Author Archives: Lebanon Trust

Many heartfelt thanks to the friends who helped this year

We would like to thank with all our hearts the friends who helped this year (Dec 1st, 2020 – Nov 30th, 2021)

 Your generosity goes far and makes a difference!

• Mick Halpin & family (Dublin & USA), for the constant generosity & encouragement
• Alfonsus Baars, very generous (unknown) supporter
• MC Ferraro & A Bertolotto (Genoa, Italy)
• Martina Merkle (Zurich, Switzerland), loyal & generous friend and supporter
• The pupils and the teachers Ms Kron & Ms Holmes of the A1f class of the Schulhaus Stägenbuck (Dübendorf, Switzerland)
• Fam Bertolotto-Della Penna (Genoa, Italy)
• Luca Baur (Zurich, Switzerland)
• Ole Vossnack (Zurich, Switzerland)
• Enrico & Lilli Bertolotto (Genoa, Italy)
• Fam. Aquini (Arquata Scrivia, Italy)
• Iolanda Bianchi (Genoa, Italy)
• Giovanna Lottero-Pellegrini (Genoa, Italy)
• Fam. Ricci (Arquata Scrivia, Italy)
• Patricia Meade, loyal & generous friend (Ca., USA)
• Fam Prola-Smith (London, UK)
• Fam. Ponzano (Arquata Scrivia, Italy)
• Catherine Poeydomenge (Zurich, Switzerland)
• John & Shannon Zuzek
• Giorgio Margotti (Livorno, Italy)
• Silvana Falaschini (Livorno, Italy)
• Fam Zappavigna (Marina di Massa, Italy)
• Stefano Cocurullo (Genoa, Italy)
• F & M Cocurullo & fam (Genoa, Italy)
• Amazon Inc.
• Clarisse Mauer, Karina Browne (Apple Inc)
• Alexandra Ertmane (PayPal Inc)
• Jad Al Abdallah (Google Inc)
• Sarah Abdelhadi (Google Inc)
• All the lads at Hoistech Engineering (Dublin, Ireland)
• Paul’s Barber Shop, Crumlin (Dublin)
• All the generous Walkinstown friends in St Peter’s Crescent and St Peter’s Drive for their constant support
• McCormack’s Cycle Centre (Dublin)
• O’Neill’s House of Sport (Dublin)
• Paul Reid Dental Laboratories (Dublin)
• Kelly’s Welding & Engineering Supplies Ltd (Dublin)
• Gerard Kelly (Dublin)
• All the lads at Bisset Engineering (Dublin)
• Big Mick (Dublin)
• Brenden & staff at Lilliput Stores (Dublin)
• Pat Stafford of Stafford Engineering (Dublin)
• Dolphin Furniture Sales (Dublin)
• QK Living Kitchens & Bedrooms (Dublin)
• ProWeld (Dublin)
• Griffin Digital Print (Dublin)
• The Terence Welding Company (Dublin)
• Romilda Cocurullo (Genoa, Italy)
• Luisa & Roberto Fontana (Genoa, Italy)
• Philip Kinsella (Dublin, Ireland)

what we did in 2021

What we did in 2021

 

Dear friends and supporters,

For the second time since our beginnings in 2008, we were not able to travel to Lebanon this year.

The year 2021 was no better than 2020 for Lebanon. The country has been grappling with an economic and financial meltdown since the fall of 2019; the severe repercussions of the 2020 Beirut Port explosion; the continued effects of the COVID-19 outbreak and the spill-over effects of the ongoing Syrian crisis.

The currency has lost over 95% of its value, prices have skyrocketed, the government no longer subsidises essentials like medicine, bread and fuel; electricity and water are available for only a few hours per day. The situation continues to get worse, poverty is increasing dramatically, and the hardships of ordinary people are becoming insurmountable. The value of the minimum monthly salary is barely above 20 dollars (17 euro) now.

According to the latest UN data, 82% of the population now live below the poverty line (and 34% live in ‘extreme poverty’).

In this tragic scenario, what we can do is really a very little – but still more than nothing.

In total, we sent 25’100 dollars, equally split between FAID, the school for deaf children that we have been supporting since 2008, and Association Najdeh, working in Lebanon’s refugee camps.

