BLESSED

The Benevolent Lebanese Evangelical School for Special Education and Development

 Ghabeh Street no. 62, Karm El-Zeitoun, Achrafieh, Beirut - Lebanon

News page of the Academic Year 2002 2003

End of Academic Year 2002/2003

The Academic year 2002/2003 was ended with great fun and excitement. Teachers and children of our St. Luke's program prepared a special program for Thursday June 26. Family members were invited to attend and many did. The program was loaded with fun and excitement stretching form political satire by the older boys to role playing, dancing and singing. It was wonderful to see the children really enjoy themselves. The teachers put a lot of hard work to make the program a success. Friday June 27 was the day for a picnic lunch in the school grounds. The teachers assisted the children in preparing Tabuleh (Lebanese Salad) and chips. They also ordered pizzas and pastries and everyone enjoyed a delicious lunch. The day was concluded with chapel and prayer after which the children went home. Sabah prepared a similar lunch to students of the Bartimaeus program who also had a very busy day loaded with end of year rituals, from handing back keys, lockers and bedding, to saying their goodbyes. Students of the Bartimaeus program will be coming back for special training for the bakery project to be taught by a MECO mission volunteer from Ireland, Mr. Leonard Campbell who will be arriving on August 1st. The St. Luke's children will also have a special summer program for a fortnight in August. We praise God for having a blessed academic year, and we thank our partners and friends for helping us achieve our dreams.

LES Directors Meet at BLESSED

The LES directors' meeting was held Friday June 20th at BLESSED. It was also attended by the new chairman of LES, Rev. Gabriel Bahnan. Lunch was served at 2:00 PM then all went around school to see the transformation of the last few years. The meeting was held in our new multipurpose hall. We express our gratitude to Rev. Dr. Issa Diab and all LES directors for holding their meeting in our school in spite of our difficult location and the major road works in our neighborhood. A special word of thanks to Sabah, our cook, for her hard work and the delicious lunch she prepared.

Rev. Dr. Austra Reinis Leads Chapel

Rev. Dr. Austra Reinis, professor of Church History at the Near East School of Theology, visited BLESSED Tuesday June 17. She lead the chapel service and spent the morning with our students. Randa Madani showed her around the school. We express our gratitude to Rev. Dr. Reinis for her visit and encouraging message, and to Randa for inviting her.

Gillian Hester Visits BLESSED

MECO mission volunteer, Miss Gillian Hester, who is currently working in Ain Zhalta Evangelical School visited BLESSED Tuesday June 17. She spent the day getting to know both our programs. She spent part of the time with our children, the other part she spent with our visually impair students. She saw the type of work mission volunteers do in our school. We pray that God may lead Gillian to the right decision concerning her future ministry in Lebanon.

Grade 5 from Ain Zhalta School Visit BLESSED

Mrs. Nicola Alexander, principal of the Lebanese Evangelical School in Ain Zhalta, accompanied with Miss Cathy Owen and the girls and boys of Grade 5 visited BLESSED Friday 13 June 2003. They had a tour around the school, met children of our St. Luke's program and students of our Bartimaeus program, and learnt about people with disabilities. We were very impressed with the boys and girls of Grade 5 who were well behaved and showed serious interest in what they were seeing. They observed how visually impaired people read Braille, and how they use computers and reading machines as an alternative way for learning, reading, and writing. They also had a look around our different workshops. In our rush to show them around our school, we committed a sin of omission by not providing our guests with any refreshments. Our sincere apology and our most sincere thanks to them for their interest in our school and their very kind visit.

Braille New Testament Project Completed

The project we started working on last year to emboss the new Arabic translation of the New Testament in Braille was completed on Wednesday June 12, 2003. The whole New Testament is now available in Braille. The project was sponsored by BibleLands. We thank Mr. Michael Haddad, Miss Jumana Abd El-Bakki, Miss Randa Madani, and Miss Hala Sukariyyeh for helping with the proof reading. We also thank the Bible Society in Lebanon for giving us permission to use the copy righted material. The new Arabic translation is now available in Braille, free of charge, to anyone who requests it. We express our sincere gratitude to our partners and friends at BibleLands for helping us achieve yet another important project.

