US- funded ‘Beit el Mouneh’ in Falougha

The Daily Star published a feature on a traditional mouneh house launched in 2014 by a woman activist/political analyst, Carole Maalouf and run by 8 women from Lebanon, Syria and Iraq in the Upper Matn village of Falough.  The women told the newspaper how have managed to become financially independent by preparing all sorts of homemade pickles, jams, dried food, kishk, dairy products as well as honey and juices. For his part, the project manager, Jef Fahd, explained the routine of work which basically depends on sales during charity occasions or at the American Embassy in Beirut. Some people even buy directly from the house in Falougha. He disclosed that Beit el Mouneh which received US funding from its first year through last September is currently seeking funds from different sources, hoping to become a self-sustaining business in the coming years. (Daily Star, October 26, 2015