Aisha, lover of life, has been transformed

Three years in the life of Aisha changed her forever. Today she is very different than how she was in the past. On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Aisha tells her story, a story of enthusiasm and motivation.

 When Aisha got married, the whole world seemed to become a closed circle for her.  After finishing her school education, she had taught in a local public school for no more than one year. Then she married a man from her village and gave birth to three children. In Jebjennine town, in the eastern side of Lebanon, in the Bekaa valley between two ranges of high mountains, Aisha lived along with her young family. Today, she is in her mid-forties. Her children have grown up, and life seems to be so different than before.

 “When I got married, I was in my early twenties. We lived by ourselves, no one was around from the family to help or give support, I had to raise my children and thus could not carry on my teaching career,” says Aisha as she tells the story of her life journey.

A lonely woman

In Lebanon family ties are strong, especially in rural areas. Parents are always there for their children and their grandchildren; unlike Aisha or her husband’s families which lived in another town.  This forced her to quit her teaching profession when she became pregnant; eventually she had three children, two boys and one girl.

“I had nothing to do but raise my children and help them with their homework every day. It is a great mission. Nevertheless, all these years I have been living in a terrible void and nothing was interesting for me anymore,” she says. “I felt lost, and desperate. Even when my children grew up and I sought to return to teaching, it was impossible. I was not specialized,” she adds.

Nowadays, the school curriculum in Lebanon is different than it used to be twenty years ago. At that time, Aisha was able to teach school students with her Lebanese Baccalaureate Certificate of Secondary Education (a certificate secondary students receive at the end of school). While today, she needs to have a bachelor degree with a specialty in education in order for her to teach. This makes her return to school teaching an impossible mission.

“Nobody was taking care of me, even when I was lonely and lacking attention. I have reached a point in life where I felt confined. There was something I needed to do, something I was not aware of, but I could not,” she explains her frustration.

A health project starts

Three years ago, World Vision launched its health project in West Beka Area Development Programme (ADP). It consisted of forming Mother Action Groups (MAGs) in towns, empowering them with training sessions on mother and child health (such as breast-feeding, healthy nutrition, infant health, women’s health pre- and post-delivery, etc.) and then supporting them to spread the knowledge and raise awareness in their respective communities.

“When I heard about the first two sessions, I was hesitant about taking part [in] them. I thought it may not be serious; it may be a [waste of] time. Plus, there was no transportation means to take me to the dispensary where the sessions where taking place, so I did not participate,” she says about her impression of the health project when it first kicked off. “On the third time, I took the chance and attended, and I was impressed how useful the information was, and how enjoyable was the time I spent,” she adds, astonished and passionate about the class.

Transformation is happening

Time after time, the sessions became more beneficial and Aisha felt the change they made in her life. “I was benefitting from the sessions and the new information. I was not only receiving information, but I was also implementing [it] in my daily life, which made my family, especially my husband [become] persuaded by their importance, despite his opposition at first,” she says. “It was like I became the expert in mother and child health topics,” she adds with great pride.

Aisha’s family also noticed the transformation that happened in her life. The communication skills and psychology training sessions she received made dealing with her husband easier and smoother. Even her cooking style changed after she learned about healthy nutrition. “It became crucial to sterilize vegetables and fruits before providing them to my family,” she says. “My daughter thinks I have become complicated and insists on calling me a business woman,” she says with a large smile on her face, a smile that holds lots of enjoyment and satisfaction.  

I love life

“The health project gave me incentive to rush in life, to move, to make changes myself. It became no longer important for me to get back to work. I was receiving information and benefitting my surroundings with it,” she says. “I have new mentality today, a positive one, a new life, a strong personality and self-esteem,” she adds.

Aisha admits how different she was in the past. There were so many changes she wanted to make in herself, but was never able to. “I remember how timid I was. I tried to overcome my timidity, but I was always stuck in it,” she says. “The health project coordinators encouraged us to move forward. The information I received made me confident and courageous,” she adds.

“Today I love life more than ever. I have evolved after I thought I will no longer do that,” she says at the end of our conversation.