IREX IN LEBANON

HIGHLIGHTS: YOUTH IN ACTION
Demanding Transparency in Government Institutions: Youth Fight Corruption in Local
Hospital: Agnes Al-Helo’s Project on Monitoring the Merjioun Hospital’s Services
In the small southern border-town of Merjioun, where there
are few opportunities for youth and where political party
influence and religious divides dominate the lives of local
residents, an 18-year-old woman is taking a stand to advocate
for better medical services. From February through
September 2009, Merjioun native Agnes Al-Helo, for first
time, made the local governmental hospital in her area
accountable for the quality of their services.
Like many of her peers in the Youth Civil Society Leadership
program, Agnes Al-Helo joined the program with the
dream of doing something about corruption in her hometown.
As the young woman remarked, “I wanted to do
something about the corruption that exists at the Merjioun
Hospital but didn’t know how to take action since the local
government has a lot of control over it.” With the support
of YCSL, Al-Helo developed a plan to create a booklet on
hospital services. At first, she faced tremendous challenges
getting through to hospital employees who were suspicious
of her intentions and refused to meet. Eventually,
with her persistence, the director of the hospital recognized
her ideas. After several months of meetings with hospital
employees, Al-Helo was able to create a brochure with
information on the Merjioun Hospital’s services, as well as
the cost of each of those services. The hospital staff and
director, who were initially resistant to the young woman’s
project, helped distribute and even print an additional
2,000 copies of the brochure for community members.
Due to Al-Helo’s efforts, not only are Merjioun’s community
members now aware of the services available at their
hospital and the costs for each procedure, but the hospital
is also providing more consistent services and attracting
new patients previously scared off by the lack of information
available to them. The Merjioun Hospital is currently
the only public hospital in Lebanon that has a guide for
patients on accessing its services. Other public hospitals
– such as one in Baalbak in North Lebanon – are considering
publishing similar brochures for their constituents after
learning about the success of Al-Helo’s product.
Thanks to YCSL grantee Agnes Al-
Helo’s efforts, the local hospital in
Merjioun is the only hospital offering
a guide for patients on its services
with the costs of each procedure.
The young woman noted that after implementing her project,
she realized how small, youth-led projects can actually
contribute to combating larger problems facing Lebanon.
She noted, “YCSL gave us hope. It gave us the path to
achieve what we dreamed of achieving. Even with this
small experience, I learned that I could be an active member
of my community.”
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