Inspections! Inspections! Inspections!

If there is a word to categorize the work of the Ministry of Social Affairs this year it is: "INSPECTIONS"! For the fourth time this year we were visited by an inspector from the ministry. The interview and inspection took the whole day, Wednesday June 4. It was very detailed. It started with a roll call of every child or student. Every inch of our school was inspected and an inventory of the equipment and furnishings was made. Student records, daily programs, medical files, teachers' CVs, food menu, etc. were all checked. Although this is a new practice in Lebanon, we very much welcome it. We hope that the ministry will make sure that the subsidies it is providing are going to the people who need them. It is our hope that the ministry is doing those detailed and repeated inspections in all similar institutions in Lebanon. We praise God for providing us with all our needs through our dear partners and friends who helped us make adjustments on our building, and provided us with funds to equip and furnish our school. Through your help we were able to pass those inspections. To that we are sincerely grateful. Thank you our dear partners and friend!. Thank you, again and again!

MECO Donation

Rev. Dr. Issa Diab, director of LES informed us that our partners, Middle East Christian Outreach, sent us a kind donation of US$ 3347. The donation will go towards making adjustments in our building to enable us to receive more visually impaired girls next year. We will add extra facilities during the summer holiday in order to have one additional bedroom for visually impaired girls. We express our sincere gratitude to our partners and friends at MECO, and we praise God for meeting all our needs.

Day at the Khouries House

Mr. Elie and Mrs. Ellen Khoury, the parents of one of our students (Alexander), invited all the children of our St. Luke's program to their home on Wednesday 28 May 2003. Our school bus seats only fifteen passengers so we suggested that only a small group of children should go. Mr. and Mrs Khoury refused and insisted that all the children go. They kindly arranged for a small bus to come to our school to take the rest of the children. Everyone had a wonderful time. We express our sincere gratitude to Mr. and Mrs. Khoury for their kindness and love.

Embosser Repaired

Our Index 4x4 embosser is finally repaired. It set us back 550.00 U.S.$. Thanks to the recent donation from "DONOR" we were able to pay for repairing it. Our Arabic Braille New Testament (new translation) project is back on track. We embossed 1st & 2nd Corinthians, Galatians Ephesians, & Philippians. All our students and friends received their personal copy. Copies are also available for distribution free of charge. This project is sponsored by BibleLands. The third issue of our Braille magazine Al-Mishkat was also embossed and distributed. Both those projects are very much appreciated by our students and friends. The only problem is the fact that Libanpost refuses to send Braille mail at a reduced price, and thus we are unable to mail our magazine to people who request it from the Arab world. Our apologies to them as it would be very expensive to mail bulky Braille magazines at full cost. 

Medical Checkup for St. Luke's Children

Wednesday May 7 was the day for all the children of the St. Luke's program to undergo the medical checkup. Some of the older children were very anxious but they eventually learnt that doctors are not monsters. All inoculation charts were checked and parents were advised accordingly. We express our thanks to Dr. and Mrs. Hezkial for their medical care and kind service.

MECO Delegation Visit BLESSED

A MECO (Middle East Christian Outreach) delegation comprising of nine people visited BLESSED Tuesday afternoon May 6. Mr. David Judson, a former director of our school, was among the group and our old-timers were delighted to see him. The delegation toured the school and saw the recent changes and developments. It is our hope that our partnership with MECO will be developed to the fulfillment of our common goal and ministry. We express our gratitude to MECO for their prayer and support, and we highly appreciate the delegation's visit to BLESSED.

