Lebanon Emergency Call
Help us provide light and shelter at the Peace Centre
War has returned to Lebanon. We are living today with the constant sound of drones and planes in the sky that can strike at any moment. From the first day of the war, we have opened the doors of our Peace Centre and our other educational centres to those who had to flee the fighting in the South. Today, we need your help to provide emergency aid and continue the care for the children we serve.
Fortunately, the region of our Peace Centre has remained relatively calm. The Akkar Governorate in the utmost north of Lebanon does not have a significant Hezbollah presence and is not a main target. This does not mean, however, that we are entirely spared. Particular houses and cars have also been bombed, and the transportation from and to Beirut is not without risk. But still, Akkar has become a sanctuary for families from the South of Lebanon and Bekaa whose houses have been destroyed. In Akkar alone, more than 70,000 internally displaced persons have arrived, adding a huge burden to the 220,000 original Lebanese inhabitants, who have already welcomed more than 150,000 Syrian and Palestinian refugees.
We need at least 9,100 € to provide emergency aid to the families who had to flee. The needs are crushing, and we can easily extend our services beyond this amount. But 9,100 € will allow us to provide for emergency shelter and daily care for displaced children in our learning centres and in public schools of our area. Please read more below for further details about how we are going to use these emergency funds and please share this call with your families and friends!
Preparing the emergency shelters.
Our NGO has been working for more than 11 years in the Akkar Governorate of Lebanon, without missing one single school day. We have helped to enroll more than 3,200 Syrian refugee children in public schools of Lebanon. We have provided emergency aid to more than 11,000 individuals. Most of our activities have been funded by private small donations. This allowed us to keep our independence and our sustainability. We are doing more than a one-drop aid delivery.
In the current crisis, we opened our learning centres to families whose houses have been destroyed. At the main Peace Centre, our international volunteers are living under the same roof with seven families from Nabatiyeh. Also the Michmich centre is hosting four families. We were the first to open our doors. Now, more than 20 other families have found shelter in empty houses of our village, without paying any rent. And hundreds of more are living in public schools or the informal Syrian refugee camps.
Psycho-social activities for displaced children
Following the initiative of our youth leaders from Michmich, three of our scout teams are now engaged to provide psycho-social services to displaced children who have to live in public schools of our area. Our scout leaders have been trained by professional sport educators and psychologists. Having received the proper papers by governmental authorities, they are now visiting three public schools per week to provide for a 3-hours sports, games & music session, accompanied by specific art therapy for children with PTSD syndromes or other difficulties.
Our classrooms transformed into shelters
All of these activities are born from the initiative of our teams on the ground. Today, they need your support to keep going. Our work is not in the headlines of international news, but we are trying to cope with the consequences of a war that has gone beyond anything Lebanon has seen in the past. We wish to provide more emergency assistance, continue the child animation sessions in public schools and start informal school classes for children who have not yet started their school year. Please find below a detailed breakdown of our needs over the coming month:
Indicative budget for our emergency aid:
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EUR 1,500: mattresses, bed sheets, heating and other shelter equipment
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EUR 2,250: emergency food parcels for 90 families who lost their home
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EUR 2,800: materials and bus transportation for 12 child animation sessions
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EUR 2,560: fees for 320 teaching hours for out-of-school children
We give the guarantee that all donations received with the special mention “Shelter Emergency” will be used exclusively for the budget lines indicated above. We will do our utmost to fulfill all the planned activities, but we have to prioritise according to the amount of incoming donations. Please subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn to receive regular updates!