Women in Technology Training Program “Women in Information Technology” has had the exceptional opportunity acting as the implementing agency in Lebanon on behalf of the WIT program. The program delivers quality training to women in professional development and basic ICT literacy through the Microsoft Unlimited Potential through a network of local partners: - Abadieh Scout Club, Abadieh ( Chouf) - YWCA, Jbeil - DKN, Deir Kanoun El Nahr - IT Lebanon, Tripoli Successful Stories Mrs. Najla Endary, 67 years old, assisted to the training sessions at Abadieh. She said: “I never imagined myself chatting with my friend in Suede in such an easy way. We can share now pictures about our families and talk about thousand of subjects”. Mrs. Rihab Bu Ezz EL Dine, 35 years old doesn’t work and take care of her children. “My participation in these sessions has changed my idea about technology. I used to be afraid from damaging the computer. When I see myself and the other girls opening up their computers I get happy because I know that we are women breaking into a challenging field."       Peace Scholarships - Dima Mahmassani “Live in US” Stories: Dima Mahmassani, Arizona 10 September 2008 “ Things were so strange at first settling required a great effort. Jamal Alsayyed, our international advisor, has been so helpful and I'm sure we could not have survived this well without his guidance. The University of Arizona Campus is beautiful and huge; I'm sure I'll be taking great pictures there. And now I can easily read the campus map and find where I need to go. The safe way strategy I am used at first is getting to know the place a day before I have to be there so that I won't be late. Food was still a pending issue during the first week because I was really missing my home country's food. And so far I'm being able to resist the temptations of junk food and candy; I promised myself that I will prove everyone wrong in that I won't gain any weight here. Registration was one of the most worrying issues for me but it turned out to run smoothly thanks God; I had to contact two professors to register in courses that were full/ needed department consent and both were so nice and I was able to get in so easily. Below is the description of courses I'm taking: SERP 478 -- Prevention of Addictions (3 units) SPAN 101 -- First Semester Spanish (4 units) CPH 449 -- Family Violence (3 units) EDL 280 -- Peer Leadership and Education (2 units) We started school on Monday August 25; and the first Monday was a long day for me and Saif (from Jordan), and Yara (from Egypt) because we are taking an evening Spanish class on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6-8pm. First day of classes was so long and tough and I felt overwhelmed by the amount of work I'll be having to do; I'm not sure if I was overwhelmed by the fact that the syllabus was being presented and I had to hear of all the assignments and projects to be done or whether the courses were just difficult ones. I was still feeling homesick from time to time especially in mornings and afternoons. It feels annoying when I wake up and my family members are not around in the house. I did create a corner for my family and friends' pictures since the second day I arrived and I even got some photo frames for a couple of them, but it's never enough. Sometimes I Wish I can go back to Beirut for a couple hours just to hug them and get back here. My roommates, they are 3 American girls from Arizona and two of them are of Indian origins. They are nice girls and each one of us respects the privacy of the other and at the same time we do spend some time together. Finally, this week has been significant for me because of 3 reasons: - I started studying - Ramadan started - I am doing some real cooking for the first time in my life and it's turning out to be surprisingly good! I did miss having Iftar with my family especially during the first day of Ramadan. It seemed like nothing similar to Ramadan at home where my family would be all gathered for dinner every single night. On Sunday night, we were all gathered to eat at night before our first day of fasting. Studying is not easy but I'm trying to stay on schedule. I did start studying during the long weekend and I'm keeping up with daily homework. I am happy with my courses and find all of them to be very interesting yet they are requiring serious hard work: studying, papers, group presentations... I am being able to do that but it's really not easy with all the responsibilities I have: cooking, shopping for food, doing laundry, ironing my clothes, waking up by myself, searching for community service, etc..Back home, all I had to worry about was studying. Yeah I know it's not easy and I now appreciate more the value of my mom in my life. Yet I'm sure this experience will render me a more independent and multi-task oriented person.       Peace Scholarships - Richard Alam Richard Alam, Connecticut 10 October 2008 “This is my 6th week in the states, Connecticut, and much has happened. One of the most interesting experiences, yet difficult was overcoming the cultural chock. I didn't think that I would experience this cultural chock, thinking that I can adapt easily. However, it did happen and it made me pass through a period of depression. Eventually, I was over it, and now, I feel more focused. At the beginning of this month, we felt lost, especially with the courses. We had to drop and add some, since we had only little time to do that. But now I’m taking very interesting courses [ Major English Literature, Masterpieces of English and American writers, Cross-cultural Communication and Service learning]. I had few midterms already, and so far I’m doing well. There is a lot of reading assigned to every course that sometimes it can be overwhelming, and prevents you from doing anything else. However, i'm trying to do some time managements here! Connecticut is mainly a quiet state. American People are nice. I have now friends from different nationalities. We did several trips to Boston and New York. Our advisors and WL are handling our needs and accommodations properly, and I am personally satisfied. Recently, we used one of our friend's kitchen and we cooked an arab meal [ i did tabboule] and we asked our advisor over dinner. It was a pleasant evening though.”