Medical Checkup for the Bartimaeus Group

Tuesday 6 of May was the day for the medical checkup for the Bartimaeus group. Dr. Habib Hezkial arrived in the morning and all students and residents underwent the medical check up. Medical records were updated, and those needing prescriptions received them. The medical checkup has become a ritual that a few are happy with, most tolerate, and another few object to. It is necessary for the good of everyone.

Easter Celebration

Mr. Tony Atallah, Mr. Michael Haddad, and the boys and girls of the Bartimaeus Program arranged a program for celebrating Easter the last day before the holiday, Wednesday 16 April. It was a program of Easter hymns, bible readings and prayer. The children of the St. Luke's program also participated singing two hymns. The director of the Foundation For Human and Humanitarian Rights, Dr. Wael Khair, attended the program. He spoke at the end of the program greeting everyone at BLESSED and informing us that he decided to accept the idea of Mr. Tony Atallah for hosting a press conference during which our students and children will present their case for the required changes in Lebanon for accommodating disabled people of all disabilities. The community has the responsibility of enabling disabled people to have all their rights as equal members in society. It was agreed that after the Easter holiday, workshops will be held at BLESSED in preparation for this press conference. The Easter holiday ended on Wednesday morning April 30 when classes resumed after children and students returned to school..

Solarco Donate the Kitchen Hood

We ordered the extraction hood for our kitchen and informed the company (Solarco) that the heavy duty chips (French Fries) fryer will have to wait until we receive additional funds. We were delighted to receive a call from Solarco a few days later informing us that they decided to donate the extraction hood to our school. We will only have to pay for the pipes and installation. The latest "DONOR" donation will cover the cost in addition to paying for the repair of our Index 4x4 embosser, and the balance will be reserved for buying the heavy duty chips (French Fries) fryer. We express our most sincere thanks to Solarco and we praise God for his great blessings and love.

Braille Embosser Failure

As we were embossing the New Testament books of 1st & 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, & Philippians, our Braille Embosser (Index 4x4) failed and stopped feeding the paper. Upon checking it, the local dealer informed us that they are unable to service it locally. They need to ship it to Austria where it will be fixed. The repairs will cost around U.S.$ 500. This was a big disappointment for us as our embosser is relatively new. The local dealer, Medialog, who initially lent us one of their embossers, decided to take it back, may be because they know that the repair work is going to take a long time. All our Braille projects (Arabic New Testament & Magazine) are put on hold now until our embosser is repaired.

Additional Donation from "DONOR"

Our partners and friends at "DONOR" sent us an additional donation of U.S.$ 1.500. This fund will be used to install an extraction hood (vent) in our kitchen. The kitchen is right under some of our bedrooms and next to the offices, and the smell and vapor from cooking was always a problem. It was especially bad when Sabah, our cook, was frying food in oil. Staying for a few minutes in the dinning room made everyone's clothes smell. We will now install the extraction hood over the cooking area and the vent pipes will extend a few meters above our roof. We express our sincere gratitude to our partners and friends at "DONOR" for helping us improve conditions in our building to make life better for every one.

Part-time Speech Therapist Added to our Team

We added a part-time speech therapist to our team of teachers for the St. Luke's program for children with special needs. Previously, teachers used to provide speech therapy along their daily program, but as the number of children increased, it was clear that we needed extra help. Ms Dareen Fares will be coming to our school two days a week to provide the necessary speech therapy to our children.

Sarkissian Bible Study Group at BLESSED

The bible study group of Mrs. Therese Sarkissian of the French Protestant Church in Beirut visited our school on Friday 28 March 2003. This group, which is ecumenical and is composed of ladies from many denominations, meets for bible study the last Friday of every month. They arrived for the coffee break, then all attended the chapel service lead by Mr. Mikhael Haddad. They later went around the school observing both programs. They were delighted to see our ministry for visually impaired people and children with special needs. We were also delighted to receive them. The ladies brought cakes, biscuits and sweets for our children. They also collected an offering for our school and presented us with a donation of LBP 160.000. Mrs. Sarkissian also gave us a donation from the French Protestant Church in Beirut of LBP 150.000. We express our thanks to Mrs. Sarkissian and the bible study group for their visit to our school and their kind donation. We also express our gratitude to the French Protestant Church.