FAID used the funds to

  • Buy fuel for generators and heaters (4 tonnes, USD 3200)
  • Finance a speech therapist, who teaches the deaf children to speak and lip-read (USD 9350)

Najdeh used the funds to

  • Cover (part of) the running costs of the kindergartens of the refugee camps of Shatila (in Beirut) and Burj el-Shemali (in Tyre); this includes operational expenses such as staff salaries and children’s meals
  • Buy educational materials and books for the children

Below, the children of FAID show their appreciation for our work & send a big THANK YOU to all:

This year we manage to disburse slightly more than last year, but unfortunately our fundraising did not match the entire sum. It was heart-warming, however, to see that so many friends are very generous. Thank you!

One of our volunteers raised funds by taking painting commissions: here you see some of the artwork. Commissions are open! All proceeds in favour of Lebanon Trust.

         

Income: donations to Lebanon Trust (Euro) (Dec 1st, 2020 – Nov 30th, 2021)

Fundraising initiatives, private donations, corporate sponsorships
Total 19276.37

(Year close Nov 30, 2021; EUR/USD/CHF currency exchange rate: as applied by our bank in Ireland)

Expenditure: Disbursements to the supported institutions, expenses (Euro)

Bank and PayPal fees, web hosting & domains 180.87
Donation to FAID 11224.39
Donations to Association Najdeh (refugee camps) 11224.39
Total 22629.65
Difference -3353.28

(*) Permanent TSB Forex, PayPal

We received many donations through Benevity, The Irish Online Giving Foundation and The UK Online Giving Foundation (thank you Mick!).

A donation to Najdeh

A donation to the refugee kindergartens

We are proud and delighted to report that we were able to send USD 12550 to our friends of the Association Najdeh, in support of their kindergartens, for educational material, food, running costs. These kindergartens are for children of refugee families. The money arrived this past week. A huge THANK YOU to all our donors.

More art for Lebanon

Art for Lebanon: A discerning buyer and more funds for our projects

This painting is a faithful recreation of a rare 1935 poster from Arquata Scrivia (Italy) advertising a summer cattle fair (Fiera di San Bartolomeo) . Complete with reproductions of the date stamp “12 AGO 1935, Anno XIII” (of the fascist era) and the signature of the then Podestà (Mayor) Luigi Lasagna.

Acrylic on canvas, cm 50×70, painted and donated by one of our volunteers, and sold in favour of our work in Lebanon.

Confirmed! Choir Concert in Tralee

Confirmed! Choir Concert in Tralee

Confirmed!

Saturday, November 21, 2021, 7.30 pm, at St John’s Parish RC Church in Tralee (Co. Kerry, Ireland):
Charity Choir Concert in support of Lebanon Trust.
Featuring and kindly supported by:
St John’s Church Choir
The National Folk Theatre Choir
Kerry Chamber Choir
Kerry School of Music Orchestra
Opus 96 Choir
and special solo performances.
All proceeds in favour of deaf & refugee children in Lebanon.

Don’t miss this event !!!!

art for Lebanon

Art for Lebanon

“St Anthony Church in the moonlight ” and “Sunny afternoon at St Anthony Church”, oil paintings by one of our volunteers, have been sold in favour of our projects in Lebanon.

Thank you!

Kevin’s charity concert

A choir concert for Lebanon in Tralee

On Saturday, Nov 21, 2021, at /.70 pm, at St. John’s Parish RC Church in Tralee, a great Choir Concert will take place, featuring:

St. John’s Church Choir
Siamsa Tire Choir
Kerry Chamber Choir with the KSM Orchestra
and special solo performances

All invited. Tickets on sale at the door – all proceeds in favour of our projects for Lebanon.

Thank you to all the singers and organisers!

thank you unknown donor

A very generous donation

We recently received a donation of more than EUR 4000 from Mr Alfonsus Baar. While we don’t know this gentleman or his contact details, we would like to express all our gratitude for his exceptional generosity. As always, we will do our utmost best to make sure that this money is well spent.

August 2021: A letter from FAID, school for the deaf

August 2021: A letter from FAID, school for the deaf

Dear friends,

as you all know, this are exceptionally hard times for Lebanon, struggling with a severe financial crisis, a 90% devaluation of its currency, soaring prices, shortages of fuel, electricity, water, medicine, food.

Lebanon Trust keeps raising funds for FAID, the school for deaf children that we help since 2008, as well as two kindergartens for refugees.

Recently FAID sent an update for all its supporters:

“Greetings from the FAID family!

Thank you on behalf of the FAID family for all the support we have received from you over the years, especially during the last two years. Running our school in an economic crisis in the middle of a pandemic has been highly challenging.
A school cannot be run without staff. Through your help and support, we have held onto our team and continued paying wages. However, the hyperinflation in Lebanon has reduced the buying power of the wages by a lot. One Lebanese pound is now worth less than one-tenth of what it was two years ago. Your support also enabled us to provide food parcels on three occasions for all families – students’ families and staff – connected to the school.

