August 12, 2020 News

Caritas across the world have raised more than € 530 000 for Lebanon

The capital of Lebanon is slowly recovering from the initial shock following a massive explosion which has shattered the port area. After the event local Caritas Lebanon offered immediate assistance – and to this date Caritas organizations from more than 10 countries in the world have made a contribution to directly support the victims of this disaster with an amount exceeding  € 530 000.

The situation in Beirut remains serious. Following the explosion there were hundreds of casualties and hundreds of thousands of citizens had their homes destroyed; at the same time the long-term political issues and the distrust of state institutions were deepened. The enormous rate of inflation makes it very difficult for the Beirut citizens to find resources for purchases of food, let alone for the repairs of their destroyed houses.

Fast assistance has been organized immediately after the explosion by Caritas Lebanon which has several offices in Beirut and an extensive network of employees and volunteers. More than ten Caritas organizations from all over the world have assisted their Lebanese colleagues; as cited by Caritas Internationalis, to this date more than €530 000 has been raised for direct support of people in Beirut in emergency. The Caritas employees and volunteers have assisted more than 23 thousand of people directly at the site in the last four days, namely they have:

• handed out 20 000 prepared meals and further 400 boxes with basic food items to people affected by the devastating explosion,
• provided medical treatment to 194 injured and handed out medicine for the treatment of 1 987 people,
• 63 people were provided with  psychological assistance,
• Caritas volunteers helped to tidy up 240 houses.

In the following days Caritas Lebanon will continue with the distribution of food, water and basic items, such as blankets or clothes. Work will continue to clear the rubble and the repairs of the destroyed houses and flats. Citizens who have found themselves in a difficult life situation following the explosion will be provided with psychological counselling and assistance.

You can help too – by contributing to our public collection Caritas for Lebanon: any amount sent to bank account no. 55660022/0800, variable symbol 129 can make a difference to those who lost their homes, the main earner of their family or their livelihood within a few seconds. The Covid-19 crisis has shown we are not blind or deaf to the misfortune of others. We therefore believe we are able to provide an effective help in this situation!

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How we help in Lebanon specifically

Caritas Czech Republic has made its contribution to the immediate assistance provided by Caritas Lebanon in Beirut – this means mainly the provision of food and basic needs for those worst affected by the disaster and also medical assistance, including the purchasing of the needed medicine. Caritas employees and volunteers are helping with clearing the rubble and tidying up the damaged houses. On top of that our Caritas organization is preparing a more of a long-term project, which will be conducted in cooperation with Caritas Switzerland as well as some other Caritas organization. In the following months we will support, mainly from the funds raised by the public collection Caritas for Lebanon, the repairs of the damaged houses and flats and we will assist the most vulnerable ones with the purchases of food, blankets and other items. In both cases the money from the Czech Republic is distributed directly to the non-profit organizations in the location of the disaster, overhead expenses will not exceed 5 per cent as stated by the Law on public collections.

How you can help

Our collection Caritas for Lebanon consists of gifts of many small donors who may contribute as little as 20 CZK, or send  a SMS donation (the smallest contribution in this case is 30 CZK); when these seemingly „small“ donations add up, there could be an amazing sum in the end... We however understand that not all good people possess financial resources they can spare and so we are grateful for any offer. Caritas Czech Republic unfortunately does not have the possibility to send material donations to Lebanon, and this is why we collect money and distribute financial aid directly at the site through partner organizations. If you would like to offer clothes, blankets, etc.  we can certainly find use for these items – however this will be done in the Czech Republic. In this way you can make better the life of homeless people, those in a difficult situation, mothers with children in asylum homes and so on. If you contact your nearest Caritas, you can get advice on the best way to use your donation. You can find the Caritas contact details on our web www.charita.cz.