Author Archives: Lebanon Trust

Lebanon Trust and the refugee kindergarten of Burj el-Shemali in Tyre, south Lebanon

Visit and donation to the children of the Burj el-Shemali refugee camp in Tyre, south Lebanon

Also this year we went to the Association Najdeh‘s kindergarten in the refugee camp of Burj el-Shemali in Tyre, south Lebanon.

The kids are delightful and learn Arabic and English. The teachers and their coordinator are bright and really dedicated. They all make the most of a difficult situation. This is a fantastic place to see. On behalf of our donors and supporters, we left a donation of 2000 dollars. Thank you all!

The kids pay attention during an Arabic class

and learn geometry in Arabic and English, at age 4:

this old minubus takes them home

a view of the refugee camp, and some Lebanon Trust volunteers enjoying a meal on the street

  

the beautiful fishing port of the old city of Tyre

The Home of Hope in Lebanon

A visit and donation to the Home of Hope in Lebanon

In early 2017 we reported Amir’s story – a deaf Syrian boy with no family, who was welcomed by FAID school for the deaf. Amir is a boarder at FAID and spends the weekends at Home of Hope Lebanon.

Home of Hope welcomes ~55 street or orphaned children, feeds and clothes them, and gives them a home and an education. Raghida and Brady, director and education director respectively, explained to us how they operate and gave a us a tour of the house. We were impressed. On behalf of our donors and according to Home of Hope’s wish list, we bought 100 pairs of Crocs in many different sizes and socks and underwear. O’Neills Sportswear from Ireland donated footballs, to the delight of the children.

Thank you friends!

 

Shoes, underwear, footballls donated on behalf of our generous supporters

Beirut’s Armenian quarter, where we went shopping with Home of Hope’s Brady

100 pairs of shoes filled our car’s booth and the back seat

Lebanon Trust’s ever biggest project

The playground “Francesco Lo Torto” –  a large project done by Lebanon Trust’s volunteers

A brand new playground for FAID‘s youngest children! This year we re-worked the kindergarten’s playground from scratch. There were 400 thick rubber tiles (50×50 cm, and quite heavy!) to remove and clean by hand; a new smooth, 10-cm thick, reinforced-concrete floor to make; the same 400 rubber tiles to put back & glue properly; an old & rusty iron and barbed-wire fence to remove and a new chain-link fence to install; a tree to prune and a wild overgrowth to remove; existing toys to clean and fix and new toys to buy and mount; benches, hand-rails and the gate to paint. We did it all, thanks to all our generous friends and supporters, and in particular Tiziana Virgilio. Thank you very much!

The new playground was dedicated to the memory of a friend, Francesco Lo Torto.

The old fence, part of the playground:
 
 We work in good spirits to remove the and clean the 400 rubber tiles:
the playground in now ready for renovation, and the iron rods for the reinorced concrete:
     
the cement mixer and the crane-pump came at night, and started work right away:
the making of the cement floor:
  
the new floor is ready – a reason for celebration:
as soon as the cement was solid, we started working right away on the new fence:
and on the rest – there’s definitely much work for everyone:
a bit of decoration: arabic and western numbers being painted here:
the new playground is ready – waiting for the children now:
 
The ribbon-cutting ceremony! Children and teachers are delighted:

Lebanon Trust and the kindergarten of the Chatila refugee camp in Beirut

Lebanon Trust and the kindergarten of the Chatila refugee camp in Beirut

Like every year, we went to the refugee camp of Chatila, in the heart of Beirut, where about 25’000 people – long-term residents and more recent arrivals from Syria alike – live in dire conditions. We visited our friends at the immaculate kindergarten run by the Association Najdeh, where Mariam the supervisor, the teachers and all the children welcomed us with open arms, songs and cheers. On behalf of our donors and supporters, we donated 2000 dolllars.

Wonderful news from Lebanon – 2017

We are back from Lebanon!

We are back home after a very intense, very successful two-week trip to Lebanon. We worked at FAID, the school for the deaf we have been helping for ten years now, we visited and donated to two refugee kindergartens, and bought 100 pairs of shoes and assorted underwear for street children. We also met many associations and schools doing great work for children and refugees. More news to follow!

