This September members of our team traveled to Lebanon to help develop a community space for the refugee camp Al Yasmine in the Bekaa Valley. This beautiful land is surrounded by vast mountains with some of Lebanon’s most fertile farm land
The view of the valley facing Syria. The Shepard takes care of his sheep as they graze the land.
The opposite direction of the Bekaa Valley, in the distance you can see many Lebanese houses.
Al Yasmine camp is home to over 100 families who were displaced after the war in Syria. It is now setting up for another 120 families that will soon move into the village. We met many different families who shared with us their personal stories of what they went through and how they got here.
Drying red peppers and various local vegetables to eat for the week.
The children playing next door to the camp, jumping into a soft pile of fabrics.
The entrance to camp, URDA (Union of Relief and Development Associations) is the umbrella organization in charge of all the NGO’s involved in enabling camp to run properly.
The small market outside of camp selling various produce and sweets for the village and locals around.
One of the produce trucks dropping off some well anticipated water melons for everyone.
Some tents are labeled with UNHCR – The UN Refugee Agency.
Professor Katrin Androschin hanging out with some of the girls at the camp. This photo was taken after working on a group collage.
Our team member David setting up an activity with some hula hoops.
A child who was abandoned by his family currently living with his grand parents.
We stayed at Al Jasmine in total for two days. During this time we interviewed many families, we also held various activities to better understand their needs. Our goals was to use the design thinking proces by focusing on user research to design a community space that would best suite the village’s current needs.