Rev. & Mrs. Haes Visit BLESSED

MECO leader in Lebanon, Rev. Peter Haes, and Mrs. Elizabeth Haes visited BLESSED on Wednesday 26 March 2003. Rev. Haes lead the chapel service, and then a time of fellowship over a cup of coffee followed. MECO continues to be a major partner of our school. Rev. Haes and Rev. Haddad discussed ways and ideas for developing this partnership. Peter and Elizabeth stayed for a Falafel (local delicacy) lunch with our students after which they left. Their visit was very much appreciated by everyone.

New Cooker-Oven Delivered and Installed

Our kitchen is now equipped with a brand new cooker-oven thanks to "DONOR". It was installed on March 13, 2003. Sabah, our cook, is delighted. She badly needed it as she is cooking for over fifty people this year, and our old cooker was falling apart. The new one has many safety features built in. We express our sincere gratitude to our Christian sisters and brother of "DONOR" who sent us the donation for this project.

Additional Donation from CMS

Miss Barbara Shaw, the CMS (The Church Mission Society) Regional Manager for the Middle East and Pakistan, informed us that CMS decided to send us an additional donation this year of £ 2000. This fund will be used for tilling the walls of the kitchen with ceramic tiles, and equipping the Life-skills classroom with a small refrigerator, a washing machine, and a dishwasher. We express our sincere gratitude to CMS for this very kind donation, their partnership, and continued support of our school.

Memorial Plaque

We placed a memorial plaque at the entrance of our school in gratitude to all our Christians partners and friends who helped us reach where we are today. This is our way of saying: thank you and may God bless you.

Very Kind Donation by "DONOR"

"DONOR" kindly sent us a donation of US$ 3.334 which was very timely. Sabah and Randa were having problems with our (over 25 year old) kitchen cooker-oven. It was dangerously leaking gas, so thanks to "DONOR" it will be put on retirement now. We praise God for his wonderful and timely blessings, and we express our sincere gratitude to our Christian partners and friends at "DONOR".

Return after the Christmas Holiday

Children and students returned to school Tuesday morning January 7, 2003 having spent the Christmas holiday at home. Vicky also returned from the U.K. bringing, as usual, useful and interesting items for our children. Work on our new projects should have been completed, but with punctuality not being an attribute of local craftsmen, some work was left for Tuesday our first day after the holiday. By 3:00 PM all workers had left our school building having completed the projects they were contracted to do. All through the day children were assisting their teachers, moving and setting up their new classrooms. We now have one additional classroom, an Art Room, a Life-skills Room, a Sensory Room, a Soft Room, and of course, our fabulous gym. Randa brought back from Syria as much bedcovers as she could carry, so all the girls of the St. Luke's program have lovely pink covers on their beds, the boys have nice blue ones, and the teachers' room got the beige. The St. Luke's boarding section is finally as beautiful and tidy as we want it to be. Two days later, the rest of the bedcovers were delivered to school, and students and residents of the Bartimaeus program got their rooms transformed as well. Randa's parents in Syria kindly did the shopping for our bedcovers, and they did a good job fetching a good price, lovely colors, and good quality material. We express our thanks to them, and to the kind donor  (mother of one of our children) who donated money for this purpose. With all our projects completed, we will go back to our full program now, re-launching aerobics, mobility, and life skills classes, for both programs. We praise God for his wonderful blessings, and we thank our partners and friends: BibleLands, the Riverside Foundation USA, and CMS for this wonderful transformation of our school.

