An Inspiring Story of Loyalty and Success

Resiliency is a huge part of the Lebanese spirit and so you will always find successful entrepreneurs who started from the bottom, and continued fighting their way to get to the top. 

This is the story of Mariam Farah, an entrepreneur from Ras Baalbek, who started with nothing and has a complete line of Mouneh items on sale today.

Mariam acquired the skill of creating homemade Mouneh from her parents with traditional recipes that we all fancy. It all started when she realized that her parents had a flock of sheep and goats, which made access to milk easy for her, so she started by supporting her family in the production of Mouneh and selling them to friends and family in small batches.

During the last economic crisis, it was very difficult for Mariam to start a business from scratch due to the continuous fluctuations in the exchange price of the local currency against the US Dollar, and this, coupled with the increase in electricity shortages, her efforts towards being an entrepreneur were dwindling.

This is when she heard about the ARED program funded by the European Union, and managed and implemented by The Nawaya Network, WeWorld-GVC and JP2 foundation.

Mariam was extremely depressed since she couldn’t work without support. She needed at least $1,000 to launch her business but this was an amount that she could not ask for from her relatives. Furthermore, she lacked important information about quality control, specifically when showcasing her items in shops. 

With Nawaya’s support, she was able to convince the Jury Members of her business so she received the grant to buy machinery that would allow her to create the Mouneh; then, we implemented customized training sessions on food safety, quality control, budgeting, and other general business development ideas.

Today, Mariam’s character and delicious products help her sell her products very fast during exhibitions, and she also exports through friends some items abroad to people who are interested in connecting with the Lebanese heritage. In the recent past, Mariam had nothing, but today, she sells a lot of Mouneh, made from over 60 different items.

It’s worth mentioning that Mariam is ambitious as she aims to continue providing her customers with quality products while focusing on the efficiency of her business processes. She wants to try to produce everything she outsources, like the pieces of clothes she uses. Furthermore, she is studying the possibility of purchasing machines that would expedite the process of production capacity and efficiency. 

Mariam is the definition of perseverance and a source of inspiration.