Italian blue helmets to teach Lebanese girls self-defence

Beirut Dec 19 (IANS/AKI) Italian blue berets serving in southern Lebanon with the UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL will give self-defence lessons to schoolgirls from the port city of Tyre UNIFIL said on Tuesday.

The self-defence lessons will train the girls psychologically and physically and will build their self-confidence according to UNIFIL instructors.

The course is part of an initiative under which Italian UNIFIL peacekeepers will give weekly Karate lessons to disabled and normal schoolchildren aged 4-12 from several towns in south Lebanon from December to May.

The Karate lessons are aimed at improving the children s balance and overall physical fitness as well as their behaviour attention span and mental abilities the UNIFIL instructors say.

--IANS/AKI
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