Christmas Celebration by Students of the Bartimaeus Program

Thursday 19 December was the day when students of the Bartimaeus program had their Christmas celebration. It began with a service of lessons and carols. It was lead by Mr. Mikhael Haddad, and the music and Christmas play were organized by Mr. Toni Attallah. Dunya and Ani sang a carol each. The words of the carols were written by Mr. Mikhael Haddad, and both did very well. Later Toni and the students performed a Christmas play, and Toni, Randa, and Dunya sang a local song. Finally all students exchanged small gifts. The program was attended by the children of the St. Luke's program who also joined in carol singing.

Christmas Celebration for Children of St. Luke's Program

Wednesday 18 December was the day for the Christmas celebration for our children of the St. Luke's program. They had been preparing for many weeks and finally they were ready to perform. Some did role-playing others sang songs, and finally Santa arrived to give each child a present. One mother brought an additional present to each child, and another brought a big home made chocolate cake which everyone enjoyed. The program was the first held in our new gym (multipurpose whole) which was just completed the day before. We express our gratitude to Mr. Jiryes Al-Malouf for his kind donation towards buying the Christmas presents.

AWC Holiday Bazaar 2002

Our school participated in the Holiday Bazaar 2002 organized by AWC of Lebanon at the Beirut Marriott Hotel on December 14, 2002. Mrs. Andreah Lahhoud, the Lebanese First Lady opened the bazaar at 10:15 AM. We were able to display products from our workshops made by children of the St. Luke's program and students of the Bartimaeus program. We sold many items. Randa, Suheil, were at our table all day, and Vicky, and Rev. Haddad helped part of the time. We express our gratitude to AWC of Lebanon for organizing this bazaar.

Happy Birthday Vicky Leadbitter

Wednesday 27 November was Vicky's birthday, so Miss Therese and the children of the St. Luke's program sang Happy Birthday to her during the morning break and all had cake for the morning snack prepared by Miss Therese. The same followed with the Bartimaeus program after morning chapel. Needless to say it was Suheil who remembered Vicky's birthday, so he deserved sharing some of the glory of that important day.

Gym Project Completed

The gym project was completed on December 17, 2002. The Christmas program was held in the new gym (multipurpose hall) which also has a stage for special school activities. The playground gate was fixed and is no more a hazard to our children. The main gate was moved in, about one meter, in order to allow children and parents to shelter from the rain as they wait at the gate. Our telephone system was updated. People who call us can now dial the extension numbers directly. We can now open the main gate through the telephone system. An intercom was also installed at the gate. We finally have a fax machine at school accessible by dialing an extension (number 102 ) 24 hours a day. The last machine of the bakery project (the dough divider) was finally delivered to our school and was installed. An extra water tank was constructed and connected to our water supply. Two attics were added providing us with storage space for mattresses and pillows. A Life Skills room was added to our classrooms. We are BLESSED. We praise God for BibleLands and all our partners and friends.

Sensory Room Project Completed

The Sensory Room is ready for use. It was fitted with many items that stimulate the senses. The minute we switched on the light sources (fiber optics, laser, & disco ball, the children flanked to the room to see that dancing lights. They were gazing as if looking at something from outer space. Many sound producing instruments were added to the room, in addition to an artificial fish aquarium. The room was fitted with cabinets. All previously installed electrical connections were removed in order to make it a very safe environment. It was fitted with dark curtains and supplied with a variety of massage oils with different fragrances. Vicky Leadbitter will start using the room for helping our children. She will also train other teachers to use it. It will also be used for students of the Bartimaeus program. The fiber optics light source amazed everyone, young and old. The Sensory Room is certainly a great addition to our school. We are very grateful to BibleLands and the Riverside Foundation for allowing us to take a leading role in Lebanon in the care of children with special needs and people who are visually impaired.

Mother Donates U.S.$ 500 for Bedcovers

A mother of one of our children donated U.S.$ 500 towards buying bedcovers for all the beds in our school. She does not wish her name to be mentioned. We were greatly encouraged by her kindness and generosity. We will buy those bedcovers soon, and the school will look much nicer and everyone will be much warmer. We express our most sincere gratitude to her, and we praise God for her charity and love.

