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Australian Lebanese Foundation (ALF) dinner hears from guests speakers about their vision for Lebanon

***
“I am now 64 years old but I feel that I am 46 years old, and that is only because I work with youth who love their country.” DR. NUHAD DUMIT
***
“When you say you no longer love Lebanon or that Lebanon is dead, I am sure that you are not a true Lebanese. The true Lebanese believes that Lebanon will return.. Anthony Rahayel
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“Your commitment means nothing if you do not take action. I encourage you to be authentic to who you are.” ALF PRESIDENT PROF. FADIA GHOSSAYN 
***
The hope is that education and goodwill synergistically combine to change the world for the better.
The premise of the existence of the ALA is the desire to strengthen ties between academic institutions in Lebanon and in Australia.” Dr DOMIT AZAR
***
"Learning any profession depends mainly on the person's skill and the extent of his understanding of his field of specialization.” CARLOS GHOSN



Australian Lebanese Foundation (ALF) dinner hears from guests speakers about their vision for Lebanon
01/12/2022
(See translation in Arabic section)
Sydney - Middle East Times Int’l: The  Australia Lebanon Foundation held its 17th annual scholarship dinner at the University of Sydney on Friday, November 18, 2022. Speakers on the night were Dr Nuhad Dumit and Anthony Rahayel (both from Lebanon), ALF President Prof. Fadia Ghossayn, Dr Domit Azar, Andrew Coorey and Carlos Ghosn. The ceremony was attended by a large crowd including the Consul-General of Lebanon and his wife, academic personalities, businessmen, social, cultural, economic and political parties, and media representatives. The Middle East Times congratulates the chairwoman and members of the Australian-Lebanese Foundation committee, and expresses its pride in what it is doing to highlight the civilised,  historical, and cultural face of Lebanon and the Lebanese community in Australia. Following are excerpts from their speeches on the night.
The MC Elie Matar: 
“It’s so wonderful to see you all gathered here once more for what’s been a really incredibly challenging couple of years for everyone, and especially for the people of Lebanon. 
“I’m sure we can all agree that the last couple of years made us all appreciate the importance of gathering as friends, family and as a community. It’s brought into sharp focus the importance of holding these events where we gather under the banner of shared ideas, history, and heritage to feel that we are part of, and can contribute to something bigger than ourselves. 
“As always, we come to celebrate, learn, be inspired and to give back to the Australian-Lebanese community.
DR. NUHAD DUMIT
Dr. Nihad Doumit is the Head of the Syndicate of Nurses in Lebanon who expressed her pride and willingness to talk about her professional experience.  
She talked about her stories and positions in Lebanon, especially that she preferred to stay in Lebanon. 
She expressed her respect for everyone who wanted to leave because “everyone has a role”, stressing that the people who care in Lebanon are doing wonderful things for the benefit of the country. 
She expressed her deep gratitude to Professor Ghossein and the Australian Lebanese Foundation which aims to provide support to Australians of Lebanese descent so that they can expand their opportunities in life and complete their academic achievement.
"What we do as activists in the field of medical care is ultimately in the interest of Lebanon. I am now 64 years old but I feel that I am 46 years old, and that is only because I work with loyal groups of youth who love their country, whether they are my students or youth groups from different communities. 
“They give you energy and you create the future; a better future for us and for Lebanon. So, since the early mid-1980s, we had our first case of HIV and everybody freaked out, including the doctors and the nurses. However, we overcame the challenges and each one of us was able to play his role to the fullest, until we made sure that HIV was under control in Lebanon," she continued.
 "We work with the Minister of Public Health, but we do not fully depend on her. We depend on our activity as fanatics for people's health, controlling disease in general and promoting health, especially the health of vulnerable people.  After that, we began to conduct research and apply the results on the ground and benefit from it in the service of society instead of making publications and placing them on information technology, web networks, the Internet, or on library shelves. We use what we do in our research to serve the community. This is the best way to help the community healthy," She added.
"Everyone knows the story. Lebanon witnessed a slow collapse in all its systems including health, and an economic collapse followed by an uprising. Some like to call it a revolution and some call it an uprising. I was there in the streets when people were going out and protesting. Our position was primarily humanitarian, taking care of the health of people who might be affected either through a domestic crisis or injured during the riots. 
