria started. I started to work in several organizations supporting both refugees and the Lebanese community, as a volunteer and employee in education, relief and technology.
I have always had a passion for working with youth and the most marginalized groups in society, since my work and academic experience are in the field of information and data systems. I always looked for work and volunteer opportunities in this field, in order to develop my experience in it.
👉🏼 What were you doing concretely?
The beautiful opportunity came at the beginning of 2020, to join the Techfugees Lebanon team, and to be an effective support, through community work, refugees with technology. That’s when the Covid19 pandemic broke off and the lockdown started in Lebanon. Not only was it a psychological burden for every human being, but it also led to a further deterioration of the situation of youth and refugees here, especially in light of the poor living and economic conditions.
But my belief in our ability to change reality, especially within group work, has paid off.
Since I joined the team, I have worked to provide electronic and dialogue sessions with young people and refugees in Lebanon, to familiarize them with ways to work remotely, and to help them find a mechanism for job opportunities, in addition to entrepreneurship and distance education sessions. Check our virtual meetups on Techfugees Youtube Channel
Adeeb and Muzna, Techfugees Lebanon Online Meetup on Covid19 and employment
I am confident that reaching new people in every societal environment generates new hope and new opportunities and helps us to innovate and find solutions to realistic problems. It takes us out of stereotyped and routine thinking, most of the time for the best !
👉🏼 What did it bring to you ?
The work we do with Techfugees Lebanon is important today but for the near future as well, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic has shown, once more, the importance of technology and turned everything remote.
The online meetups we presented with Techfugees Lebanon, covered a variety of different fields in the world of technology: education (how to learn how to code, do digital marketing or set up a business remotely) financial inclusion and how to get paid remotely (digital currency and fintechs)… All this makes me happy and proud of what I do as an individual and part of a team.
In my personal opinion, we have to believe in ourselves and our capabilities, and no matter how bad and harsh conditions are for us, our positive thinking, volunteer work and seeing issues from a different angle makes us succeed and overcome crises.
It’s what the Covid-19 pandemic also taught us, as the whole world has moved virtual, a new life-style (pattern) with its modern composition has emerged, which forces us to adapt to it.
Through my academic and professional experiences, especially this special year with Techfugees Lebanon, I assure that we are able to do something from nothing, even if we work from home, even if we are living in an unusual circumstance, even if we are in the time of the epidemic and the global crisis. However, the role of each of us as individuals who join in groups that have clear goals and work for the future will have its consequences and make a big difference in our human world.
👉🏼 A message to the ones who hesitate to become volunteers?
In the end, I can only thank Techfugees for giving me this opportunity to be part of her team in Lebanon, and I invite you too to join our community and volunteer, no matter how simple your experiences are, you will make a difference with us.
👉🏼 A call to action ?
As one of my latest pieces of work, I had the pleasure to design the banner below for our coming Data Labelling Bootcamp with Humans in the loop. Register HERE before March 23th !
