Monthly Archive

Those pictures were taken at the site management training session. We were with 20 participants from different NGO’s. Victoria is the Norwegian trainer I talked about yesterday.

The question now is: What shall we do with the gathered information? How shall we apply what we learned?

I was planning to go to Sour (Tyre) this weekend, but apparently this would not be wise. One thing is certain: There will be many ways in which we will be able to help. So now we have to plan and discern and then act.

We just finished the 3-days training from the Ministry of Social Affairs. A very professional training! We learned much about the camp management and all its consequences. Victoria and Hans, our 2 trainers, have so much experience in war emergency relief and camp/site management. It is astounding to see that there are so many aspects Internally Displaced Persons (called IDP) share all over the world, whether they are in Sri Lanka or Lebanon.

As you can see in the second column of this blog, there is a new link, called SAVE LEBANON. When you click on it you will discover a blog about archbishop Georges Bacouni. I have known Msgr. George for a long time, he was a seminarian when I got to know him and we stayed in touch over the years. He then became priest and was responsible for the University Pastoral care of Youth. He was ordained bishop last October 2005 and appointed to Tyre (Sour). At 44 years he is the youngest bishop in the country, a very integer man. He now suffers along with his fellow citizens from all the damages the war has left them. Take a look and decide what to do for yourself.

The Ministry of Social Affairs (MOSA) and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) invited staff/volunteers from our organisation to a three-day core training in Site/Community Management, as a part of the Emergency Site/Community Management training programme. The training is funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is conducted by international experts. A first session was held from 21-23 Aug. The second training session is currently taking place from 24-26 Aug. A third training session now takes place in Sin El Fil - Beirut, from Monday the 28th to Wednesday the 30th of August, from 9am to 4:30pm every day. Addition training sessions are planned in other parts of Lebanon at a later stage.

Several trainings, with 20 participants attending each session, are taking place in Lebanon. The working language is English and Arabic. Participants are selected among staff/volunteers that are currently involved in management and assistance in the IDP sites or might be involved at a later stage. The main objective of the training is to train staff/volunteers of the national authorities, international/national NGOs and UN agencies involved in Site/Community Management under the current situation, and to reach a common understanding on how Site/Community Management should be carried out in the different locations.

So today I attended the first of those 3 days and it is really interesting, given the fact that the norwegian trainers are experts in site management. They say that there are so many common things in this management and yet they are open to the specific Lebanese context. It is an enriching experience for all participants. We are able to discuss the past war experience and learn from it in a professional way, in order to evaluate and be more prepared if - God forbids- there would be a recurrency.

Yesterday night I went to St. George School at the outskirts of Bikfaya. This school welcomed lots of christian families from the border villages. As those displaced can not yet go back to their villages because they have lost their homes, they remain at the school. There’s a daily mass and some NGO’s helped them with food, as well as other local organizations. Yesterday night all the families had prepared supper together and shared it with the different donors and some friends. It was à la Libanaise: taboulé, Manakish a Saj, all home made stuff and the atmosphere was very relaxed. The kids had prepared a theater play and there was some dancing. A moment of joyful forgetting what war had caused them.

I met Pascal, he’s about 14 years old and his parents were killed in Qana when their apartment collapsed. He now lives with his maternal uncle. He suffers from Down syndrome. He is well aware that his parents died, when the priest asked him what he wanted to pray he said: the Our Father. When he asked him what he wants he said: I wish to have my daily bread. When you meet Pascal, you can not but smile, he’s very joyful and likes to serve and carry things.

This is the well-known ad of Johnnie Walker. I do not wish to promote this ad for whisky. Not at all, I just want to show how Lebanese react to such traumatic events like “war”. Some try to assimilate events in making jokes out of it. Bridges are not supposed to be interrupted at a given moment. In Lebanon so many bridges have been destroyed so…Behold the Lebanese adapted Johnnie Walker

I watched Euronews yesterday, as I usually do. I learned about the Russian plane crash with its 170 victims. I remark how an army of experts is now accompanying the relatives of the victims in order to assist them: First aid, doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, and I applaud this. People need to be assisted in such a traumatic event.

