This newsletter is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agencyfor International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of University Scholarship Program at AUBand do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.”

University Scholarship Program (USP) 2015 Activit ies

Over the course of their years as scholars in the University Scholarship Program at AUB, USP scholars engage in countless community activities. Students get exposed to considerable volunteering work, complete community-themed internships, and diagnose and cater to challenges in their communities by executing community-based projects.

Dalia Malaeb, Farah Madi, Hisham Wehbe, and Hanifa Sweid are the first four scholars to graduate with a degree from AUB under the USP program. They have actively participated in myriad activities and projects. From participating in AUB’s Medical Research Volunteering Program (Malaeb), to collaborating with the Lebanese Ministry of Health and the United Nations Development Program to organize a seminar on Air Pollution held at AUB (Madi), to helping at Food Blessed’s soup kitchen to feed homeless elderly individuals (Sweid), to participating in a research project testing the levels of BPA consumed by the Lebanese population (Wehbe), these four students, in their success, have set the path upon which hundreds of USP AUB scholars will tread.

208 Lebanese public school students, hailing from all corners of Lebanon, now

have the opportunity to study at AUB thanks to a full scholarship provided

by the University Scholarship Program funded by the United States Agency for

International Development (USAID). AUB plans to recruit fifty-two students each

year for the next three years, supporting them for their entire undergraduate

education. This brings the total number of students supported by the program

at AUB to more than 350 with a total funding of nearly $42 million dollars

since 2011.

The USP program provides merit-based scholarships to financially needy and

academically eligible public school graduates from across Lebanon,

including the most disadvantaged corners of the country. These

scholarships enable students, often from marginalized families that would otherwise have no possible means to attend these schools, to study at the

highest-quality Lebanese universities. Offering much more than just tuition,

the scholarship also provides housing or transportation allowances, books,

a laptop computer, medical insurance and stipends, as well as intensive

English classes and academic support if needed.

Generous funding from USAID will enable USP scholars to graduate from

AUB—one of the best higher education institutions in the Middle East—with

a solid education, leadership skills and a passion for improving their

communities. In fact, USAID-USP at AUB develops students' leadership skills through a series of trainings,

workshops, community service, and community-based projects.

USP Graduates

Community Activities

On the morning of Friday, May 1, 2015, six USP II students—Hisham Wehbe, Dalia Malaeb, Ghanem El Sayegh, Farah Madi, Nizar Aouad and Isamar Matter—celebrated the completion of their community project, Lokmat Aysh, in a heartwarming opening ceremony. The ceremony was hosted at Sayyedat Baissour, a local NGO in Baissour, Aley and the USP group’s implementing partner. Sayyedat Baissour had been assisting widowed women who bake bread at home by selling their bread; however, since these women—the principal breadwinners at their households—were operating individually, the income from the bread sales did not suffice to sustain a living. Thus, the USP-AUB team set out to rehabilitate a center that belongs to the NGO and supply it with all the Saj equipment necessary, so the women could work together and with better equipment. The USP team joined for brunch among students and the ladies of the town to celebrate the success of this first project.

Community-Based Projects

LOKMAT AYSH

Over the summer, six USP II students - Jessica Hanna, Lara Dadoun, Youssef Bandak, Rachid Klaimi, Suzanne Mrad and Gabi Altabash—set up a cultural center in Zgharta for their community-based project. The team partnered with local NGO Zgharta Zawyeh Youth Movement (ZZYM), a youth-centered organization that organizes activities for youth, to set up a youth cultural center. The scholars helped equip the cultural center with furniture, computers, AC’s, a printer, bookshelves, a projector, a TV, a fridge, a karaoke machine, a curtain, and DVD while ZZYM contributed the space for the center. Students had been working on the project since last fall and could finally enjoy the fruits of their labor. This cultural center will be open for the residents of Zgharta, where they can hold meetings, organize activities, study, sell handcrafts, and use the facilities.

