At first, there was also a lack of toilets and showers for the people who had been made homeless by the explosion. The Lebanese Red Cross, with whom arche noVa had worked closely since the beginning of the Corona crisis in March, asked our team in Lebanon to provide mobile sanitation facilities.
No sooner said than done. At the end of August, ten mobile toilets and also ten shower cabins were delivered to the emergency shelters in Beirut to enable the people there to meet their hygiene needs despite the cramped conditions. In addition, 1,130 disinfection kits were distributed to reduce the risk of infection for Covid-19.
A thanks to all supporters
The fast help was also made possible by the incredible support of our donors. Because help costs money, especially in disaster situations. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you once again.
To this day, the people in Lebanon are still dependent on support. Because the economic hardship in the country has been great for months now. And the explosion disaster in the summer has exacerbated the problems. Particularly hard hit are the 1.5 million Syrian refugees who have found refuge in Lebanon and are now virtually unable to earn any income at all due to ongoing lockdowns.
"The situation in Lebanon is very unstable and difficult. This has a lot to do with the complicated political situation. Nobody really knows what will happen here. The economy is still going downhill, the currency is losing value massively, prices are rising and there are hardly any jobs left, instead there are bankruptcies and closures," says Muriel Schockenhoff, our project officer in Lebanon.
In order to alleviate the need a little, 10.8000 disinfection and hygiene packages for better protection against corona are currently being distributed in our project region in northern Lebanon. In addition, 500 families affected by Covid-19 in the region are receiving special aids such as face masks, protective suits and gloves to reduce the risk of infection.
It is important for our team in Lebanon to stress how indispensable the work of international aid organisations is. "We may have a small budget, but at least we can give some hope. People should feel that they have not been forgotten and that there is someone who thinks about them and cares for them," says Schockenhoff. "We at arche noVa know exactly what each euro is spent on. That is why people trust us. A big plus in a country that is practically drowning in corruption".