Then, involuntarily, I compare with the situation here.

I also watched Télé-Lumière yesterday night. I didn’t watch it from the beginning but I saw a priest hosting 2 psychiatrists: Dr. John Fayyad and Dr. Aimé Karam. They talked about the war and how it affects children and other people. Some kids are less affected by war than others. The ones more affected are:

• Kids already having psychological problems from before
• Those who witnessed personally death from a close relative or from someone they cherish, or they assisted at a very violent event such as the destruction of their house, or a bomb explosion in front of them.
• Those whose parents have marital problems or coming from unstable families.

This will influence their behavior at school and at home. According to Dr. John, very often children will suffer from separation anxiety. We have to know that in Lebanon as in many other countries there is still a kind of “taboo” concerning seeing a psychologist or psychiatrist. So in fact we have to work on that when we notice a kind of strange, persisting behavior. The media with its sophisticated technology showed us many horrible events in all its aspects, with blood and cruelty. So children just like adults and young adults were watching these scenes all over again.

I know the government plans a psychological program. But who will be able to profit from this? When will it really be implemented?  Children need it now. I mention children considering them being a vulnerable part of society. But of course I include everyone needing expert assistance. Parental attention is very important regarding the experts of this program. Not just being around as a parent but communicating with their children.

When we used to play with the children from displaced families at the 2 schools near Ayadina, we noticed that some of the kids were behaving over-violently. Others just blacked out and sat still, not moving or changing their facial expression for days.

Don’t you think those children need assistance?

Aren’t they traumatized victims just like the relatives of the plane crash in Russia?

Today was an unforeseen day of home visitation. I had been to Dbayeh to visit a friend who’s going to England tomorrow to assist at the delivery of her daughter’s first baby-girl. Then suddenly came the question of YFC (Youth For christ) whether I could come with them and visit some families of displaced still present in the area. And that’s what we did, just visiting the families…we heard about the olive harvest and the burnt fields, about the destroyed houses, the hope and despair of families with children.

One of the main problems now is the following: The families that hosted displaced are really broke, do not have anything left for themselves and they also need to go on. Is there a way to help them or how? The municipality is making the statistics of those families, still hosting displaced relatives.

This article is from a friend of mine Nasser Yassin. I had the opportunity to work with him on a PRA in Nabaa’ during the month of May 06. He currently lives in London but is originally from the village of Karoun (Lebanon). He writes for the Electronic Lebanon, 16 August 2006. Please feel free to comment!

The coast road from Beirut to Khader, demolished by an Israeli air strike on the 13th of July. (MaanImages/ Raoul Kramer)

As soon as the UN resolution 1701 became effective on the morning of Monday 14th of August, partisan journalists embarked on propagandising the victory; politicians ran debates on performance and political outcomes of this war, military experts turned to assess the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of their weapons, and diplomats continued to debate the meaning of each word in the UN resolution. Lebanese civilians, however, were left to face the harsh reality of this destructive war.

Lebanese civilians especially those from South Beirut, South Lebanon and Bekaa walked back to their villages and cities to discover their houses either destroyed or damaged. Whole neighbourhoods in Beirut suburbs were scorched. Some of the quarters in the southern cities of Bint Jbeil, Nabatieh, and Tyre have witnessed mass destruction of unprecedented scale. Tens of villages in South Lebanon, as journalists and humanitarian workers have reported, have been wiped out.

There are no exact figures yet on the degree of destruction, and it will take some time until the relief and assessment teams reach villages and towns to count the damages. But early estimates show that the overall losses to housing and small business properties are likely to exceed the total for the country’s 15-year civil war (1975-1990). Lebanese government officials say that up to 200,000 Lebanese could be homeless. This means roughly that around 40.000 families will be roofless, a frightening figure in a small country of 3.6 million.

