Next Steps
I just returned from Beirut, where I spent eight days assessing the needs, visiting with partners, churches, and friends, and speaking with victims of the blast. There are no words to explain or describe what happened. Seeing it on TV is gut wrenching, walking in the rubble is depressing, haunting and almost like walking through a continuous nightmare that does not end.
What do you tell a young woman who lost her home, car, and family business in one fell swoop? Her biggest complaint was about her 3-year-old boy, who wakes up screaming at night, pulling his and her hair, scratching his and her face bloody. “How do I deal with that?”, she asked me as she wept.
What do you tell a 67-year-old pharmacist, who lost his home, and two pharmacies in 3 seconds? His losses are valued at $720,000. Two months ago, he had the chance to sell it all for profit and go to Paris and live with his two daughters. He refused the offer, not wanting to leave Lebanon, and what he and his wife built in 35 years. As he told me his story, he wept like a child. It breaks your heart seeing an elderly man break down like this. We ended up buying all our medicine from him, just to help him a little bit.
Today, a partner/friend of ours took his son to the funeral of his classmate, a 15-year-old boy called Elias. The scene of the funeral as described by our friend was so painful to read about. The pain of the parents, classmates, friends, and teachers was indescribable. My friend said, “The only thing I kept mumbling to myself was, Lord, spare us this cup”.
I walked into a flat, across the street from the blast site. Not one stone is left standing. The occupant of the flat, a young man was standing on the balcony when the explosion happened. He was thrown back 20 feet, slammed into a wall as it crumbled. When he awoke, he was bleeding profusely, and his hand was gone.
So much suffering across the nation affected thousands of people, from all walks of life, all at once. 200 burials so far, 45 still missing, dozens of bodies in morgues await identification, over 6,000 inured, 300,000 destroyed or damaged apartments, hundreds of thousands displaced. The estimate of losses surpassed 20 billion dollars, but what no one can put a price on is the toll of human suffering, trauma, PTSD, grief, and loss that the nation is feeling. Aug 4th, 2020, @18:07 pm, Lebanon had its 9/11 moment. It is safe to say the whole nation is feeling the loss and the pain.
As I spent days and days walking through the affected area, visiting, and talking with people, I started to form in my head what our response will look like. It is easy to plan from
the USA in advance, while away from the scene, then show up and realize the plan will not work. Below, please find how we are helping and intend to do so for the next 6 months.
1. Shelter/Rehab.
We have canvassed large areas and identified homes and flats we can help repair. Given our limited resources, we are focusing on replacing broken glass, and blown-out doors. With winter around the corner, and many of the affected areas facing the ocean, we need to ensure those affected have at least shelter and a dry place to go on living. Thieves have been roaming the affected areas and stealing whatever is left over from people’s meager belongings, since all doors have been blown off. As an added complication, there is little coordination between those helping, so homes we identify, measure out and decide to help get fixed before we get back to them. So, now, we are taking the broken doors and window frames with us, fixing them, and coming back to install them. It slows us down, but it ensures our resources are not wasted. This project is priority # 1.
2. Medicine/Medical.
We have been building a database of medicine needed by those we are serving. The majority are elderly, with limited mobility, no family close by to care for them. We are taking them to see a doctor to refill prescriptions, buy them medicine, tend to their wounds, change bandages. Some need to see a psychiatrist to prescribe medicine to help them deal with their losses. Finally, some of the elderly are in need of physical therapy, something we are helping them with as well. This is priority #2.
3. Hygiene kits.
With most household items destroyed or lost, the need to provide soap, detergent, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, towels, and toilet paper becomes a simple necessity. Each kit costs us $20 to prepare. This is priority #3.
The outpouring of support, calls, messages, and emails has been humbling. We have no way to thank you enough for coming through and helping. The offers to fly into Lebanon and help have been many, as well. Our answer to that is please do not do that. There are many ways you can help from here, flying in is not the answer. It adds to the complexity of the response, and we and our partners simply cannot manage that. Here are some ways how you can help:
You can share this update and the ones on our Facebook page with friends, family, churches, and professional networks. Challenge them to get involved, read up on Lebanon, advocate for the voiceless. Follow our Facebook page, ask friends to follow it, and stay informed about what is happening there. We cannot lose interest after a few weeks because those suffering will still be there.
Visit our website and donate. You can be specific about which project/intervention mentioned above you would like to have your funds go to.
Pray for those on the ground, the church and our partners who have lost a lot, some lost it all, yet still go down and help, and give from their meager resources.
Pray for the nation of Lebanon and the people, as it is used by superpowers to settle scores and disputes. Lebanon is smaller than Rhode Island, yet it has all the superpowers fighting in it.
If you can, help us get in front of decision makers about helping, please be agents of introductions. We are stretched thin and could use support networking, to reach more donors, churches and groups willing to help. All too often, we hear that people want to help, but do not know where to go or who to help. Help us by connecting us with your network.
Thanks for reading!