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Click on the decade of interest for details. |
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Nadim Shwayri is moved by the situation of socially destitute girls in Lebanon who are left to take the road of prostitution for lack of better opportunities.
He sets-up in 1956 free academic and catering education in an abandoned convent in the Lebanese mountains. Moved by the physical disability of one of the students, and aware of the lack of proper rehabilitation services in Lebanon, he comes up in 1957 with a unique initiative: he opens a small leather factory in a rented flat in Beirut, employing people with disabilities and producing quality leather goods. The proceeds of the goods are then used in producing artificial limbs and support equipment to be delivered to people with disabilities, at no cost.
He starts in 1957 with only 3 employees. |
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Nadim's entrepreneurial action was a simple embodiment of his fight for the rights of people with disabilities. Proving to society that people with disabilities could equally contribute to the economy was his key aim – an aim he elaborated and developed in parallel in weekly press articles he published in the local newspapers (refer to Press room).
He finds a market for the leather goods in Europe and America . The number of employees of the small factory starts increasing. Nadim becomes aware of the pressing need to expand his work: he starts constructing the Lily Shwayri Centre.
He institutionalizes his work; Al-Kafaàt ( Abilities in Arabic) is created in 1964. The first board of trustees is formed.
His action soon gains national attention. He is granted the Said Akl Award in 1965.
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Al-Kafaàt inaugurates in 2003 Beit el Adra. The center is a home to 450 residents with disabilities, and also delivers specialized services to children and adults with autism. It also provides out-patient therapeutic services and hosts out-patient clinics for developmental disorders.
In 2007, on the occasion of its golden jubilee, the President of the Lebanese Republic grants Al-Kafaàt the highest Order of the Cedars (Commander).
In 2008, the EUROPA Campus inaugurates the first Printing School in the Near-East. During that same year, Al-Kafaàt initiates the B-Start program. |
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