Ahed Tohmeh is a 22 year old Syrian university graduate with a BA in Psychology, currently pursuing a Master's degree in Clinical Psychology. He joined the Generation of Innovation Leaders - GIL project as he aspires to become a social entrepreneur who will "build or transform institutions to advance solutions to social problems... in order to make life better for many." Chasing his dream, Ahed intends to employ sports psychology through merging his academic background and his passion for football.

Supported by the GIL project, which is funded by The Embassy of the Netherlands in Lebanon and the German Embassy and supported by UNICEF Lebanon, Ahed seeks to promote positive development in kids and individuals who suffer from psychological and/or social shocks induced by war or various triggers, all through a fun sports; through football.

Through 16 football sessions, extending over a period of two months, participants get trained with Ahed on various football tricks to help discharge their stressors and help push them towards a sense of positive competition. To add, Ahed is organizing games that tackle cooperative sports and mental sports. Throughout the whole sessions, psychological monitoring and guiding are also being employed by Ahed, as a specialized psychologist, and by another psychotherapist. In cases that require profound treatments, these are then transferred to specialized NGOs, like Doctors Without Borders.

"During the training course on Social Entrepreneurship with INJAZ Lebanon, at first, I learned how to choose a suitable and sustainable project idea that meets the needs of my community and the job market, and that provides a solution to a social problem. I learned how to put the idea in a structured way away from randomness and how to develop an integrated plan of action based on solid foundations.
During the incubation period, I learned more about my project and its strengths and weaknesses, which I started to improve and overcome, respectively. I learned more about the labor market and customers, and about how to strategically think and choose the right material from the multiple bids I get.
In the end, a successful project was formulated in its every aspect, with the support and guidance of INJAZ Lebanon and the assigned trainer to my project," with these words Ahed Tohmeh reflected on his experience with the GIL project.

Ahed started his sessions in the field and is now planning session #14 for the first batch of participants from the North. So far, he succeeded in touching the lives of 35 individuals, aged 10 to 18. Here, we would love to share with you some of the photos taken during his sessions.