Dear LDBA members,
As mentioned by Ambassador Waltmans at our lunch in January a clean-up day will be organized by the Netherlands Embassy in cooperation with the Dutch funded Local Governments Resilience Programme (LOGOReP), the Union of Municipalities of Mount Hermon and youth volunteers on Saturday 17 March 2018.
As quite a number of members indicated interest in joining this event (with or without spouse/child) we invite you to register. In order to keep the event manageable we have decided to limit the number of LDBA participants to a maximum of 15 (excluded spouse/child). So if you want to join, register swiftly! By sending an email to the LDBA.
Hereafter you will find information about the day. Those that will participate will receive additional and more detailed information.
Overview of the day
– All participants coming from Beirut should arrive to the Rachaya castle (the independence castle) before 11:00 am. There is ample space for securely parking your car in front of the castle.
– A bus will leave at 11:00 am sharp to the clean-up site (15 minute drive from the castle)..
– We will be joined on-site by volunteers from the Youth Council of the Mount Hermon Union as well as volunteers and municipal leaders from the neighbouring villages.
– The clean-up campaign will start at 11:30 with a short welcome, distribution of masks, gloves and trash bags and some basic safety instruction. The clean-up is expected to take 2 hours of hard work.
– At 13:30 everyone is invited to a local lunch on site.
– At 14:30 the buses will take us back to the Rachaya castle. Participants there have 3 options:
a) Leave early to Beirut.
b) Attend an open dialogue meeting with the leaders and members of the Youth Council in the main hall of the Rachaya castle.
c) Enjoy a 2 hours “essential Rachaya and Mount Hermon tour” organized by the volunteers of the Union where we will visit a very ancient Church in Rachaya, an ancestral Druze Shrine in the village of Ain Atta and a scenic view-point overlooking Mount Hermon and the region. All activities of day will end at 17:00.
The day will be largely informal and fun, so kindly avoid any formal attire and make sure to wear hiking shoes or boots that are not afraid of mud.
Kind regards,
Mohamad Sinno