Our volunteers’ annual trip to Lebanon

Our volunteers’ annual trip to Lebanon

In early November we will leave for Lebanon once again, for our annual support trip to FAID, the school for deaf children in Beirut that we support since 2008, and to two kindergartens for refugee children in Beorut and Tyre (south Lebanon).

We have many projects to complete and a lot of work to do. All support more than welcome!

Our generous friends in Arquata Scrivia, Italy

Our generous supporters in Arquata Scrivia, Italy

 

Marina’s friends in Arquata Scrivia have demonstrated their extraordinary generosity: more than EUR 900 have been raised for the children of the Father Andeweg Institute for the Deaf in Beirut, at Marina’s birthday party on Saturday August 26.

A huge THANK YOU to Marina and all her friends in Arquata Scrivia!

 

A fabulous fundraiser in Dublin

A fabulous fundraiser in Dublin

On Thursday July 27th our Chairman Christy Kinsella – with the help of many generous friends – ran a cake sale and raffle in Dublin. It was a very well-attended event, with a great participation throughout the day.

More than €920 was raised, between cash and donations at the tills.
Many, many heartfelt thanks to everyone who donated cakes, prizes and to those who purchased cakes and tickets. We are overwhelmed by your support.

Symantec will match your generous donations.

Thank you Tralee!

A successful street collection in Tralee today

Today’s street collection in Tralee  raised EUR 395 in favour of our projects in Lebanon. Many hearfelt thanks to all who donated and those who helped!

Fundraiser in Tralee on Saturday June 17

Fundraiser in Tralee on Saturday June 17

Lebanon Trust’s marvellous Noel Conway & friends will have a street collection in Tralee on Saturday June 17, from 9 am to 6 pm. Anyone willing to lend a hand is more than welcome! Please contact Noel at 0877562436. Thank you all for your generosity and support!

News from FAID: help delivered to even more deaf children and adults

The Father Andeweg Institute for the Deaf helps deaf children & adults all over Lebanon

This year The Father Andeweg Institute for the Deaf (FAID) expanded its activities, in an effort to reach out more vulnerable children among not only the Lebanese, but also Syrian refugees and any other refugees living in Lebanon.

FAID’s staff have recently been in the Akkar region in the North of Lebanon and in the Bekaa valley, where they visited refugees camps and checked on children and elderly people with hearing loss. FAID is now going to provide more than 200 hearings aids for free – and also the necessary subsequent assistance and maintenance. From experience, they know that giving away hearing aids without backup and follow up in learning how to use them, maintenance etc … does no not work out.

In this regard, FAID’s goal, working together with local NGOs, is to design a simple, easy-to-deliver program, that concentrates on simple exercises around learning to hear/understand sounds; learning to speak by using speech software programs and music; thinking skills, self-esteem and survival skills. This program will be taught in simple task-oriented workshops to dedicated volunteers from the Syrian Refugee community in FAID. The motto of this work is: learn a little, teach a little, learn a bit more, teach a bit more.

Crowdfunding for a really good cause

Crowdfunding for a really good cause

Late last year we wrote about Warda and Assad, and their amazing story.

The two deaf children were found by John Van Rooy in dire conditions in an informal camp for Syrian refugees in Lebanon. John is a young American who was working as a volunteer in the Bekaa Valley. He was moved by what he saw, and started a crowdfunding collection to be able to secure education for the children. In just 3 months he managed to raise enough for Warda and Assad, who started studying at The Father Andeweg Institute for the Deaf, attending school as boarder (with all meals and overnight stay).

Now John and his friend and fellow teacher Sean Tribe are going back to Lebanon. In order to support more Syrian children, whose lives have been devastated by war, he has started a collection – please visit the page and contribute if you can!

Lebanon Trust meets UNHCR Ireland

March 2017: a meeting with Jody Clarke, Media and Public Affairs officer for the UN Refugee Agency in Dublin

Lebanon Trust had a meeting in Dublin with Jody Clarke, Media and Public Affairs officer for the UN Refugee Agency in Ireland. A very useful and fruitful discussion – Many thanks to Jody for his time and interest!