A blessing came out of Covid 19. Several lockdowns reduced our face to face teaching time severely. So we needed to find another way to help our children and their parents develop their educational skills. Our staff made several videos each week. Each video had a particular topic. The video “OPPOSITES,” for example, explained all about up and down, in and out, high and low, etc. These videos, made for WhatsApp, were easy to use by parents.
Covid’s blessing helped parents in Lebanon to become teachers of their deaf children. Parents being involved more in the education of their children enhanced building family bonds, which stimulated the children’s development even more, and most of all, reduced the emotional trauma that exists in families having children with special needs.

Providing audiology support, hearing aid maintenance and batteries during Covid is very challenging. Again because of your help, we could put in the safeguards and precautions to make it possible.
We would heartily appreciate your keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.
Our political and economic situation is extremely worrying.
There is a shortage of medicine, fuel, electricity and sometimes food and the prices are going up on a regular daily basis. We know we can depend on your continued support, and for that, we are tremendously grateful.“

A generous, creative & clever school class in Switzerland

A generous, creative & very clever school class

A huge THANK YOU to our loyal supporter Luca Baur, all his classmates and the teachers Ms Kron and Ms Holmes of the A1f class of the Schulhaus Stägenbuck (Stägenbuck Secondary School) in Dübendorf, Switzerland!

The kids convinced family, neighbors & friends to sponsor one-hour runs. The minimum donation per 400m-lap was CHF 0.50 (less than EUR 0.50). It was the first school activity they were able to do without wearing a mask since September last year.

These generous, brave, creative, and athletic kids collected the marvellous sum of EUR 1900 in favour of Lebanon Trust.

All our gratitude to them, their teachers and their families who donated time and money to our projects!

An update from FAID, the school for deaf children we support

Dear friends and supporters,

this is an unprecedented time for Lebanon and for FAID, School for the Deaf. We at Lebanon Trust keep trying to suppport them. Recently FAID sent a letter to its friends:

Lebanon is still without a government (since August 2020), the economy is under severe pressure, and our currency has devalued by 85%. There are fuel and medicine shortages, and daily blackouts.

The staff of FAID have been busy providing online educational support to our students and parents during the times that we can’t meet.  Most of this is done through Whatsapp.  We are sending educational videos that help parents to work with their hearing-impaired children.

We are delighted to see how parents are rising to the task of becoming their children’s educators. It is also great to see how this homeschooling strengthens the bonds between the children and their parents. It is a silver lining to see the relationships flourishing between parents and their deaf children.  However, it isn’t all smooth sailing: the shortage of mobile phones with our families and lack of data packages is a problem.  And it is something that we are trying to solve.

Based on the success of rolling out this educational support system for our regular students, we started to use a similar approach to supporting our outreach to Syrian refugee families. Our supports are tailor-made to suit the formal education level of the parent & the age and educational level of the child.  At present, more than 80% of parents are engaging with our program, and we hope to increase this number as time goes on.

We also hope to continue to support parents this way even when the pandemic ends.

None of this vital work is possible without your continuous support.  We want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for that.

 

What we did in 2020

 

What we did in 2020

(tablet/smartphone users: best viewed in landscape mode)

Dear friends and supporters,

Because of the coronavirus, this year we have not been able to travel to Lebanon, for the first time since 2008.

The year 2020 has been difficult for everyone, but really bad for Lebanon.

A severe economic crisis – coupled with the Syrian war – has destabilised the economy. The currency has lost 80% of its value; prices have skyrocketed. Middle-class people have become poor, and the poor have become destitute. Currently, more than half of the population of the country is below the poverty line. Of the Syrian refugees, 90% live in “extreme poverty”.

The coronavirus has of course taken its toll in Lebanon, too, with the added tragedy of very scarce economic means.

Then, on August 4th, a terrible explosion killed more than 200 people, injured thousands, and inflicted billions in damage. No-one has taken responsibility for the 2750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate that had been left in the port of Beirut, without safety measures, for nearly 7 years.

In this scenario, what we can do is really a drop in the ocean. But still more than zero.

In total, we sent 25’000 dollars, part to FAID, the school for deaf children that we have been supporting since 2008, and part to our partner Association Najdeh, working in Lebanon’s refugee camps.

