Provide meals for Syrian and Lebanese refugees

Lebanon and the Damour region in particular are going through a very difficult period. First of all because of the strong fires that devastated much of this area last October, where the families supported by Aleimar live.

The families have fled their homes to seek refuge in the Church. About two hours later the flames also reached the Church and all the people who took refuge there also had to escape from there.

The houses not reached by the flames remained open all night to give refuge to those who ran away. Being a small town, the inhabitants help each other, especially in emergency situations like this.

Nothing like this had ever happened in Damour, a country that surely experienced difficult times in the past because of the War, but for many children this experience was traumatic and will remain in their memory forever.

About 2 or 3 days after these incredible fires, demonstrations against the government also began, which developed very quickly becoming national in scope, asking for the government to be dismissed due to corruption. The rebels occupied the streets during the night and sometimes even during the day. Schools, banks and offices have been closed for weeks. 

The already unstable and precarious economic situation worsened very quickly. To date, for the first time in more than 20 years, the Lebanese Lira has lost a lot of value. All international wire transfers have been blocked and suppliers are no longer able to procure any type of goods to carry on the trade and the normal activities of the country.

All products, including basic necessities, have increased in price and many people have lost their jobs. Small businesses have fallen apart and the situation has become unsustainable in no time. The government eventually succumbed and resigned. They are currently trying to rebuild a new one, as people have been protesting for months now. The situation is critical, the Lebanese are preparing for the worst and are buying all the basic necessities that they are able to find to face the near future, they know that difficult times await them.

Our volunteers are doing the impossible, given the very limited availability of money to be withdrawn from the banks and the greatly increased cost of the raw materials needed to cook meals.
Now more than ever, our help is truly essential for these families who are raising their children in a country where nothing, not even bread, is taken for granted!

Our local partner "Oui pour la Vie" is doing a wonderful work in Damour, Lebanon, providing meals for Lebanese and Syrian refugees! 

“Oui pour la Vie” volunteers adopt a reverse course of action in helping those in need, knocking on doors instead of waiting for people to come knock on theirs. When they go to the poorest streets and houses, they work to meet the basic needs of people, such as the need for food, regardless of their nationality, class or religion.

Their work is fundamental in a context such as the one of Damour. In fact, given the Syran crisis, Lebanon is hosting an ever increasing number of refugees: UNHCR only has registered more than 1.2 million Syrian refugees being hosted in the country. As the crisis of the region continues, pressure grows and relationships between refugees and host communities change. There are clear signs that refugees are become more and more vulnerable. 

What's more is that in October, Lebanese people had to face an additional difficulty: wildfires. For a whole week, Lebanon was swept by catastrophic flames from out of control wildfires. It was estimated that more than 3000 acres of trees have been burned down. Some people even lost their lives while fighting the fires. 

This is why the work of Aleimar and Oui Pour la Vie is becoming absolutely vital and fundamental. Food is a basic necessity for everyone, and nobody should be ever be deprived of it! 

So thank you, from the bottom of our heart. It is thanks to you we have the chance to support all of these families in need. 

Links:

• https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/meals-for-all/

Dear Friend,

You subscribed to receive email updates from Meals for All by GRUPPO ALEIMAR ONLUS, a project on GlobalGiving.

Jeffrey is 7 years old and it’s been a year he has been fighting against his worst enemy: leukemia. Because of this  tumor, Jeffrey is not going to school anymore, is not meeting his classmates anymore, nor is playing with his friends. He has been really weakened by the theraphy, and his whole immune system is  seriously compromised. Hence, the only ones who can be close to the kid are his parents and his brother.

The diagnosis was revealed only this year, after a continuous period of back and forth between his home and the hospital. The fight looks very long: at least two years of chemo and many other therapies!

His family is trying hard to cure him in the best possible way. However, in Lebanon, the health system is entirely private, and it took few months for Jeffrey’s parents to go into debt. His mum had to stop working to have time for him. His dad had to take up a new job in Sri Lanka – far from home, but better paid.

By supporting our project Meals for All, you can help us devoting some money towards Jeffrey and his family.

Believe in this project with us. You can make the difference for Jeffrey, with just a small amount.

Supporting us is very simple: just connect to https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/meals-for-all access the DONATE NOW area and make a donation.

Only one donation is allowed for every single person with a maximum amount of 50 dollars, so don't forget to spread the word and involve as many people as possible!

We have fresh news for you: Miriam and Laura, our Country managers, have just come back from their monitoring trip to Damour! They can’t wait to tell the story of one refugee child….

“When the war started, Abdo had one goal in mind, save his family from what they feared most. He just didn’t know that things will go that fast. He left his wife with four children, the eldest 7 years old, and came to Lebanon to try to find a place to stay and a job. Short after that, the war had reached Aleppo, and Ghazale had to flee with her four children to Afrin. Two months later, Ghazale was able to flee with her daughters to Lebanon. The family lived for four years in Ouzai, one of the poorest banlieues of Beirut. They moved after that to Damour, where the family had two other children, the youngest of which, Basma, is now 9 months old.

Basma suffers from birth from health problems and malnutrition. Since birth her intestines are not functioning properly. Because of that her body is unable to get rid of toxins. At 6 months she did tests that showed high levels of inflammation, malnutrition and severe anemia. The family was getting the needed medicine but was unable to purchase the prescribed milk. The doctor declared that breastfeeding was not giving her any nutrients, but the family could not afford baby’s milk. Because priority was given to medicine, the mother was diluting yogurt in water with the hope that this will help her daughter. Milk is provided to Basma when donated, as was the case of the milk provided by Aleimar”.

As you may already know, the 20^th of June is the World Refugee Day, a very important opportunity for you to support Meals for All. From 00.00 ET on Thursday 20^th of June to 23.59 ET on Friday 21^st of June, GlobalGiving will double your donation!

Only a donation per person is possible, so it would be great if you could engage your friends, relatives and colleagues. Please tell them who we are, what we do and help us spread this call. You’ll make the difference in these families’ lives!

Thank you from the bottom of our heart!

The phenomenon of the arrival of refugees from Syria and Iraq, which had manifested itself temporary humanitarian emergency, is unfortunately becoming chronic and among the local population grows a sense of intolerance for the difficulty in finding a job, and therefore of sustenance. Buy food has a really high cost and, for this reason, our commitment to support the project continues unabated!

OPV volunteers have decided to divide the benefits into two different groups in order to optimize the projects, without having to expand the area of the kitchen area or increase the number of personnel involved and the tools used. A group is made up of people who can reach the kitchen autonomously and pick up their meal personally, the other, instead, is made up of people who can't move, especially elderly people living alone, to whom OPV delivers the meal at home.

Next month the references of Aleimar Miriam and Laura are going to travel to Lebanon and are able to improve the project experience.

Let's believe in this project and would like us to have your support for GlobalGiving Little by Little Campaign: from 09:00:01 ET on Monday, April 8, 2019, to 23:59:59 ET on Friday, April 12, 2019 your donation is worth more thanks to the 50% GlobalGiving matching: for example, if you decide to make $ 10, these become $ 15!

Supporting us is very simple: just connect tohttps://www.globalgiving.org/projects/meals-for-all access the DONATE NOW area and make a donation.

Only one donation is allowed for every single person with a maximum amount of 50 dollars, so don't forget to spread the word and involve as many people as possible!

Links:

• http://aleimar.it/aleimar/