海角大神

It was a hot, still afternoon last week in Tripoli when three young men entered a four-star hotel on the waterfront armed with a letter. It began with a Quranic verse about God鈥檚 favor toward the righteous: "Whatever good you prepare for yourselves, you will find it with God, better and greater in reward."

The men belonged to the Child and Promise Association, a new child welfare group that is part of post-Qaddafi Libya鈥檚 fledgling civil society. They hoped to use the hotel garden for a fundraising dinner.聽

Interim leaders say civil society is vital to repairing a country ravaged by dictatorship. But while civic groups are at last able to operate freely, they now face a struggle for know-how and cash.聽

鈥淭hey are needed almost everywhere,鈥� says Atia Lawgali, deputy minister of culture and civil society. 鈥淚n rebuilding our institutions, to encourage people鈥檚 participation, to fight corruption, to name only a few areas.鈥澛�

Libya inherited those challenges and others from Muammar Qaddafi, who dismantled state institutions after seizing power in 1969 and crushed civic ones. Political parties and trade unions were banned, while civil society groups needed 50 members and a thorough vetting by security services for permission to operate.聽In recent years Qaddafi鈥檚 family members created pro-regime NGOs that swallowed up public funds while public services sank into ruin, says Mr. Lawgali.

When war began peeling back Qaddafi鈥檚 regime, new charities 鈥� often groups of friends and neighbors 鈥� arose to help organize, feed, and educate Libyans. Interim authorities want those groups to keep working, says Lamia Abusedra, a board member of a state support center for NGOs that will open soon in Benghazi, with branches around Libya.聽

But many groups who registered with authorities have shut down for lack of direction or means, she says. The new center will offer services, including training in management, project planning, and fundraising.

鈥淭hey played a great role in the revolution, but it鈥檚 difficult to say now who is still up and running,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e very worried that the energy we鈥檝e seen in civil society could fade out.鈥� A "delay" in public funding 鈥� because聽鈥渟ome groups don鈥檛 want public funding without a transparent mechanism that is fair for all鈥� 鈥撀燼lso poses an obstacle, Abusedra says.聽

Authorities are currently ironing out policy on giving state support to civil society groups without threatening their independence or allowing abuse of funds, says Lawgali.聽For now, many are seeking private donors.

For the Child and Promise Association, founded in March, that quest led to the swanky Tripoli hotel.聽

Association founders Talal Giuma, and Mohamed Benazzouz volunteered for years at Tripoli's main hospital, where聽Mr. Benazzouz is a part-time general surgeon.聽

鈥淓very day we saw children suffering,鈥� says Mr. Giuma, a social worker. 鈥淲e want to do something to help end it.鈥�

The two men have big dreams 鈥� from a cultural center to a children鈥檚 cancer treatment facility 鈥� but little experience and no money.聽They hope to raise support with a dinner for Libyan and United Nations officials, diplomats, and businessmen, but first they need a venue.

Mr. Giuma and Mr. Benazzouz took seats in the hotel lobby while member Abubaker Bhih was dispatched to see the manager. The minutes ticked by. Outside, waves were rolling gently over a line of rocks offshore where some children were swimming.聽

Finally Mr. Bhih returned. They could have the garden for free, he said, but the manager wanted 3,000 dinars for the catering.聽

聽鈥�3,000 dinars鈥︹�� Giuma said, trailing off.

It was the third hotel they had tried. The scene of quiet frustration was captured, as if in still-life, by a large wall mirror.

How the Libyan Women's Forum found funds

Shahrazad Magrabi, a聽former state-owned oil company employee,聽has taken a different route. Her group, the Libyan Woman鈥檚 Forum, found support abroad for training female candidates to run in congressional elections held earlier this month.

鈥淚n Libya, the culture of giving to civil society is absent,鈥� she says, explaining why she looked elsewhere. 鈥淨addafi ruined it. If I ask for money, people assume I will misuse it."

The group, which meets in cafes because it lacks an office, has been shortlisted for a United Nations grant for a women鈥檚 education center. In the meantime, Mrs. Magrabi emailed the Center of Arab Women for Training and Research (CAWTAR), a Tunis-based women鈥檚 group. An invitation to Tunis followed.

Mrs. Magrabi made the day-long trip in March with a fellow Libyan Woman鈥檚 Forum member and the latter鈥檚 husband in his taxi.

鈥淔or two days they tested us,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey asked about the forum, had us meet all their people. Finally they asked about project proposals.鈥�

CAWTAR ultimately paid for and helped run an ice-breaker meeting and two of three workshops where women candidates got crash courses in electoral politics and public speaking. Magrabi says she learned two major lessons: one, to divide her group into teams based on their tasks and second, that you don't need many people to accomplish something.

"One person can work as hard as 100 if he or she is focused," she says.聽