“We have established first aid amid the uprising downtown but, at the same time, health care providers were unable to reach the health care institutions they needed. Our students from all majors (nursing, medicine and psychology) were very willing to do anything to serve the Lebanese community and there they were able to reach out to help the staff of hospitals and other healthcare organizations. 
“Even during Covid crisis, what did we do? We responded immediately with creative ideas, through a group of doctors and nurses, we worked together and I coordinated the Covid 19 studio and we got a lot under control. Although it was difficult for me as a mother of five children, our first concern was to protect the lives of the people living in Lebanon, even the refugees. We provided all possible services and care, whether for Syrian refugees or Palestinians who were living in camps", she continued.
Dr. Nihad at the same time, pointed out that Lebanon has creative and innovative youth in general, and with these youth we can rebuild Lebanon again.
"In the end, we worked and we will continue to work for a better Lebanon, and the Lebanese people are great and will be a major reason for their country's exit to safety," she concluded. 
ANTHONY RAHAYEL
Dr. Anthony Rahayel confirmed, during his speech at the Scholarship Dinner 2022, that he will not talk about what is going on in Lebanon given the media coverage.
“The history of Lebanon is as old as humanity, and like all the countries of the Arab Levant, Lebanon was mentioned in the oldest antiquities discovered in the region. Its location on the Mediterranean coast, mediating trade routes between Europe, Asia and Africa made it a hotbed of many cultures that gave it historical importance. 
“Since ancient times, it has been inhabited by peoples who came from the inland territories and from beyond the seas. Lebanon is a 7000-year-old country, a country with many encounters. Through the ages, Lebanon underwent waves of external control of peoples and countries that came from all parts, including the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Ottomans and French. The country is still standing, and will remain, no matter how great crises it is exposed to.
“Thanks to the Lebanese people who love their country, Lebanon will be strengthened and will return as it was, the Lebanese will eat Lebanese food, look like Lebanese, think the Lebanese way, and act as Lebanese to communicate with Lebanon wherever they go. Lebanon is everywhere and this is the sign for us to say, well, what am I going to do for my country. I ask don't ask myself every day, what my country has done for me or what my country is doing for me but, what have I done for my country.
“When you say, I no longer love Lebanon or that Lebanon is dead, I am sure that you are not a true Lebanese. The true Lebanese believes that Lebanon will return as it was, and I will rise again.
Lebanon is the land of our ancestors; Lebanon is where our ancestors are buried. A Lebanese cannot speak negatively about his country. Perhaps you do not like the people who rule it, but we chose them.
“Therefore, this is our fault, so let us stand with Lebanon together. Let me tell you about the country in my opinion; I see the glass half-full. And this is my country Lebanon, where I choose to raise my children, where my children spend a lot of time, where I work with more than 20 people, where I hear about the largest stores at 5000 square meters, where I shoot 4500 videos, where more than 300 million people as well as the world’s investors know the value of Lebanon.
“Lebanon does not need aid as much as it needs stability in order to create a good climate to attract investment. Lebanon needs an employee, Lebanon needs education, and when we say education, we mean the advancement again of the State of Lebanon; I know that many of the news covering Lebanon confirm that half of the Lebanese wish to immigrate from Lebanon, but I think that many Lebanese want Lebanon, no matter what situations and crises it faces, because of their strong belief in Lebanon’s ability to rise again.
*** 
“I think we are properly educated to do so, because the news once again tells you that all things in Lebanon are negative or 50 percent of the Lebanese want to get out of Lebanon, so we must all unite and join forces to help Lebanon to stand up again,” he added.
“Let me tell you more about Lebanon. Lebanon has more than 2000 villages, with the most beautiful scenery in the world and more than 200 home-cooked dishes. Lebanon has values and appreciates family; most importantly, 16 million people are successful all over the world each in their field. The world today has the internet and it is all connected together. Lebanon has a keen eye of what is happening in any spots in the world. Today we are connected together thanks to the internet; I was traveling with my friends to Lebanon, we made more than 4500 videos, I covered more than 1500 event, and I am very happy and humbled and honoured to say that the videos are displayed in universities and schools all over the world.
Therefore, you just have to remind your children where did you come from and why Lebanon is one of the most beautiful countries in the world.”
He concluded his speech by calling for the assistance of Lebanon and the Lebanese woman in particular, saying: “I have a mission and this mission is to storm the world, coming here to see you and I just got back from Canada a few days ago. Our children must be taught that Lebanon needs help, not money. 
