Grace - My Blog

Funding or financial support is significant in conducting any project, regardless of the scope and duration. There is always a need to create a budget and consider a source of funding since these factors contribute to successful outcomes and facilitate implementation of activities. Financial support is only one type of aid to youth projects. In-kind donations are often more helpful in providing the needs of projects. These include materials, stationary, rental of a location, food and others.


Regarding our project, the main source of funding is the mini-grant received. However, we expect funding from other sources to support our project such as the partner NGOs. It is noted that some activities in our project will require a small participation fee from the participants to partially cover some of the expenses.
Some of our expenses such as those related to food and materials will be covered through in-kind donations from private sources or sectors as part of their marketing or in line with their corporate social activities to support youths activities.

Our project has a limited scope as it targets young female members in guiding associations.

The project team benefits from the available resources such as the volunteers, our leadership and communication skills, our team spirit and organizational characteristics to make a difference in people’s perceptions and attitudes towards HIV/AIDS. We will follow a peer education approach, hence the target groups are limited to young people between 18 and 24, depending on their active participation.

There are several foreseen challenges such as the financial challenges in addition to the response and cooperation of members of the other local guiding associations.

The project does not aim to reduce the prevalence of HIV infection. As it’s known, Lebanon is not considered a country with high prevalence of HIV.
Also, the project is not about advocacy and does not take the role of the local NGOs who are specialized in this matter.

It was a pleasure to participate in the 5th Arab Youth Forum and get the opportunity to listen to youth led initiatives and success stories. I was inspired by so many young participants who dedicate themselves to making a difference in the world. This experience encouraged to be more engaged in community work as I am passionate about volunteering.
My participation in the forum and YFC in particular opened the door for new opportunities and networking with youths from different countries. I was able to share my experience and learn from the experience of others which would not have been possible otherwise, as in emails or e-chatting. Due to this amazing experience, I received support from many participants who were previously engaged in a similar project (on HIV/AIDS).
The YFC gave us the opportunity to implement our projects, each in his or her own field of interest. I believe that it is of utmost importance that topics were not imposed on us as each individual was free to choose the topic according to the local needs. This is considered as 1 of the strengths of YFC as it gives the freedom for people to implement their projects but at the same time it provides us with support, whether it’s financial or in supervision.
Last but not least, the friendships that were created as a result of the mini-grant project are wonderful especially that we all share a passion for community work, social change and development work. This shared vision and willingness to create change in our societies is the main driver for the memorable moments we lived and the life long friendships created.