2. Submitted by : Grade 11 Photography and Community Service Class City International School

3. OUR RIGHTS! Our Way, Our Rights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xUpyQUC1BQ

4. OUR IDEAS

5. While thinking of a project about road safety and responsible behavior, we came across many ideas, but what most caught our attention was the rights of the physically challenged.

6. Identification of the Problem  People on wheelchairs do not take the initiative to be out to public places, streets, supermarkets, and shopping centers.  To identify the cause of this problem, we chose Hamra Street, a 1300 meters main street in Beirut that has 45 slopes for wheelchairs. Identification of the Problem https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7VPaM-DYOw

7. Whilst scanning this area, we noticed that cars were blocking the slopes designated for the physically challenged wheelchairs.

8. We Interviewed, Mr. Viken a Physically Challenged activist to know more about the problems the physically challenged people face. Interviewing a Physically Challenged https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1W9IF-ipWo

9. We also interviewed, Mrs. Fakhoury the Head of Rights and Access Program at the Ministry of Social Affairs, to find out about laws related to the rights of the physically challenged. Interview Head of Rights and Access Program https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVRSsEr1qs8

10. Law 220 Law number 220 states that each physically challenged person has the right to live in an accessible environment and therefore all public places should be accessible. The law informs citizens that physically challenged people have the right to their own parking spots in public areas. Police officers should make sure that any car parking in those spots should have a card confirming the owner’s right to park there. Otherwise the owner will receive a ticket.

11. We decided to interview people in Hamra street. To our surprise, people were not aware of the law or the purpose of the slopes. Road signs were not also available to show the purpose of the slopes. Interviews in Hamra Street https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpSVgwGunio

12. We visited schools and universities in Beirut to see if they had facilities for the physically challenged. American University Of Beirut (AUB ) Lebanese Academy

14. OUR INITIATIVES

15. We decided to make a difference and to work on raising awareness regarding the rights of the physically challenged. We worked on a plan and started implementing it immediately.

16. We contacted Beirut Municipality to get its approval to paint the slopes in Hamra, to add road signs, and to distribute flyers explaining Law 220 regarding the physically challenged rights to commute easily.

17. We contacted NGOs to fund our activities. “AHLA FAWDA”, a local NGO, supplied the paint and stencils needed to progress with our plan.

18. Students at CiS were called to raise funds to sponsor publishing the flyers. Bake sales were organized.

19. We designed flyers explaining law 220, which we later distributed to pedestrians and drivers.

20. We also contacted schools in Beirut to join us in our awareness campaign.

21. We contacted the media to cover our plan in Hamra Street. “The media's the most powerful entity on Earth…” – Malcolm X

23. We combined our efforts with three schools to make our day at Hamra Street a success. Campaign in Hamra Street https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RKqDWT28bo

24. We painted 45 slopes in Hamra Street.

25. We put up road signs of people on wheelchairs, blind people, and strollers to indicate the importance of the slopes.

26. We also distributed flyers to pedestrians and drivers.

27. Our Flyer

28. The media was involved as well and was very helpful in spreading the word about our campaign. Five television stations and one newspaper covered our campaign. Media Coverage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJmnqMdiDdo

29. OUR ACHIEVEMENTS CITY INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

30. We launched an awareness campaign at school where we presented a PowerPoint explaining what we achieved.

31. We had a photo exhibition to highlight the problems the physically challenged face and to present our awareness campaign and action plan.

32. We displayed photos of our awareness campaign on the school bulletin boards.

33. Our middle school students collected 160 kgs of plastic bottle caps as part of the competition organized by “Arc en Ciel” NGO. The caps will be exchanged for a wheelchair that will be donated to a needy physically challenged person. Campaign in school https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWJgcnIdUws

34. Conclusion Working on the Road Safety and Responsibility Project was a real pleasure and we are very excited to continue working on it in the upcoming years. Disregarding the physically challenged people should not be tolerated and we urge everyone to help in any possible way. Everyone must have the right to commute comfortably.

35. FUTURE PLANS We decided to proceed with our project by raising awareness in a neighborhood school and implementing the same action plan in a different location. We are also planning to pay visits to check whether people are abiding by the law and respecting the physically challenged rights.

36. Students Team  Rahaf Al Jurdi (Leading Producer)  Batoul Chahine (Narrator)  Sami Shukayr (Editor)  Tala El Khatib (Writer)  Nadine Osserian  Rana Ismail  Karim Jamil  Sara Rkain  Zeid Dahlawi  Jad Harb  Mohammad Itani

37. Special Thanks  Mr. Pierre Nasr (Photography Instructor )  Ms. Josette Daher (Community Service Coordinator)  Ms. Maha Mneimneh (Field And Project Mentor)  Mrs. Leila Chehab (Project Advisor)  Mr. Gaby Haddad (Drama Teacher)  Mr. Edgar Hana (Graphic Designer)