“Today we are on the cusp of winter, and snow is coming, Lebanon needs fuel. We have to support Lebanon in winter so we need money to buy more fuel. we need to invest and hire other people, and they will be able to buy their fuel; we must help the Lebanese woman to work for Lebanon and their family as well. 
“Thank you for the opportunity to support the Australian Lebanon Foundation. Our association and the support for the foundation go back over seven years now and we are delighted to be here tonight to support the most recent scholarship recipients. As we all know education is critical to human development and success and Pat Dixon is proud to provide design and construction services to these important sectors. From our earliest learners in early childhood centres to mature-age students at the tertiary level. 
“And so our support for the foundation compliments our commitment to providing the best opportunity possible for students to grow academically, as they pursue their chosen fields of expertise, or perhaps explore the opportunities that great institutions that the University of Sydney can provide. 
“As a design architect working in the education sector, I have the great privilege of working directly with students to understand their needs when developing a project group, and we run a typical activity, we ask students what they aspire to do, and the students want to be an astronaut. One constant is aspiration and understanding tertiary education often provides the key, to one unlock the door to success. 
“For some students however the dream of tertiary education is a difficult dream to realize and that’s why the support provided by the foundation is so important, you help change lives through education scholarship which is something you should be very proud of and something we are very proud to be part of. 
“We are confident that there will be opportunities in the future for the scholarship recipients to put their required skills and knowledge to great use for the benefit of those in their community back here and overseas. Our cause for confidence is found in other people in the world who have done great things and helped no doubt by the scholarship received. 
“A young American man in 1973 won the National American Scholarship and went on to develop his passion for all things computing, you might have heard of him, his name is Bill Gates. And only nine years later the same scholarship was won by Jeff Bezo, the founder, chairman, and CEO, and got the e-commerce Amazon.
“So for tonight’s scholarship recipients, no pressure but be rest assured that you are in great company. So on behalf of Pat Dixon, we congratulate the scholarship recipients, and we trust you use every opportunity to grow and develop and succeed in your journey. Congratulations once again and thank you.
ALF PRESIDENT PROF. FADIA GHOSSAYN 
“It has been 20 years since we joined forces with the University of Sydney and the Lebanese University. The first council comprised 14 visionaries, including Dr. Glen Coorey, who was a much-loved Sydney surgeon. In 2007, he helped establish the School of Medicine at the University of Notre Dame, where he served as a Governor. 
“May I highlight an important word? Authenticity.  To be authentic means to be real to move away from adjectives. To live in the word of verbs. Verb is a doing word. To me, love is a verb. Love is nothing if it’s not love in action.
“Students, I urge you to check your words carefully because your words become your commitment. Your commitment means nothing if you do not take action. I encourage you to be authentic to who you are. Please check what you believe and why you believe it so that you don’t carry baggage that is not yours. All my adult life, I promoted higher learning. I pray that you will never stop learning about your craft, yourself and your community.
DR DOMIT AZAR
“Your presence in this hall demonstrates, above all else, a feature shared with those seated around you. The hope is that education and goodwill synergistically combine to change the world for the better. The premise of the existence of the ALA is the desire to strengthen ties between academic institutions in Lebanon and in Australia in the hopes that somehow, some way, the good fortune of those living in an open democratic, peaceful, and resourceful nation can elevate the fortunes of those suffering in circumstances that seem to go from bad to worse than even worse again. 
“The Lebanese are no strangers to suffering yet the state of disarray in which they currently lie places it in arguably the most challenging period of its history outside of war. It is tempting to draw the conclusion that right now the Lebanese don’t need education; they need bread.
“Subsequently, we might consider our efforts as being futile, insufficient, impotent, or simply missing the mark. You may have noticed that each of you has been gifted a book created by Jenny Orchard, which is a collection of essays by internationally acclaimed authors, all about the special and precious gifts that reading has given to them. 
“The education system in Lebanon is upended. The combined impact of an economic meltdown, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Beirut Port explosion forced families to make difficult choices when it comes to their children’s education. 
“Over the last school year, more than 1.3 million children were affected by school closures with more than 70,000 kept out of school. An average of just 25 days teaching took place since October 2021.
“Students in second and third grade are reading at a kindergarten level well below expectation. Additionally, teacher strikes brought on by collapsing purchasing power and hyperinflation are causing widespread disruption in public schools which are basically non-functional at this time.