The magnitude of this housing crisis puts some serious matters on the Lebanese government’s table. With around 5.6 % of the population expected to be homeless, the issue should also receive some up-most attention from civil society organisations, International Governmental Organisations (IGOs) as well as the private sector.

It is wise from the beginning to acknowledge the weak role that the Lebanese state has so far played in the housing sector. Housing has so far been run by the market mechanisms with minimal government intervention. The Housing Foundation, a governmental agency, is the only government body that works in the housing sector albeit only through cooperating with private banks on devising loan mechanisms.

Not unwise as well to admit the unsuccessful past experiences in some of the post-conflict housing initiatives that the Lebanese government has previously employed. Programmes such as those aimed at rebuilding and/or compensating those with damaged or destroyed properties were not ideal. Initiatives were geographically and thematically fragmented as it was the case in the ‘Council of the South’, ‘Central Fund for Displaced’, and ‘Ministry of Displaced’. Poor monitoring and shady practices were often reported .

The available options for post-conflict housing reconstruction, I would argue are three:

Firstly, government direct intervention through existing bodies such as ‘Council of the South’ and the ‘Ministry of Displaced’ to construct houses and properties. Previous experience has shown, however, that this option is not ideal. Direct government intervention has often failed to deliver compared to the private sector and direct intervention is often crippled by the weak governmental agencies.

Secondly, the ‘privatisation’ option through offering financial assistance to those who lost their houses in order to reconstruct them. This was mostly practiced by the ‘Central Fund for the Displaced’ in Beirut and in some areas in Mount Lebanon. Though it was effective in paying for the illegal occupants to move out, it was not the best option with its lack of transparency. Stories of corrupt practices and channelling monies for political reasons were reported. Privatisation of reconstruction has also led, as past experiences have showed, to a building mess that took less consideration for urban master plans and the spatial fabric.

Thirdly, an ‘independent agency’ for the reconstruction of the July 2006 war destruction. This sounds to be the most sensible option at the moment. Such agency should be set-up to include a tripartite public - private - community partnership with a mandate to design new urban and rural master plans, to sub-contract reconstruction projects preferably through municipal authorities - especially of the totally destructed areas - and to offer financial assistance for individuals wishing to rebuild themselves. Giving this agency the authority to plan, fund and build will save funds and minimize the duplication that is often seen in post-conflict rehabilitation projects. It will also ensure the standards and quality of reconstruction according to a unified master plan. Municipalities and local communities should be the backbone of this initiative for their role as local authority and knowledge of needs at the local level. Private sector through banks and financial institutions could play a major role in speeding-up the construction process. They could provide funds to this agency at low rates that would match governmental and international funds.

Whatever options the Lebanese government adopt, it has to come out with exceptional policies and sound practices and to employ an exceptionally rapid response to this crisis. Foremost need is the formulation of the right governance structure that would framework the post-conflict reconstruction process. From the beginning the government should set-up a mechanism to ensure transparency and accountability. Information-sharing and openness to the public should be paramount. In each reconstruction step, it is vital to involve local authorities such as municipalities, community representatives and civil society organisations as well as the private sector. The activities of international organisations, whether in lending or in implementing, should be properly channelled through one central body to avoid duplication and poor practices.

Nasser Yassin is an Associate Fellow in the Hague-based Institute for Environmental Security and researcher in urban development. Email: nasser.yassin@gmail.com

Yesterday at the christian TV channel Télé-Lumière, there was a program about how people survived this war; the ones who stayed in their villages and others who fled to Beirut. As this is a christian channel they focused on how these events affected the people’s faith. It was really moving to see and hear how men women and elderly testified. It shows me again that man in general has a religious nature and that Lebanese in particular are people of faith.

As of today the distribution stopped in Ayadina - because the displaced have left - , I’m going as a volunteer this afternoon to another place where distributions are still on.