FAID used the funds to

  • create 76 individual education packs (covering 8 weeks of schooling) to support students to study at home, with tailor-made speech therapy exercises for the kids. It was a big piece of work by 13 teachers, the social worker and the psychologist, who follow those families where problems exist.
  • finance a speech therapist, who teaches the deaf children to speak and lip-read, giving them the chance to communicate with the world and build an independent life for themselves.

Najdeh was able to

  • prepare & distribute 256 food parcels for the neediest refugee families in the camps of Shatila and Burj El Barajneh, especially those headed by single mothers or with children with special needs (for a total of 1156 people)
  • buy educational materials and books for the refugee children of the kindergartens we support

Teaching the deaf children at FAID:

Distribution of food packages in the refugee camps, funded by us and executed by Association Najdeh:

This year, given the special situation, we thought we really had a big mountain to climb in terms of raising funds. One of our friends, in fact, climbed three of them all in the same day – and raised 4’000 euro for Lebanon Trust in the process! We also had Bingo nights, street collections, an artist selling cat portraits, a friend donating in memory of a loved one, another donating part of her severance pay, another getting us into Amazon’s charity donation scheme, and many just quietly donating. To all, a huge heartfelt THANK YOU.

The “3 Peaks 3 Crosses” Challenge by Kevin Boyle:

Cat portraits, proceedings donated to Lebanon Trust:

A rainy Bingo night in Dublin, for intrepid supporters of Lebanon Trust:

Street collection in Tralee:

Financial Report

Income: donations to Lebanon Trust (Euro) (Dec 1st, 2019 – Nov 30th, 2020)

Fundraising events & initiatives, private donations, corporate sponsorships
Total 14573.54

(Year close Nov 30, 2020; EUR/USD/CHF currency exchange rate: as applied by our bank in Ireland)

Expenditure: Donations to the supported institutions, expenses (Euro)

Bank and other fees (*), web hosting & domains 406.08
Donation to FAID 11385.93
Donations to the refugee camps (Association Najdeh) 10510.08
Total 22302.09
Difference -7728.55

(*) Permanent TSB Forex, PayPal, JustGiving, Benevity

A donation of USD 5000 from Amazon has been arranged for next year (many thanks Mick!).

Our gratitude to the friends who helped this year (Dec 1st, 2019 – Nov 30th, 2020):

