From UNIFIL to Teachers to Students

UNIFIL Instructor George al-Alam explaining to Bint Jbeil Public Technical School students the airbag deployment mechanism.

UNIFIL Instructor showing his audience the location of the sensors that will trigger the airbag.

Airbag deployment exercise watched by Bint Jbeil Public Technical School students.

GIZ Programme Manager Sonia Fontaine, UNIFIL Instructors Reinhard Arnold and George Al-Alam awarding a completion certificate to a trainee.

Teacher Nemr al-Alam receives his certificate from UNIFIL instructor Reinhard Arnold after completing a one-month vocational training in Naqoura.

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6 Jun 2013

From UNIFIL to Teachers to Students

"The shock must be on the sensor so the airbag goes off," explained UNIFIL vehicle mechanic George al-Alam while demonstrating an airbag deployment at Bint Jbeil Public Technical School. After showing his audience where the sensors are, George added, "If the shock was in between the sensors, the airbag would not deploy."

George was one of UNIFIL's instructors who, last April, gave a one-month vocational training for seven teachers from the Bint Jbeil public school, organised by UNIFIL Civil Affairs in collaboration with the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ).

A closing ceremony was organised last week at the school premises and the trainees were awarded certificates of completion by GIZ Programme Manager Sonia Fontaine in the presence of the school director Ghassan Bazzi. In addition, an airbag deployment exercise was conducted, "so that besides the participating teachers, students of the school also get an opportunity to witness and learn from the hands-on exercise," explained UNIFIL Civil Affairs Officer Vidya Singh.

The school director Ghassan Bazzi thanked UNIFIL and the Civil Affairs office "that allowed our students to see this with their own eyes." He added gratefully, "UNIFIL is having a great influence on the high academic level of our students, thanks to the technical aid it is providing."

For her part, GIZ representative Sonia Fontaine said that she was really "happy that we managed to have this really fruitful cooperation with UNIFIL because this provides us with a chance to get teachers trained by experts with a very deep knowledge."

She also hoped that this kind of cooperation will go on. "This is a mutual benefit for both sides, and we are happy to be able to be part of it," Sonia exclaimed.

Now, the training is over. Teachers returned to their students with a new and exciting task, which is to share the know-how acquired in the training. "Not just this year, but in the coming years as well," UNIFIL Civil Affairs Officer Rola Bzeih pointed out. "This is the objective of this project, that we (UNIFIL) transmit the expertise we have and facilitate its exchange within the local communities in UNIFIL's Area of Operation," she stressed.

 

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Article: Rania Harb
Video Editor: Suzane Badereddine
Video Camera: Mohamad Hamze
Photo: Pascual Gorriz Marcos

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