Every Saturday I listen to a program on “la voix de la charité” from the”Hidden Monastery” with its spiritual counselor Father Jean-Marie. It is always very practical about how living the faith in daily life and it’s for disabled, abled and their friends.

Today he had 2 guests, 2 women from villages at the borderline with Israel, Kawzah and Rmeich. Those 2 mothers of 6 and 4 grown-up children, gave a testimony of how they lived those very difficult days of war. They even had to eat the food they had stocked for their cattle, that was killed and their houses destroyed but they just kept up the good faith and kept trusting in the Lord. So they came out of this experience renewed and stronger, WITHOUT any grudge. I was moved by this way of coping with life and its difficulties.

We can all learn from them!

Before the distribution, arranging of diapers according to size

People arriving at Ayadina, waiting for their turn. The picture above has been taken from the window of Ayadina’s office. The people on the right of the picture are queuing and arrive at a big balcony, from which they enter the center.

People inside Ayadina, receiving their parcel from an Ayadina volunteer

Myself adding the last item, with Layal (with the Ayadina cap), seeing the lady out

There are still displaced families around and so we continue to prepare for the food parcels today (500). A big problem is the medication for chronic ill patients such as hypertensive and cardiac, asthma and other problems. Those medicines are not available and when they are people can not afford it. so now one of the Ayadina members made some contacts with a French organization in order to obtain some medicines for the displaced. I made the contacts with the Armenian relief Cross and with World Vision and we submitted the lists of needed medication.
Right now my uncle Pol was online - a great man, at his age he’s really computer literate and  by chatting he told me: I do remember that in 1940 we also fled Belgium to go to France, they were 13 children, and there was only one bycicle and the 2 youngest ones : Lucienne and Walter could ride the bike but the bigger ones had to walk…He said: it was awful and we had to live from what the villagers gave us…
And this fleeing and displaced and refugees…this all still goes on, unfortunately there are still wars to fight…and so called victories to be won.

Another day and the ceasefire holds, thank God.

Today we had the meeting of all the NGO’s working in the area. We evaluated, made needs assessments and looked at the priorities. As many families are still being hosted at their relatives, we prepare for the last distribution at Ayadina tomorrow. We look for a way to reach out to all the displaced families still present and therefore prepared 500 foodparcels.

A prominent Belgian newspaper “Het Laatste Nieuws” contacted me and one of its journalists Bjorn Cocquyt asked me some questions about the past month and the relief. It is good to see that some are really interested in knowing what is going on exactly.

Consequences of the blockade are visible. The following picture is one taken today at 4 pm at the City Mall - Dora - Beirut, the biggest Mall of the City and perhaps the most recent one that opened its doors last year in January. Whole parts of the Mall look like this one, which is usually filled to the top. This is only an example of imported dairy products. We can easily do without them! But what about the so necessary medicines people need that are not made in Lebanon and need to be imported??? What about the relief aid, encountering so many problems to be delivered to the most needy areas???

Today was day of investigations and checking on the families. Almost all the displaced families in schools and centers are gone. In the area of Nabaa’, Borj Hammoud and sin El Fil remain perhaps 10 families and they will also be gone today or tomorrow. Remain the displaced christian displaced families from the borderline villages: Marjayoun, Kowzah, Rmeich, Dibl and Ayn Ibl. They can not go back yet as the Israeli soldiers are still there. Tomorrow we have a meeting with the Committee of Coordination of the region and we will assess, evaluate and plan for a post war plan.

Meanwhile we still prepare for the planned distribution at Ayadina on Friday.

The human misery is huge as whole villages are devastated and families torn apart, mourning their missing beloved ones. This morning I talked to a blind man, a widower in his fifties. He had just arrived from Marjayoun, people had brought him here. He does not know where his children are, he doesn’t know what is left from his small house in the village as he doesn’t see. He kept crying, begging: please help me, I don’t have anything left. Far relatives had taken him in. This is human misery and destitution…

Personally I feel very tired, I guess this is normal as I notice the same feeling with the volunteers.