Execution of Projects

BLESSED is a hub of activity these days. It is a very noisy place with many skilled craftsmen working on our projects. We were so happy to have a holiday from October 31st until November 4th (Reformation Day, All Saints Day, & the weekend) as most of us got away from the noise. All the noisy jobs were completed through the holiday. The Soft-room Project (playroom) is fully executed. It is gorgeous! The children are enjoying it to the utmost, and it is proving to be a wonderful therapeutic aid. We hope the gym and the sensory room projects will be completed mid November. We are very grateful to BibleLands, the Riverside Foundation, and CMS for allowing us to fulfill those dreams. We also want to express our thanks to Mr. Samuel Muller of Muller Industries for donating all the roof tiles we need to build the shed for the second stairway of the gym.

Vicky Leadbitter is Back

Vicky Leadbitter, the CMS (Church Mission Society) mission volunteer returned to BLESSED after spending the summer holiday in the U.K. She arrived Wednesday October 2nd and was met at the airport by Rev. George Haddad and Suheil Jabbour. Later on that morning she visited the classrooms to be greeted with great excitement by all the children. Some were holding her hands, others pulling at her legs; Marie was shouting Kicky, Kicky, and Fares humming the music of the song she taught him last year. All eyes were fixed at the bags she was holding. The uproar and excitement went much louder as she was showing the children the educational toys and items she brought back with her from the U.K. Among the items was a gift for eleven-year-old Samuel Janes who sent our children a lovely colorful parachute with accompanying literature for the different games and activities it can be used for. It took some time to settle the children back in their classes, but Vicky had a wonderful spontaneous welcome that she very much deserves. We express our thanks to Samuel Janes for his lovely gift to our children, and we also express our sincere gratitude to Vicky, CMS, and all her supporting churches for making it possible for her to be with us in Beirut.

BibleLands Sponsor Additional Projects

Miss Mo Burnley of BibleLands U.K. conveyed to us the delightful news that, in addition to them sponsoring our Soft Room project, they will also be sponsoring two additional projects: the Sensory Room and the balance needed for the Gymnasium (we received 3146 US$ from CMS). BibleLands raised the funds from a US based organization called the Riverside Foundation specifically for BLESSED. Both project will help our program for children with special needs enormously. The amount is USD14,250 (GBP9,059). It will cover the renovation work and we will have additional funds for equipment and fixtures. We are very grateful to BibleLands and the Riverside Foundation for this generous donation. We express our most sincere gratitude to all our partners and friends at BibleLands. We want to especially thank Mo Burnley and Andy Young for arranging this very kind donation. Praise be to God for his wonderful loving care to us through our dear Christian partners and friends!
 

School Reopens after the Summer Holiday

Children and residents returned to school on October 1st after the long summer holiday. It was a very busy and exiting day. Children of The St. Luke's program (15 Borders & 8 Day students) were assigned to their respective classes. We have two new teachers joining us this year. Among the changes this year is the new regulation that our school and all the playgrounds are smoke free. Smoking is not allowed to anyone anywhere at BLESSED. Students of the Bartimaeus program where delighted to know about the new equipment (two reading machines and a CCTV) that were donated to our school by the Rotary Foundation. They are also eager to start work in the bakery which is also a new project we were able to implement thanks to the Rotary Foundation. We will be implementing three additional projects; the soft room (play room), the sensory room, and the small gymnasium with very generous donation from BibleLands and CMS. There is a lot of excitement. We praise God for this new beginning and for his wonderful never-ending blessings to us at BLESSED.