Families who can afford to are sending their kids to private schools, demonstrating a complete lack of faith in government schooling, and leaving families who have no choice to fend for themselves with little hope of their children, learning given the crumbling public school system.
“Amid all this, Lebanon continues to play host to more than one million Syrian refugees, making it the highest per capita proportion of refugees in the world; 700,000 of those are school-aged children. 
So in short, the educational needs of Lebanese kids from historically low-income communities and Syrian refugee children are not being met. They’re falling behind on their path to literacy and are at risk of never catching up without the foundational skill of literacy. 
At an early age, they will never embark upon a learning pathway. So this is where we can make a difference. Even if you can’t impact the lives of millions of kids in the same way that they have through greater investment efforts. We can begin with one child.
***
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ANDREW COOREY
In 1941, after the Germans had overrun France, places like Lebanon became outcast and had to be reclaimed. Nicholas Coorey was the first casualty of that campaign and he’s buried among 243 Diggers from WWII and 24 from WWI. Nobody can doubt their commitment to Australia. 
“We know that hundreds, maybe thousands, of Australian Lebanese joined up for World War II so when you hear the question about what Lebanese have ever done for Australia, it’s perfectly normal to think of stories of migrants in Australia. But what does that tell you about Lebanese Australians fighting in Lebanon 80 years ago? There are lots of accounts, during the fighting, of Lebanese villagers cheering and welcoming Australian and British Forces as they passed through.
“My mum remembers that Australian soldiers came to her village and remembers running with other children to see who these people were because they went in military formation. Yes, we had accounts of people getting gifts of bread and food and things like that to these Australians.
My mother used to tell me stories about Australian soldiers; there were a group stationed up near where she lived in a northern village. She had the fondest memories that they were there to protect them. 
“I love that they came to Australia because of the nature of Australians, which was very warm too. 
It’s not easy to find reliable stats on Lebanese involvement in Australia’s service but the Lebanese will get a good grade for stepping up to fight for Australia.
CARLOS GHOSN
In his speech, Carlos Ghosn said he would not forget his many visits to Australia 8 years ago and that he is grateful to this country for hosting the Lebanese community. He pointed out that Lebanon is going through many crises and that investment is the key to save Lebanon from what it is going through at the present time, by relying mainly on the Lebanese people to rebuild the country again and not on any outside forces.
He added that he studied in Lebanon where education was based on teaching a person how to learn by himself and rely on himself, because this is the most important thing in education. He indicated that the current generation in Lebanon is fortunate because of the technological explosion that helped greatly in learning largely and rapidly. 
“Education has become very dependent on computer science, and we have reached 5% of the potential for developing artificial intelligence which we are experiencing now, indicating that there has been great progress in the mentality of our children and grandchildren, thanks to educational technology.
“So today, if you don’t have computing skills you are handicapped; if you don’t understand where artificial intelligence skills are used where you are a lawyer, or you are a merchant, or you are an engineer where you need a promotion or an engineer, you going to be handicapped.”
According to him, the youth of Lebanon must make good use of this matter, since they are the fuel of the true future of Lebanon, and taking care of them means taking care of the future of Lebanon, in addition to their great role in bringing their homeland, which is now groaning to safety.
"Learning any profession depends mainly on the person's skill and the extent of his understanding of his field of specialization, as well as his experiences, because I have spent more than 40 years in the industry in general, so, it was not the first profession that I worked in, but I learned the knowledge technology industry; it is not supposed to be specialists in all the areas that we use but we have to at least, understand what the key issues are for each one of the key resources in general and do it the smart way keeping pace with technology. 
“When I started my career, the important element was to know right from the start, the fundamentals of business, to be able to develop myself in my field and have the knowledge in manufacturing or research or in any field of my specialization. These were the challenges.
“You must be prepared for all these matters to be able to establish your own company, your international or even global company. I worked in the automotive industry. For example, cars in the near future will be different from the cars you're driving today. The main challenge in the automotive industry is how do you expect the development that may occur in this field. Now the world is heading to the manufacture of environmentally friendly cars, which are electric cars," Ghosn said.
He stressed that only the people of Lebanon have the ability to get Lebanon out of all its crises, calling for the importance of stability in Lebanon in order to provide a fertile and suitable environment to attract investments to Lebanon, stressing that investment is an important contribution to Lebanon's exit from its current crises.







 














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