The Israeli army dropped leaflets on Tyre right now, warning those returning to their homes in the South not to go back before the deployment of the Lebanese army.

This picture has been taken in front of the school of “St. Joseph de L’apparition” at Zoqaq El Balat - Beirut - at 9 15 am while going to mass.

As soon as the ceasefire was implemented, many families started packing their belongings and left. So half of the 2 schools we usually visit were already empty. Today there’s nobody left and apparently this goes for all the other centers, schools and public gardens were the displaced used to live. The army warned not to go back immediately, knowing that several rockets did not explode yet. It is very dangerous in those attacked areas both in the South and in the Southern suburbs.
As for the displaced staying with their relatives in their houses, many of them are still here. So we have to discern how to plan the post war stategy. Today is the Feast of the Assumption of Mary. I just came from Mass and World vision called if I could open Ayadina premises; they have stock to put. There will be another distribution on Friday as planned.

Thank God as of 8 AM there were no raids anymore until now. But last night was a dreadful night…the bombing was heavier than ever.

This morning we went to our 2 schools as usual. We took 54 children in the age of 7 - 14 years old to the dispensary. I vaccinated them against measles. Apparently some families will go back to Dahieh or the South this afternoon, to check whether their houses are still there or not. They are all eager to go back. Meanwhile the air and sea blockade is maintained. This means no food supplies or fuel are coming into the country.

Israeli fighter jets carried out more than 20 raids on the Beirut southern suburbs in less than one minute right now at about 2 45 PM. I photographed them from my balcony as the pictures show.

Today I watched the fneral of the Red cross guy Mikhail who died Friday night after his ambulance had been shot by Israel. He is the father of 2 children of 4 years and 3 months.

An anxious night…At 1 30 AM our time, the decision was going to be made at the UN. Unfortunately there was no electricity and the generator had to shut down so we had to wait till 5 45 AM to know something more. Meanwhile we listened if there was any bombing.

At 6 AM, electricity and we hear that the resolution 1701 has been voted and agreed upon. So concretely this supposedly means a cease fire ….Thank God!!!

But while I’m writing this (7 20 AM local time), the warplanes are above my head: Dahieh, North, Bekaa and the South are being heavily bombed, people still die. When will 1701 be implemented?  When will the UNIFIL troops come? If we have to wait much more they will come to watch over dead bodies and a totally destroyed country. Yesterday night a convoy guarded by the UN came from the South with many civilians fleeing their village of Marjayoun. On their way they were attacked and many died. Those were just ordinary people; they had left their destroyed houses and came to seek refuge in “safer” places.

Last night when the bombing started, I tried to pray and suddenly the thought of dying became so real. I said to myself, according to the intensity of the noise, it could be just right here. If these are indeed to be my last days, how do I like to spend them?

Doing more, doing less, continuing with whatever I am, being more? Am I ready to die? Willing to die? What did all those victims think before their hour had come?

The building in front of mine (an 8-storey building, across the main street) was caught in flames. A car had exploded in the basement and the inhabitants were running downstairs, trying to save whatever they could.

As of yesterday the electricity cut is 16 hours a day and thus the generators can not cope with all those hours; they activate their engines 1 hour out of 4. Hence the internet connection is so slow or there’s no internet access.

We prepare for our third weekly distribution at Ayadina, this time 500 families.

This picture shows 4 Ayadina volunteers preparing for the distribution

Today we went with 30 children between one month and 6 years to the dispensary. The ministry of Health fears for an epidemic of measles and polio. It therefore gives vaccinations to the health care centers. So the children were vaccinated. It was a big adventure; just imagine us walking down the street with all those children heading to the dispensary, and then each child above 9 months receiving a subcutaneous injection for measles and every baby from 1 day receiving 2 drops against poliomyelitis. Some were so brave and didn’t cry, others were sobbing all the way…

On the picture (click on image to view full size) you can see how Howra’  receives the 2 drops.