Teacher Training Seminar

Teachers of our St. Luke's program attended a training seminar lead by Miss Therese Khoury in preparation for the next academic year. It started on Monday September 23 and continued until Wednesday September 25. Mrs A. Dabaghian and a team of teachers from the Zvartnotz Armenian Center for disabled children also attended. Teachers exchanged ideas, shared their experience with each other, and learnt how to better serve children with special needs. Our teachers are also better equipped now and ready for a fresh start on Tuesday October 1st when the academic year 2002/2003 begins. Members of the Zvartnoz team were very appreciative of the opportunity to attend the seminar and get to know our school and teachers. The cooperation between BLESSED and the Zvartnoz Center was one of many positive outcomes from the BibleLands partner's conferences in Beirut. We plan to continue this cooperation and take it further in order to assist each other in our common ministry.

Summer Program for Children with Special Needs

Our summer program (Colonie de Vacances) for children with special needs began on Monday September 2, 2002. It continued for a fortnight and included activities, games, and many trips. We had nine children attending this fun and activity centered program. We were so happy to receive them after the long summer holiday, and we were especially delighted with feedback from their parents about positive changes in their character and performance. All had a wonderful time and were very happy to be back at school. It was very encouraging to see them manifest their love and warmth towards their teachers. We express our gratitude to all the people who received our children. We also want to thank Mrs. Mary Harb who received our group for lunch and a lovely afternoon in Ehden. A special word of thank to Miss Therese Khoury, Mrs. Leila Harb, and all our staff at BLESSED for the wonderful work they have done.

The program for the coming days will be as follows:

Handing Over Ceremony of Rotary Donated Equipment

A rotary delegation visited our school on Tuesday August 20, 2002 for the handing over ceremony of the donated equipment . The members of the Beirut Cosmopolitan Rotary Club who participated in the ceremony were: Mr. Nabil Challah, Mr. Habib Bassoul, Mr. Elias Sarkis,
Miss Houri Almayan (Club Secretary), Past President and Asst. District Governor Mr. Joe Boulos, Past President Mr. Karim Naamani, and Mr. Tony Asfour.
The Rotary Foundation, The Rotary Club of London, and the Beirut Cosmopolitan Rotary Club jointly donated a Tieman Twinkle Spectrum CCTV, two Poet Compact (Baum) standalone reading machines, three APC UPS systems, and a 17" monitor. We express our gratitude to all the members of the delegation for their kind visit to our school in spite of our difficult location and our parking problem, and we sincerely thank them for their very kind support of our school.

Rotary CCTV & Reading Machines Delivered

The second part of the Rotary donation to our school was delivered Tuesday, August 6, 2002. A Tieman Twinkle Spectrum CCTV, two Poet Compact (Baum) standalone reading machines, three APC UPS systems, and a 17" monitor were donated by the Rotary Foundation. We express our most sincere gratitude to the Rotary Club of London, the Beirut Cosmopolitan Rotary Club, and to Mr. Toni Asfour who made this very kind donation possible. This equipment will help us advance our training of students, and will allow those among them following their education in schools and universities to do their readings on their own without requiring volunteers to  record on tape their reading assignments. Thank you to all our Rotarian friends.

Soft Room Project Sponsored by BibleLands

We received delightful news from Miss Mo Burnley and Miss Janet Blade. BibleLands is sending us a donation (4000 £) for the soft-room project which we badly need. This is wonderful news. Children with special needs benefit greatly from this facility, and having such a room will be very helpful to our teachers and very therapeutic to our children. The project will be completed in September and will be ready at the beginning of the next academic year starting early October 2002. We express our most sincere gratitude to BibleLands for their continued support and we praise God for our partnership with our very dear friends at BibleLands.

A Very Kind Donation by CMS

Miss Barbara Shaw, the CMS (The Church Mission Society) Regional Manager for the Middle East and Pakistan sent us a kind donation of £ 2000. The money will be reserved for the gym renovation project. CMS has been providing us with enormous support through the presence of two mission volunteers, Debi Calvert and Vicky Leadbitter, from "Make a Difference program", and also through the very valuable visit of Margaret Knill last November. We highly appreciate our partnership with CMS and their wonderful support of our school. Thank you very much to all our very dear friends at CMS.

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