Community-Based Projects

Cultural Center in Zgharta

The Manaraty team—consisting of USP II scholars Mohammed Ghotme, Ibrahim Naim, Dalia Abou Ghaida, Hasnaa Housain and Hanifa Soueid—worked on setting up an old garden in Manara, West Bekaa. The garden was divided into three zones: one for reading, one for playing, and one for events. The idea for the garden arose after the team conducted an assessment of the region. The garden is surrounded by schools, so the team felt that it would be a good idea to create an area where children could read, play, and have fun. They collaborated with the Al Manara El Mored, a local NGO that aims to help children learn, through private tutoring and other activities. Abou Ghaida shared that she realized that she “could [transform] a piece of land into something beautiful.”

Community-Based Projects

MANARATY

Fadi Hamad, Ali Hijazi, Fatima El Sakka, Diana Salhab, and Kassem Saad collaborated with AFDC to establish a soap factory in Hasbaya, where they use oil deemed not suitable for cooking and usually thrown away, and mix it with laurel oil (which is more expensive). The new process that they have adopted makes it possible to make soap in almost 15 minutes, as opposed to the old process that takes an entire day for the same purpose. Also, the new process is a cold procedure whereas the old one requires heat. Thus, the new process is both safer and less time-consuming. The objectives of the project were to give widows in the area the chance to work in the soap factory, to take advantage of oil that was otherwise deemed useless, to provide soap to people for cheaper prices, and to improve local soap production.

Community-Based Projects

Soap Factory in Hasbaya

Eleven USP scholars interned with the University Preparatory Program (UPP) at AUB, which launched a program in partnership with United Lebanon Youth Project (ULYP) to prepare and train 90 Palestinian students in the English and Math skills that would help them succeed in the SAT exam. The students who completed this intensive program were selected from various UNRWA schools in different regions of Lebanon and screened to guarantee that deserving candidates made it into the course.

The Palestinian students received intensive instruction in critical reading, writing, structure, vocabulary, and math skills, and they were mostly assisted by USP scholars in the Math program. All training was planned and administered by UPP faculty. To complete this internship, USP scholars underwent thorough training. Pre and post SAT mock testing confirmed that tutees made substantial improvement especially with regard to math skills in the two months that they spent with USP scholars over the summer.

Internships

USP Scholars Tutor Palestinian High School Students on SAT Exam Skills

USP-AUB students spent their summers interning at various NGO’s and institutions, where they were able to both give back to society and develop their leadership, communication, and teamwork skills. Rita Issa, an Education major pursuing a teaching diploma in Special Education, interned at Caritas du Liban’s center for children with special needs. Christine Dolmayeh, also an Education major, interned at Teach For Lebanon, where she learned more about time and classroom management, as well as teaching in different schools. Kholoud Mallak interned at NAHNOO, where she had the chance to further develop the know-how required for the career her Political Studies degree will lead her to. Roukaya Eid participated in the child development, community service, and youth empowerment programs at UTOPIA, an NGO that aims to unite different members of society regardless of their political and religious beliefs in Tripoli’s society. Iman Matar volunteered at the Civil Defense, where he learned that “volunteering is not a job you do for free. On the contrary, you can get satisfaction that no job in the world could give you.”

Internships

USP Community Service Internshipsin Lebanon

USP-AUB scholars shine not only in Lebanon, but abroad as well! Ali Shouman (Chemical Engineering) assisted professors in the Manipal Institute of Technology in India in two projects: “Photo-Catalytic Conversion of CO2 into Renewable Energy” and “Synthesis and Characterization of Polymeric Membranes”. Kassem Saad (Computer and Communication Engineering), on the other hand, worked on “Dataflow Supercomputing” at the University of Belgrade School of Electrical Engineering in Serbia. Gabi Altabash and Rachid Klaimi, both majoring in Chemical Engineering, were research assistants in Brazil. Altabash worked on the Solar Thermal Collector Simulation Program at the Universidade Federal de Vicosa, while Rachid Klaimi assisted in research on “The Effect of pH and Solid Concentration on the Rheology of Suspension of Bentonite-based Drilling Fluid” at Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro.