The temperature is normal for the time of the year, but playing with children in the sun (45 C) is as being in an oven.

These pictures do speak for themselves.  I do not put them here because they’re sensational - though they are - but to show the human pain of a young boy, with his dying mother. This is war and its consequences.

Another carnage yesterday night with so many civilian victims…so close to my apartment. We saw the fire and the thick smoke. This morning - as so many mornings - the apartment was filled with the black powder residue.
Yesterday something had happened that really shocked me: In front of the schools we go to, a displaced person who has a male dog (husky) had him tied on the playground. In the oriental culture many children and even grown-ups are afraid from animals. Another man brought his own dog, also a male one and they untied their dogs, while the children were watching. What happened? The two male dogs started fighting, wounding one another in front of the children who became hysterical: some were frightened to death, but others - and that’s my point - enjoyed watching the animals literally tearing one another apart, they took such a pleasure in this event. When I screamed and told the men to gather their dogs and get them away, I took the kids with me. We sat down and talked about the event. Why did they enjoy this scene so much?
Some told me: We like to see who’s the strongest and thus who will kill the other. Others: it’s fun to see the fight, it’s leisure and we are bored. One very small girl of about 6 said: I’m so afraid; the dog might come after me like the bombs might kill me.
We played with the kids again this morning; we had 2 new volunteers with us, girls of 18 and 16 years old. They seem to be committed.

The following story was forwarded to me and I gladly share it with you all:

Just a quick note: My name is Sharif Abdunnur and I work in the performing arts, as a teacher and a performer/director, and I do a lot of drama therapy work and community work.
Currently I am in Beirut under the Israeli shelling working with so many
displaced families and children within my field of specialty.)

SIR I WONT BE ABLE TO ACT TOMORROW

After the success from the first night, and a very long hard day for me and my
actors, the theater was nearly empty, the families who are living in the
theater where spreading their mattresses and getting ready to sleep. I was
still chatting with various member of the press. The theater was ready for
sleep. As I was sitting on the stage with press one of my actors (14 years of
age) comes thru the door and ask me to come. I call out to him and tell him
to join me… but in very strange voice he pleads: “Sir, Sharif, can you please
come to me?” (I keep telling them to call me Sharif but out of respect they
always accidentally revert to calling me Sir)
I go to him and he quickly says: “Sir, I am very sorry but I wont be able to act
tomorrow”
I notice that he is not at all well I ask: “what is wrong, what happened?”
He replies, sobbing: “I wont be able to act, you know I am a strong man and not
a kid, and I don’t want you to think I am deserting you, or being a jerk, but I
just can’t act.”
I try to reassure him: “of course I know you’re a man, and I know this and It
rust you but tell me what’s wrong – I don’t care about the play tell me what’s
wrong?”
He collapses on the floor in tears – I ask the press to leave, and I sit with
him in the dim lights, the families are now sleeping around us. They
understand what is going on. They have seen it before. They look
compassionately at him, they say a few prayers out loud for him (some Christian
and some Muslim prayers). They more or less give us our space among their
humble mattresses and make shift homes in the stage. Several times as they
walked beside us – several people would hug him or kiss his head, including
some little children, all of whom are strangers but all bonded by the same
grief.
An hour later, he tells me his grandmother was killed in the bombing she
refused to leave the village, and when they tried to bury her; the car carrying
the coffin was bombed and they couldn’t gather the bits and pieces to bury and
that his family just told him.
This child in a man’s body has been with me for 10 days now, and tonight
when
they got their standing ovation I saw them truly happy. But for him that only
lasted for an hour. Reality came back quickly to take him out of his
happiness. We stayed till 3 in the morning him huddled in my arms and another
of my friend who had come to the theater to check on why I hadn’t gone home
yet. It took him 5 hours of weeping until he found the strength to stand
again. We took him down the block to where his family was finding refugee with
another 2 families in the same small one room apartment, 25 of them all awake,
all in tears. We sat with them for an hour and then walked home in the early
hours of the dawn.
As I walked home with my friend my brain finally got a minute to digest
it all. I had seen my kids (and I call them that all the time all 600 of them) achieve
some happiness under the most horrifying conditions. I watched them grow years
literally – they matured so quickly. But it wasn’t this that actually struck
me… it wasn’t the amazing miracle that they pulled off a great show within a
couple of days – a show that I think would have been difficult for a pro to
pull off… these traumatized amateurs did so well. What made me cry and what
truly shocked me is what he said. When he came to that door and asked for me;
he didn’t break into tears and weep about his personal tragedy. He didn’t
scream and yell. This fourteen year old came very professionally to the door
and said “Sir, I am very sorry but I won’t be able to act tomorrow”. He was
personally devastated but this young teen kept his cool and his concern while
talking to me is that he didn’t want to let me down.
I wept tears of joy, pride and sorrow as I walked home. I lied down for
three hours in bed. And as I got up to walk back down to the theater, my daily long
walk, he called me on my cell phone; he said “Sir, I am coming, please don’t
give my part away!” He then asked me for a favor: “could I please stay with you
the whole day, I will do what ever you want, but just let me be next to you all
day” And he did, thru all the workshops and everything even the interviews and
meetings, he sat or stood next to me. The second night of performance he got
up on stage and did a great job… and to his and my great joy his father came to
watch him… his father put aside his grief of loosing is brave mother that had
refused to flee the bombs… he put aside his grief in order to smile and laugh
and be proud of his son on stage.

