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28
SPRING
2013
A bag by any other name isn’t a bag. Or
in this case isn’t a Sarah’s Bag. What
started as an idea to empower women
prisoners, is now a leading bestseller in
the local and international arena of fash-
ionable handbags.
By the look of the trendily dressed Bey-
doun, you would think she was a fashion
design student. But not so.
“I was a sociology major,” she said grinning.
But it is to this field that she owes a large
part of her success. In 1995, as part of her
Masters’Thesis, she opted to volunteer for
a few months at Dar al Amal – an NGO
that rehabilitates former prostitutes –
researching and interviewing women.
It so happens that Dar al Amal, headed
by Hoda Kara (who later proved to be one
of Beydoun’s great inspirers), also worked
with women in the Tripoli and Baabda
prisons. Kara took Beydoun to see them.
Initially, the shock of being in prison
was overwhelming. Besides the squalor
conditions, women were cramped into
rooms with very little to do. Talking to
them alone was emotionally suffocating.
Their crimes differed: prostitution, theft,
forgery, debt evasion and even murder.
Each had a sob story and each was look-
ing for some kind of solace.
After a few visits, a small idea began to
grow in Beydoun’s mind. What if she
could come up with a project which would
give something for these women to do and
provide them with a small income?
“I realized then that if these women
didn’t learn some kind of skill they would
Big
Idea
The