WHO WE ARE
A plate of food is never just a meal.
The Great Oven Lebanon is a community-based collective in Beirut and the Bekaa. Every activity is built and led with the people it serves. Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian, Bedouin and migrant women are not participants in our work: they are its architects and its leaders.
How we started this journey!
OUR STORY
From the first ovens to the women who run them
The Great Oven began in 2020 as an emergency response, building community ovens and serving hot meals. Over the years, the work grew from distributing food to building platforms for the leadership and expertise that already lived in our communities.
This early footage shows where it started: the first ovens, the first meals, and the beginning of the collective we have become.
HOW WE WORK
Not service delivery. A table shared between equals.
Co-created
Every project is designed with the women who run it and the women who join it. They decide what we cook, what we discuss, and what comes next.
Food first
Cooking together builds trust in places where trust is hard to come by. The meal opens the door; the conversations about rights, labour and belonging follow.
Homes, not offices
We meet in kitchens and living rooms, never clinical settings. When a woman needs more than the group can give, we refer her to specialised organisations we trust.