Yesterday was the feast of the Transfiguration. At church the priest exhorted us to become like Jesus and be transfigurated, so that people around us can only see the light of Jesus. In the light of the recent events this is not evident.

Yesterday we slept, that is, the raids were brief, but last night…impossible to get some sleep. I wonder about this; I do hear the bombing but in fact until now there’s no immediate danger and I imagine the areas in which the noises are much louder and that are in immediate danger…

Yes this is the 26 th day of violence and no agreement has been made. I’m tired, the volunteers get tired of the long days and dreadful nights.

While going to our schools, I have to check upon the lady who has scabies. This has to be controlled in order not to spread. The mattress has been exposed to the sun and a solution applied. Given the circumstances people live in, we are not surprised. I remember that girl of 11 who said: you kow, today I really took a bath. 100 persons and only 2 toilets, this is not appropriate.

This map shows you the locations in Lebanon having been bombed between July 12 - 31, 2006.
There isn’t much left to bomb, is there?

I just had a call from a friend of mine. She took Youssef - a nephew - in her house after the bridge of Madfoun was destroyed. His house was next to the bridge. Since then he did not stop vomitting and is in shock. Youssef is only 6 years old.

Today “Medecins du monde” came and treated the sick at the 2 schools. Most patients complain of sore throats and headache.

This afternoon a group of volunteers who call themselves “Youth for Christ” came and entertained the youth.

Take a look at those 2 pictures. They both show a panoramic view of Beirut suburb Dahieh. One is taken before the bombing, the other after.

Before

 After

“The Lord says, ‘Do not fear, for I am with you, I am your God. I will
strengthen you and help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right
hand.” Isaiah 4:10

I do believe this truly, but events happen and my faith weakens.
As you can see on the 2 pictures we had the second big distribution today at Ayadina: 430 displaced families received whatever they need for one week. The first picture shows Rodayna - a newly nurse graduate and displaced person - and myself. The second of Fadi, also a displaced person, father of a small girl. He represents the displaced families of one of the 2 schools we take care of, with Dona.
Our priority is giving with dignity.
I had just arrived home when the founding president of Ayadina called. She’s abroad from before the war started and is now stuck there. But her heart is with us. She calls me very often and encourages us all the time.
The atmosphere today in Beirut is one of fear. People want to think of precautions, but do not know where they will be safe for the coming night.
Tomorrow “medecins du monde” will come to check the sick at the schools.

