His Beatitude Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Rai launched, on Tuesday, 2 June 2020, at the Patriarchal Center for Human Development and Empowerment at the Monastery of Saints Sergius and Bacchus in Reifoun, the agricultural training courses for young people as part of the “Your Land, Your Treasure” (أرضك كنزك) initiative. The initiative is organized by the Green Lebanon Club Association in partnership with the Patriarchal Youth Office, Saint Joseph University, Operation Seventh Day, Shabab Al Raja (Youth of Hope) Association, the Patriarchal Center for Human Development and Empowerment, the Diane Foundation, and with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture.
The ceremony was attended by the Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Louis Lahoud, along with representatives of all the partner organizations. The event opened with the Lebanese national anthem. Monsignor Toufic Bou Hadir, Director of the Patriarchal Center for Human Development, then delivered a speech emphasizing the leading role of young people in community initiatives and the importance of returning to the land as both an identity and a source of wealth. He was followed by Engineer Elie Khoury, President of the Green Lebanon Club Association, who presented the objectives of the “Your Land, Your Treasure” initiative and its contribution to promoting agricultural culture in Lebanon. The President of Saint Joseph University, Professor Salim Daccache, then spoke about the university’s role in sustainable agricultural development.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, His Beatitude blessed the agricultural land and the seeds and seedlings that would be planted there, inaugurating the cultivation workshop by personally planting and watering a number of seeds.
The first agricultural training session then began under the direction of Engineer Raymond Khoury. More than twenty young men and women took part. At its conclusion, His Beatitude the Patriarch distributed agricultural kits containing eighteen varieties of seeds and seedlings, along with equipment for home gardening.
