By Rita Amidi

The third episode of the United World Project Podcast is out now! Prepare your hiking gear and keep going till you get to the top of the mountain! In this episode, you will meet Yara Ward, a 25-year-old Lebanese girl, who in 2019 founded The Orphalese Project: A Permaculture farm in the small mountain village of Kfardebian Lebanon.

From a simple conversation to a life changing experience

In 2019, Yara was simply having a conversation with her family, discussing what to do with the land they had bought a couple years ago.  Suddenly, something sparked in Yara. Why not use this land to grow their own food? At the time, Yara had just started her first semester in sociology and anthropology. With hardly knowledge or experience in farming she lit her spark, and began to work the land, not knowing that this would be the start of a lifechanging experience, continually growing, inspiring and learning.

In this new episode

The new episode of Sparks is out now. Entitled “The Orphalese Project: A journey to the mountain top.” It will plunge us into the complexity of the food industry, the challenges of alternative farming practices and the urgency of achieving food sovereignty. What started as a small experiment in 2019 with the Orphalese Project, opened up for Yara a new path in her life. Today she collaborates with other farmers in her country, starting up collectives and working with local NGO’s in order to have a more systemic impact on the whole issue.

Changemakers sow seeds

Although Yara is passionately involved in the agriculture scene of Lebanon, her experience and knowledge go beyond the confines of this small country. They invite us to reflect on what is really going on in the food industry, offering real proposals that are not a utopia. It’s an opportunity to take a moment, to slow down our pace and observe the world around us. “it’s enough just to do what you’re already doing to inspire others.” Yara says. After all, agriculture is our most important means of survival. Change can happen in many different ways. It can be as simple as taking a step in a different direction.

What is Sparks and where can you find us

Sparks is the new United World Project podcast in English. It tells the story of changemakers, who, inspired by a single spark, felt compelled to take action to try to improve society around them. You can listen to our episodes on all the main podcast platforms: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, Amazon Music, Audible, Anghami (click on the platform to listen to the new episode now).

Let us know what you think in the comment section of our social or to the mail mediaoffice@unitedworldproject.org. Cheers!