A totally sleepless night. Bombing started at 12.50 AM and continued till 6 30 AM.

We are systematically attacked, all infrastructure will be gone.

I’m feeling so angry, upset and exhausted, but have to go to work now.
Will be continued…

It’s now 8 15 PM. A tyring day. I hadn’t mentioned this morning that last night we did not sleep after 2 AM. Then the bombing on Beirut suburbs began again.
Today 2 meetings: one at the municipality with the coordination committee. It is so important to well coordinate the relief aid.

The other meeting was with all NGO’s working with children at schools. As we’re entertaining our kids, Ayadina was invited and we listened to the NGO’s present, exchanging experiences. Then of course we had bags to fill at Ayadina because tomorrow there’s another big distribution. Many volunteers and hundreds of bags and food parcels…

I just heard on the news that the population of the outskirts of Beirut has received leaflets telling them to leave. This means another sleepless night because air raids will occur

Hamadeh is a boy of 14 years old. when we gave paper to the kids and asked them to draw whatever they liked, Hamadeh drew or rather wrote in drawing the following words: always tears -then his name with a bleeding heart- always suffering. This illustrates how kids and youth feel about this war.

More problems today as Israel threatens to bomb Beirut. While playing with the kids planes are flying over and again the children are frightened to death: they’re bombing.

Some of them start talking emotionally about what they have seen and heard while fleeing to Beirut or while still at their homes. It is shocking to hear such young kids relating such horrible stories.

Due to the fuel and diesel shortage the electricity is cut off most of the day and the generators cannot cope with those long hours because the engines get overheated. So this makes that very often the PC cannot be opened or the internet is not working. I will try later on to upload some pictures. One picture, taken today is of cars queuing up. When we passed by this afternoon there clearly was a problem. People were shouting and fighting. It is pretty much sure now that the fuel stations will not be refilled because there’s no import of fuel. Some gas station owners do have fuel left but wait till prices increase.

The other picture is of our children today while drawing at the schoolyard. These are the youngest one, age group 4 - 9. We promised to bring them a small surprise tomorrow for the nicest drawing. We, of course will bring some candy for each child as they all did their best.

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Children exercising

Children playing at the school yard

Yes unbelievable but true that yesterday afternoon and today so many people were on the roads, going back to Dahieh and even the South to check on their houses, to see what is left of it and if so to bring some stuff: TV, clothes, even a PC…The truce gives them the opportunity to go. We see some of them coming back, crying, screaming or just sobbing; they saw the spot their house had been, nothing left but debris.Others are luckier.

This morning while going to our schools, we saw cars queuing in from of fuel stations. Some fuel stations were not yet open and cars were lining up. fuel is rationed since last Saturday. I do not have a car, but my friends tell me that from now on they are only allowed to fill for 10 000 LL = 5 Euro. But as always you find people having “special authority”, meaning knowing important people who back them up; they fill as much gallons  as they want. People dispute…Others line up for more than 45 min to fill for 5 Euro.
The other big problem is the stock of medication for the chronic sick. Some of the pharmaceutical storehouses are unaccessible, or have been destroyed. There is a shortage. People with hypertension need to take their medicines; some of them have been without medication since last week. Pharmacies give what they have, but once their stock is finished, then…nothing to receive.

Today 3 young volunteers help us entertaining the children. The NBN TV is present, broadcasting live. We play with the children (40), let them draw whatever they want. Most of them draw houses, landscapes of green villages, some draw airplanes. While we are all drawing airplanes fly over, very close and making noise. The children get terrified and they want to run into school, we tell them it’s because of the Feast of the Lebanese Army today. So they stay and continue drawing.