In the past few weeks, I’ve been highlighting amazing success stories across Lebanon that aim to improve life for Lebanese communities across the country. From Khaldieh, a rose farmer in Akkar, to 24/7 electricity thanks to a solar farm in Qabrikha, what those projects have in common is that they are funded and supported by the European Union in Lebanon.
Today’s highlight is one of my favorites, and it’s the Jezzine Hub. The Jezzine Hub is a community center and incubator that seeks to help nascent businesses and social enterprises in the area to kick off their careers and businesses, many of which center around improving their communities.
Two examples of such projects that have been awarded 10,000 Euro grants recently, are “Pometto” apple chips, and “Jezzine by Bike”. I’ve personally tried Pometto, and the preservative-free, no added sugar and gluten-free chips were absolutely fantastic. I hope to try Jezzine by Bike next time I’m in that beautiful town south of Lebanon.
Helping students get into the right universities, holding capacity-building workshops and securing funds for local businesses to expand nationally and around the world, is precisely what Lebanon needs more of. Young people shouldn’t be forced to leave their hometowns to emigrate or move to overcrowded cities to secure a decent living, and I love what the Jezzine Hub has been doing, which you can check on their Facebook page here.
Not a single day goes by without someone posting the most random locations ever, and asking if anyone is coming from there to Beirut. I assume these people wanna order something off Amazon, but given how long it takes, and that the authorities at the airport might confiscate it, or make you pay absurd tariffs for releasing it to you, we’ve become desperate in trying to find kind travellers that might be willing to help us out.
OnYourWay.io is a Lebanese startup trying to fix this uniquely Lebanese problem, where they promise us PayPal every year, and where Uber had to do cash on delivery cause people here are still too scared to use their credit cards online for some reason (even with credit cards from banks designed solely for that purpose to be more “secure”).
How It Works
It’s a peer to peer service, and OYW is the intermediary. If you want to order something off Amazon for example, you can “post” what you need, and travellers using OYW might want to fulfil your request. In return, you “reward” the traveler for doing that service for you, with 3 suggested amounts: 20, 50 and 100USD (and you can also set your own reward).
The traveller then buys the item themselves, and meets you to give you whatever you’ve ordered. Once the transaction is complete, OYW charges your credit card, and transfers it, plus the reward, to the traveller. The service fee is 7% of what you purchased’s price, plus 1.99 euros for every order.
What I Liked
I loved the feature where you just paste the Amazon.com url of whatever you wanna order, and the form basically auto-fills itself, saving you the trouble.
I also liked that it’s a pretty smart way to solve a problem that seems unsolvable: ordering online to Lebanon. It’s sad we need to jump through hoops, either cause big corporations don’t care enough about our market, or because our government is so hungry for squeezing money out of us when we wanna buy something from abroad. This seems to be a streamlined solution, and some hope for the poor lost souls who post those silly statuses and never get a reply… (except maybe on the DXB-BEY route).
I hope they will create an Android app soon, and I will definitely register as a traveller next time I’m abroad to see if I can get a good enough reward to splurge on a VIP lounge somewhere (not the MEA one :P)
With unemployment over 30%, and youth unemployment over 50%, Lebanon and the Lebanese are suffering under the current circumstances. I have more friends working in Gulf countries or doing their masters degrees abroad, then I do here.
Money is short, and jobs are short too. The traditional ways of making money are kinda no longer valid under the extreme corruption and lack of vision from Lebanon’s government.
That’s why new startups that are disrupting Lebanon’s failing economy might be the key to many young people trying to make ends meet without being forced to leave Lebanon in search of a better life.
Synkers
I discovered Synkers a few weeks ago, and loved the idea behind it. Synkers is a Lebanese startup that’s transforming the way you can find a tutor, or be one. It’s a very user-friendly app, available on Android and iOS.
The idea is, you can select the course or subject you need help in, and then browse the verified tutors, their ratings and their reviews. You then select your favorite, choose a time and date, and payment method (cash at the session, or card via the app).
Synkers has more than 600 verified tutors so far, and 6000 active users in their community. If you don’t need a tutor for your university or school work, you can become a tutor!
If you had good grades in school or university, and pass the interview and verification process, you can make good money helping others in their studies for school, university or standardized tests. It’s also not just in Lebanon, with several other places like the UAE also available.
So, if you like tutoring, and want to earn money this summer tutoring others, but don’t want the hassle that usually entails (finding the students, arranging payment, etc.) You can do all of that via an app, with a few taps now.
Parking in Beirut is an absolute nightmare. Anyone who lives, works or studies in the capital knows the horror of parking in the city. Whether it’s trying to park in gridlocked traffic, the park meters that are far and rarely ever work, the valet mafias that violently occupy any free parking spot, the empty towers that replace most parking lots, the violation of parking lots of the 3000LBP price and charging as much as 5000, 7000 and even 10000LBP… The list goes on and on.
Possible High-Tech Solutions?
There are several folks trying to do something about this. There’s a company called ABSC, that’s importing Korean-made, ferris-wheel like parking structures. I was first made aware of them when I saw one in a parking lot in Zouk Mikael. You park in the empty car compartment, then you select a 4-digit password. To hail your car when you wanna leave, you just punch in the 4-digit password again and your car will be ready to drive away in in 90 seconds.
Another company, SPCL, felt the Korean version of the automated parking structures was too expensive to make economic sense, so they decided to create their own right here in Lebanon.
This is that blue building you might have noticed and wondered what that might be. It’s right next to the Fiat bridge in the Mathaf area, and no, it’s not a training building for security forces, nor a rock-climbing structure. It’s a locally-produced automatic parking structure that the company feels might be the solution for the seemingly impossible parking problem in Beirut.
Here’s a video of how the Lebanese version works
How Much Will This Cost?
It would definitely be a great solution for buildings without enough parking spots, but there are two concerns that came to my mind. The first, how much it’d cost to get and maintain these automated parking structures. Second, how much it’d cost us to park in them. If it’s for a residential building, you won’t have to pay every time you park, obviously. However, if you’re going somewhere public like the bank or a shop, will the price tag be too high? Especially since regular parking lots are charging up to 7000 and 10000 LBP, how much would a high-tech option cost? Or rather, how much will they charge us to park in them with such exorbitant, unchecked current parking rates? And no other option to park in Beirut. And very little viable public transport options…
Not All Gloom and Doom
I think the prices will be an extra burden on our wallets, but, I’m also excited that local companies are taking the initiative and trying to find and create solutions to problems the Lebanese authorities never even bother with (they’re too busy drafting tax hikes to solve issues like urban planning and that boring stuff).
Maybe more entrepreneurs and engineers here should start coming up with solutions the Lebanese government, busy extending for itself and hiking taxes on the lower and dwindling middle class, never even tries to do. Can’t wait to try one of those systems! Will let you know about it when I do.
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