Pr0gram
The CARAVAN Project is an outstanding opportunity for young adults – you won’t find anything comparable anywhere else. It combines an enriching program on the social, personal, and spiritual level. Learn more about our unique program and see if CARAVAN might be the right fit for you.
Serve
Serving the most vulnerable of Lebanon’s people is the core of your everyday CARAVAN life. It should be the main reason for you to join the project.
- Each day you will serve in one of the three different facilities for people with disabilities, This is where you will make a small but infinitely important difference. You will share love, hope, and joy through music, play and laughter. By being fully and intentionally present you will add colour to the grey everyday lives of our friends.
- Throughout the 10 months you will also take part in different “Camps” in the Mountains of Lebanon like you did in the summer camps.
- Apart from your daily service, you will get to know and take part in other projects, initiatives, and activities.
Pray
Faith is at the core of the CARAVAN. We cannot do the service without building it on our trust in God. You will grow in your relationship with Him and be guided on the journey to discover your calling. You will get to experience the richness of the different Christian denominations present in Lebanon.
- You will have daily morning and evening prayers with your peers.
- You will take part in days of spiritual retreat with varying contents.
- You will have weekly meetings with a priest who will accompany you on the path of your spiritual growth.
- You will attend Eucharistic adoration with the local communities.
Having an active relationship to God is not a requirement to take part in CARAVAN – however, we ask you to be open to discovering your personal faith.
Gr0w
In joining CARAVAN, you will leave your home and start an independent life outside of your family. The CARAVAN Project aims to help you discover and embrace the change in and around you.
- Throughout the 10 months you will participate in various personal growth seminars and workshops. The program will help you to decide of how to proceed with your live after CARAVAN.
- You will get a 16 ECTS ‚Certificate of Study in the Historical and Religious Reality of the Middle East‘ from the Faculty of Religious Sciences of Saint Joseph University (USJ) in Beirut. Classes will include field trips.
- You will also be taking colloquial Lebanese lessons as this will help you in your daily life and service in Lebanon.
T0gether
You will be part of an international community of up to 10 young adults and live together in a secure area in Beirut. You will get to know each other, learn from one another, and grow to form one united community build on trust, friendship and respect. You will serve, pray and grow together for 10 months and develop deep, life-lasting friendships.
After your time in Lebanon you will automatically become part of a worldwide circle of Alumni who have served in the CARAVAN Project since its beginning in 2009. Here you will be able to continue your service to Lebanon and its people by taking part in the projects organized by the Alumni.
Joining the CARAVAN Project makes you part of the bigger community within the Order of Malta. During your stay in Lebanon and after your CARAVAN time you will be invited to join other youth programs by the Order of Malta.
We advise you to apply as soon as possible as the number of CARAVAN team members is limited to 10 people.
- First round of interviews with the German Association of the Order of Malta (ideally, in-person).
- Confidential meeting with a psychologist with whom you will decide if this opportunity is right for you.
- Shortlisted candidates will undergo a second round of interview with the Lebanese Association of the Order of Malta (remotely).
The first two weeks of the preparation time take place in Germany near Frankfurt. The Prep-Camp aims to give you an introduction to your future CARAVAN life.
Before and after joining the summer camps you will have a few days of preparation and getting to know your new home, near the city of Beirut. In this prep-time you will get to know the Order of Malta Lebanon, visit the facilities where our differently abled friends live and get a cultural introduction.
Serve, Pray, Grow, Together with your CARAVAN team.
You will have a one week vaccation where you will go back home and enjoy celebrating Christmas with your family.
You will organise your own CARAVAN Holiday Camp for people with disabilities around Easter. This is the perfect opportunity to invite family & friends to Lebanon.
You will begin and end CARAVAN the same way: together as a team. The Wrap up time will start with a spiritual silent retreat in the mountainside. This spiritual retreat will help you gather the fruits of your time in Lebanon, be able to thank, praise and look out on what God will lead you to in the coming time back in your home country.
The retreat will be followed by a final workshop to get your feedback and insights and to help you get healthy closure and a joyful start to the next phase of your life.
SECURITY
Lebanon is a developing country in the Middle East, currently hard hit by a multi-layered crisis (financial, political, health…etc). Even though the security of the country is not compromised at the present time, certain precautions must be taken to ensure your safety at all times:
- You will be introduced to your host country, its culture, and its do’s & don’ts.
- The project coordinator will be there to support you along the way and give you all the tools that you need to acquaint yourself with your new environment.
- We have set up a Rules and Regulations document that defines rules to ensure security. Before settling on joining the program, please read the document that you will be asked to sign and adhere to.
- You are supported by an experienced team that will advise you on how to move in Lebanon at all times.
- The security council of the Order of Malta Lebanon has set up color-coded security guidelines that you will be requested to respect. The situation in Lebanon is assessed regularly by this council which has more than 20 years of experience in supporting foreign teams. At any given time, teams can be sent back home if the security situation changes threateningly.
C0STS
The monthly fee amounts to at least €750 per month plus flight costs (Approx. €600).
This amount only covers one third of the monthly costs per person. Therefore, we are very grateful if you can offer to pay more – or if you could help in the fundraising that we do every year to bring in the extra money.
If on the other hand you see that you will not be able to pay the full amount, there is a possibility to apply for reduction. In that case, please contact the CARAVAN Coordinator Germany.
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