Internships

AUB Scholars Intern Abroad • 1

USP-AUB students Mohamed Ghotmeh, Mohammad Tohmeh, Emile Atallah, and Ali Hijazi had the chance to intern in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Germany, and Poland. Ghotmeh (Construction Engineering) interned at CAT, assisting the main site engineer in supervising and monitoring work. Tohmeh (Construction Engineering) interned at RMA, checking reinforcement of columns and slabs, checking alignments of walls and columns, and taking concrete samples for testing. Atallah (Chemical Engineering) worked on analyzers calibration, GC calibration, titrations, and more at the Technical University of Clausthal. In Poland, Hijazi (Computer and Communication Engineering) rotated in the various departments of ELMAT, conducting strength tests of fiber components, testing of network devices, and building platforms to test IPTV, among other tasks. In addition to the chance to apply what they’ve learned at AUB, these internships provided the students with the opportunity to experience and explore different countries and cultures.

Internships

AUB Scholars Intern Abroad • 2

USP-AUB scholars, well aware of the importance of education, have been actively volunteering for Nasma Learning and Resource Center. Through a combination of workshops, trainings, and tutorial sessions, Nasma assists underprivileged public school and free private school children in their schoolwork and works on improving their self-confidence and academic, creative, and social skills. Students volunteer at the center, tutoring children of various ages and levels in different subjects and organizing fun educational activities and exercises. Due to the Syrian crisis, the majority of the tutees have been Syrian refugee children who need extra assistance with their schoolwork. USP-AUB scholars became aware of the children’s struggles and did their best to ensure the refugees got both the academic and moral support that they needed. Hussein Noureldine, a USP V scholar who has volunteered at Nasma numerous times, shared, “…every time I go there, I feel I’ve changed to a better person.”

Volunteering Activities

USP Scholars Tutor School-Age Students at Nasma

Over 30 USP-AUB scholars have been involved with the Red Cross during their years at AUB. Their activities have spanned various areas of engagement, from social activities such as forming a human chain to symbolize Lebanon’s unity, to fundraising activities such as asking people on the street for donations, to awareness activities such as organizing a children’s festival to raise awareness of drug abuse.

Their involvement has not only allowed them to make a difference in other people’s lives, but has impacted their own attitudes and personalities as well. It has helped them develop various skills, such as fundraising, persuasion, teamwork, leadership, and people skills. Moreover, students frequently comment on their increased appreciation for what they had taken for granted and the growing sense of responsibility that they feel towards the underprivileged.

Volunteering Activities

USP Students Volunteer with Red Cross

In partial fulfillment of the Mechanical Engineering course MECH 200, students have to complete two main projects: building a micro-car and a sumo robot. Our USP-AUB scholars Ali Atwi and Sajed Medlej won first place in the micro-car project and the sumo project respectively. Atwi and his teammates worked on the project for over two months: their goal was to build a small car with high performance. Their car, P-Walker, along with 33 cars built by other teams, competed in five events at the IOEC in AUB and beat its competition. Medlej participated in the MINDSTORMS NXT SUMO, a competition where two robots made up of Lego pieces attempt to push each other out of an area using “mechanism, cunning, and brute force”. Medlej and his teammates were determined to win the SUMO Competition, and this determination to get the perfect design, coupled with nights spent unpacking and reassembling the robot to find the exact design that they had in mind, gave them the leverage to win the final round and claim first place.

Student Achievements

USP ScholarsShine inEngineering Fields

USP aims to provide scholars with the skills required to become civically engaged and actively involved in their communities. Ibrahim Al Assaad, a USP V sophomore, has been employing his knowledge to make a positive difference. With his siblings, Al Assaad submitted a proposal to the United States Embassy in Lebanon, outlining their plan to establish a project that would help underprivileged children (including refugees) learn how to play football, improve their skills, and express their personality through sports. Thus, “US Empower Youth” was born. Al Assaad has also volunteered in another US Embassy project, Sports United. He is an active member of Adyan, and he volunteered for the Unite Lebanon Youth Project (ULYP) in their Debbiyyeh camp last summer.

Student Achievements

Spotlight on USP-AUB Student’s Civic Engagement and Community Service Activities

University Scholarship Program (USP) • American University of Beirut PO Box 11-0236 Riad El-Solh / Beirut 1107 2020 Beirut, Lebanon Beirut Campus Telephone: +961-1- 374374 / 374444 • Ext. 2585 / 2590 / 2596 / 3505 Email: usp@aub.edu.lb • www.aub.edu.lb/usp