‘TETA WA JEDDO’ FOOD & VISIT PROGRAM for ISOLATED ELDERLY PEOPLE in BEIRUT BLAST ZONE
WHAT WE ACHIEVED…
On the 4th of August 2020, an explosion devastated the area around the port of Beirut, causing the deaths of almost 200 people, wounding more than 6000 and leaving around 300,000 people without a home.
During these last 2 months, with the support of all the generous donors from the Raising Up Lebanonfund, in collaboration with the Vatican Embassyof Lebanon and under the patronage of S.E.R. Mgr SPITERI, the Apostolic Nuncio in Lebanon, the association Oum Al Fadi has managed and achieved the following key objectives:
— Helping 5 large families restore their homes
— Repairing 14 accordion and aluminum doors, more than 14 windows, a full kitchen, 3 main wood doors and some painting work.
— Maintenance in sanitary and electrical installations.
— Visiting more than 25 families, providing them with appliances they lost because of the blast: refrigerators, washing machines, stoves, furniture, TV.
— Providing financial and medical aid to 3 families.
— Repairing the 7 elevators of the buildings located in the area most affected by the blast: these elevators serve about 94 families and 80% of the area’s residents are elderly people who are unable to move up and down due to their health problems.
We can proudly say that until now, about 200 people benefited from Raising Up Lebanon. None of this could have been possible without your generosity !!
WHAT WE SAW …
During the visits we made to the victims of the explosion, we gave special attention to the elderly people.
This is because in Lebanon, they are the most exposed people. The social system doesn’t provide for them, and they are normally helped by their children or near family.
The economic crisis already weakened this population, and the blast put a lot of them in a terrible situation. The only security they had was their home which was destroyed. So many times, their own children are victims of the blast and are now in a very difficult situation economically and psychologically. Many times, they also left the zone of the blast to find a place to stay while the restoration works are in progress. More elderly are becoming increasingly alone and isolated.
In the next few months, when the main work of restoration ends, a lot of NGOs will leave the country; the economic projections are starkly far from positive. There is a huge possibility that the country will soon face a larger crisis affecting its fragile population the most.
WHAT WE WE PLAN TO DO…
Inspired by Claudia’s desire to especially help the elderly in a difficult situation and encouraged by Rev F. Elia Mouannes, the parish priest of the zone, we thought about how we could help these people in the long term.
We saw that the most important thing for them is visits and food.
Visiting is important to keep the social bond and to break the loneliness they are facing.
Meanwhile, it’s important to provide them food. We saw that isolated elderly people don’t cook easily. It takes timeand being alone, they consider that it isn’t worth the trouble. They tend to cook for 3 or 4 days, later eating the same heated dishes. On the top of that, the economic situation, according to experts, should lead shortly to a food crisis.
A KITCHEN: To prepare food is an art and requires qualification and infrastructure we don’t have... On the 7th of August, a very well-known company in Lebanon called Souk el Tayeb, created in the area a community kitchen, “Matbakh el Kell”, destined to provide food to the NGOs whose beneficiaries were highly impacted by the blast. Like us, they understand that the real crisis will soon arrive, and they want to help the ones who are thinking about the long term. We providentially got in contact with them. They can provide us on cooked meals on a daily basis at a very low price because they’re non-profit association.
WHAT WE CAN DO…
The ‘Teta wa Jeddo’project has 2 important dimensions::
VISITING:
As a first step, we can use experienced volunteers to visit the people of the area in a systematic way. Once some elderly people with special needs are located, their name and location can be communicated to our team.
Our team can make a survey in a second visit. They will be responsible for identifying the people that are more in need and to establish a bond of trust with them. At this point, they will propose their needs. It can be some on-off help or just a regular visit. In case they need food, we can addedthem to our food program.
DISTRIBUTING FOOD:
‘Matbakh el Kell’ is ready to prepare from Monday to Friday a hot and a cold meal to be delivered together for the number of people we want.
Our team will handle the process of delivery every day, making sure that everything is okay for everyone.
On Saturday mornings, we will distribute a box with some food that they can cook on the weekends and that they can use for the breakfast during the week.
SAFETY IS OUR PRIORITY, AND WE WILL ADHERE TO ALL THE PROPER SAFETY PRECAUTIONS TO BE TAKEN WITH THE ELDERLY BECAUSE OF COVID19.
The continuous contact of our team with the elderly is very important to avoid any abuse and to keep the bond of trust with the people.
As our calculation, from now on, we can provide support for one person for one year for just a little bit more than 2100 US$...