  • Kevin Boyle (Tralee) for his fantastic generosity & mountaineering skills
  • All the friends who sponsored Kevin
  • Mick Halpin & family (Dublin & USA), for their unwavering support and generosity
  • Diederik Brasser (NL) for his generosity
  • Patricia Meade, a truly loyal friend (USA)
  • All the Symantec friends (Dublin)
  • Geraldine McGrath (Dublin)
  • St Peregrines GAA Club (Dublin), for their ongoing support
  • Dublin Dumbbells (Dublin)
  • Paul’s Barber Shop, Crumlin (Dublin)
  • All the generous Walkinstown friends in St Peter’s Crescent and St Peter’s Drive for their constant support
  • McCormack’s Cycle Centre (Dublin)
  • O’Neill’s House of Sport (Dublin)
  • Paul Reid Dental Laboratories (Dublin)
  • Kelly’s Welding & Engineering Supplies Ltd (Dublin)
  • Gerard Kelly (Dublin)
  • All the lads at Bisset Engineering (Dublin)
  • Big Mick (Dublin)
  • Brenden & staff at Lilliput Stores (Dublin)
  • Pat Stafford of Stafford Engineering (Dublin)
  • Dolphin Furniture Sales (Dublin)
  • OK Living Kitchens & Bedrooms (Dublin)
  • ProWeld (Dublin)
  • Griffin Digital Print (Dublin)
  • The Terence Welding Company (Dublin)
  • the many, many “Anonymous” donors
  • Mark Drummond
  • Colin
  • Micheál
  • Leahy family
  • Kathleen Curtin
  • Kieran o Shea
  • Gerardine Cotter
  • Joanne
  • Susan McNamara
  • StaceyDeirdre, Joe, Anton and Mary
  • Don and Siobhan
  • Una and Kieran
  • Kevin & Noreen
  • Uncles and auntie Mary
  • Stephen
  • Kayla and Amelia
  • Sharon O S
  • Christine, Nora & Danny
  • Nicola
  • Karen Condon
  • Dee, Tom H, Mike O’D, Sean, Joanne, Niamh,
  • Shane, Adam, Chris, James, Donie, John, Michael H.
  • Anne and Jerry casey
  • Patrick Sullivan
  • Ken and Lisa
  • Joan & Peter
  • The luckiest son in the world
  • Mum
  • Ken and Liz
  • Mike Higgins
  • Bryan and Gráinne
  • Aidan and Sharon
  • Gary, Judy, Lauren and Kerri.
  • Pen and John
  • Monika and the kids.
  • Ryan Boyle
  • Grainne
  • Damien Ginty
  • Michele and Fergus
  • Tracy O Keeffe
  • Sandra and Sean O Keeffe
  • Peter White
  • Trevor Devereux
  • Marion O’Mahony
  • Andrea and the O’Donoghues
  • Gerardine Gardezi
  • Sam
  • David
  • Bernie
  • Anna Galli (Genoa, Italy)
  • Fasciolo (Arquata Scrivia, Italy)
  • Fabio Minotti (Lentate sul Seveso, Italy)
  • Giorgio Margotti (Livorno, Italy)
  • Silvana Falaschini (Livorno, Italy)
  • Fam Zappavigna (Marina di Massa, Italy)
  • Romilda Cocurullo (Genoa, Italy)
  • Enrico & Lilli Bertolotto (Genoa, Italy)
  • Parodi (Genoa, Italy)
  • Devia (Genoa, Italy)
  • Vigna-Mori (Savona, Italy)
  • Stefano Cocurullo (Genoa, Italy)
  • F & M Cocurullo & fam (Genoa, Italy)
  • Luca Baur (Zurich, Switzerland)
  • Iolanda Bianchi (Genoa, Italy)
  • Aquini (Arquata Scrivia, Italy)
  • Ricci (Arquata Scrivia, Italy)
  • Gli Amici di Montaldero (Arquata Scrivia, Italy)
  • Bertolotto-Della Penna (Genoa, Italy)
  • Anna Dal Negro & fam. (Zurich, Switzerland)
  • Fam Bertolotto-Della Penna (Genoa, Italy)
  • MC Ferraro & A Bertolotto, in loving memory of Natale Ferraro (Genoa, Italy)
  • Ole Vossnack (Zurich, Switzerland)
  • Fabio Minotti (Lentate sul Seveso, Italy)
  • Adarsh Vishwanath
  • Holly Elliott
  • Helen O’Mahony
  • Killian Sheehan
  • Nathael Turcot
  • Kalid Alkhairi
  • Sai Prasad Veeranki
  • Puteri Yudhita Widyawati (Kim Jisoo donation)

 

 

Education packs for deaf children financed by Lebanon Trust

Tailor-made education packs for deaf children financed by Lebanon Trust

We feel terrible that we cannot go to Lebanon this year, but still we help our friends of course! This year we sent 25 thousand dollars; 5000 were use in Summer to prepare 76 individual education packs (covering 8 weeks of schooling) and tailor-made speech therapy exercises for the kids at FAID, the school for deaf children that we support since 2008. It was a big piece of work by 13 teachers, the social worker and the psychologist, who follow those families where problems exist.

The parents were grateful for this initiative that helped them continue & follow closely their children’s education. The customized education packs gave the teachers a chance to offer each individual child an education specifically focused on his or her needs.

We are happy that we were able to help these families and lessen their burden in these difficult times in Lebanon, thanks to our generous supporters and donors.

We finance a speech therapist at FAID

Lebanon Trust finances a speech therapist for FAID’s deaf children

We can’t go to Lebanon this year – unfortunately – but we finance a speech therapist to teach FAID‘s children how to speak & lip-read. These are essential skills to communicate with the world and build an independent life.

FAID is a school for deaf children in Beirut that we help since 2008. The financing of the speech therapist for them is part of the 25 thousand dollards that we sent to Lebanon this year, thank to our generous friends and supporters.

Lebanon Trust helps 256 refugee families

Lebanon Trust helps 256 refugee families

At the beginning of August this year, in a particularly difficult moment for Lebanon (due to the huge explosion that rocked the city on August 4th) we sent 5000 dollars to our partner Association Najdeh. With this money, they prepared 256 food parcels, for as many families in the refugee camps of Shatila and Burj El Barajneh. The families were Palestinian refugees, refugees from Syria and local Lebanese, chosen among the poorest – especially those headed by single mothers, or with special-needs children.

The content was entirely purchased locally. The parcels were distributed over the course of several days, along with some printed material about how people can protect themselves from the coronavirus. In total, we were able to help 1156 people.

Thank you friends for your generosity!