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As fighting has just resumed between Hezbollah and the Israeli army in southern Lebanon, here are four initiatives to help organizations that support the Lebanese population. Civilians are paying a heavy price in this Middle East war, harassed by repeated violations of the ceasefire and a lack of prospects.
Rescuing bombing victims
In Lebanon, rescuers are not spared from the war with Israel. Between March 2 and May 17, 111 members of various Lebanese medical organizations were killed while traveling to Israeli strike sites. The Lebanese Red Cross (LRC) also lost two of its colleagues, Youssef Assaf and Hassan Badaoui, killed on March 9 and April 12, while wearing the organization’s clearly identifiable red uniform.
“It’s increasingly complicated to secure their interventions. We must wait to have authorizations from different parties, the United Nations interim force, the Lebanese army and Israel through the ceasefire monitoring mechanism,” testifies Dr. Antoine Zoghbi, president of the CRL. Despite the risks, 360 rescuers from the Lebanese Red Cross (CRL) are mobilized to help victims in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa, two regions mainly targeted by Israeli strikes.
The Red Cross also offers care and medicine, via dispensaries and mobile clinics, in most of the country’s displaced centers, as well as in certain villages still inhabited in southern Lebanon. Worried about a crisis that promises to be lasting, and insufficient international aid, Dr Zoghbi specifies that he needs “materials and medical equipment for ambulances and also to replace certain vehicles”.
redcross.org.lb
Feeding the displaced
Opened the day after the double explosion at the port of Beirut on August 4, 2020, Father Hani Tawk’s “Mariam’s Kitchen” feeds thousands of displaced people daily thanks to its 17 employees and numerous volunteers. A mission that is more essential than ever, as nearly 1.2 million people in Lebanon are threatened with acute food insecurity due to the war between Israel and Hezbollah.
“Since the start of the conflict, we have paid particular attention to the elderly, children and families without resources,” explains Father Tawk. Far from being confined to large cities, Mariam’s Cuisine was able to support, despite the dangers, the Christian localities of South Lebanon such as Debel, Rmeich, Marjayoun, Qlayaa, Deir Mimas or Ebl el-Saqi, surrounded by war.
instagram.com/cuisinedemariam/
Support schools
Since 2019, during multiple crises. L’Œuvre d’Orient has provided crucial assistance to the 320 Christian schools, most of them French-speaking, run by religious congregations, in all Lebanese regions. “These establishments welcome children of different faiths, where students can still maintain a connection and receive common values and education. They are the cement of Lebanon,” recalls Vincent Gelot, Lebanon director of the Œuvre d’Orient.
He cites the example of the Antonin Fathers school, in Qlayaa, reopened despite the war hitting this village in southern Lebanon, and which educates Christian, Sunni, Shiite and Druze children from 22 communes. “Maintaining these schools is an existential question so that these villages do not disappear,” he insists.
Treating invisible traumas
On the free telephone number 1564, the national suicide prevention and emotional support line, the Lebanese confide their psychological distress, day and night, to volunteers from the “Embrace” association. An essential player in mental health in Lebanon, it has set up mobile clinics with traveling teams, in order to visit displaced centers and reach the most remote regions. Indispensable psychological assistance to support Lebanese people suffering multiple traumas from invisible scars, throughout the crises that are ravaging their country. Depending on needs, patients are redirected to specialized services.
https://embracelebanon.org
