LEBANON / SYRIAN RECYCLERS

Gharam is one of six Syrian refugee women who were offered their first ever paid job at Recycle Beirut. The company was launched last year with an aim to contribute to solving the protracted waste crisis that has plagued Lebanon since 2015, and offer jobs to Syrian refugees.UNHCR

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:21
• Production Date: 4 November 2016
• Asset Language: English
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES - UNHCR
• Subject Topical: ENVIRONMENT; REFUGEES
• Geographic Subject: LEBANON
• MAMS Id: 1766975
• Parent Id: 1766975
• Alternate Title: unifeed161104b

Description

STORY: LEBANON / SYRIAN RECYCLERS
TRT: 2:21
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT UNHCR
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / NATS

DATELINE: 10 OCTOBER 2016, BEIRUT, LEBANON

Shotlist

1. Med shot, refugees putting plastic recyclables in machine
2. Close up, hand of Syrian refugee worker closing machine.
3. Close up, Syrian refugee woman, Gharam
4. Various shots, Gharam and other refugee woman emptying bag of recyclables into machine/ closing machine.
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Gharam, Syrian refugee worker:
“When I wasn’t working, I suffered a lot in terms of spending, but when I got this job, things changed. The work we do is very comfortable, and the people we work with are very nice.”
6. Various shots, refugee women arranging recyclables items in warehouse
7. Wide shot, warehouse with refugee women working
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Sam, Co-founder of Recycle Beirut:
“As Part of the social aspect we are working on, we thought of creating job opportunities and transform the displacement (refugee) crisis in Lebanon from negative to positive energy.’’
9. Various shots, refugee men workers moving recyclable items to truck
10. Various shots, garbage piled up on street
11. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Gharam, Syrian refugee worker:
“We are the first people to benefit from it, and it is also benefiting the Lebanese people. They have a waste crisis now, and we are helping them.”
12. Wide shot, Gharam arriving home
13. Med shot, Gharam with children
14. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Gharam, Syrian refugee worker:
“When I go home, it is not like I go to rest, I still have to cook and the kids: ‘Mom we want this; we don’t want that; she got me this; she didn’t get me that; why is my cousin doing this?’”
15. Med shot, mirror reflection of Gharam and children
16. Med shot, children playing
17. Med shot, Gharam removing dry laundry
18. Close up, girl taking laundry from Gharam

Storyline

(UPSOUND women pressing plastic items in recycling machine)

Gharam is one of six Syrian refugee women who were offered their first ever paid job at Recycle Beirut. The company was launched last year with an aim to contribute to solving the protracted waste crisis that has plagued Lebanon since 2015 and offer jobs to Syrian refugees.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Gharam, Syrian refugee worker:
“When I wasn’t working, I suffered a lot in terms of spending, but when I got this job, things changed. The work we do is very comfortable, and the people we work with are very nice.”

Lebanon's garbage crisis broke out in the summer of 2015 after the closure of its main landfill. This had the most effect on the capital Beirut and its surrounding suburbs as rubbish pilled up across the city. The crisis created work opportunities for refugees.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Sam, Co-founder of Recycle Beirut:
“As part of the social aspect we are working on, we thought of creating job opportunities and transform the displacement (refugee) crisis in Lebanon from negative to positive energy.’’

The women are all single mothers who lost their husbands in the devastating five-year war in neighbouring Syria. For them, this work ensures their livelihood, but also allows them to contribute to their host community.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Gharam, Syrian refugee worker:
“We are the first people to benefit from it, and it is also benefiting the Lebanese people. They have a waste crisis now, and we are helping them.”

Gharam earns US$20 a day to sort through recyclable material such as cans, paper and plastics, and arrange them according to size and quality before they are sent for recycling elsewhere in the country. Most of Gharam’s salary goes towards paying the family’s rent. Despite having a job, and receiving US$189 in food assistance every month, she continues to struggle to make ends meet.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Gharam, Syrian refugee worker:
“When I go home, it is not like I go to rest, I still have to cook and the kids: ‘Mom we want this; we don’t want that; she got me this; she didn’t get me that; why is my cousin doing this?’”

Lebanon is host to more than a million registered Syrian refugees, equating almost a quarter of the country’s population. The small Middle Eastern nation hosts more refugees per capita than any other country in the world.