Solidarity in Action

Solidarity in Action continues to support local intercommunal initiatives throughout Lebanon contributing to alleviating the burden of the multifaced crisis Lebanon is facing.

During the last few months, Solidarity in Action (SIA) supported several initiatives:

Maeve’s Kitchenin Saida, South Lebanon is a community soup kitchen providing daily hot meals for underprivileged individuals and families mainly orphans, widows, and people with special needs. in Saida and surrounding regions. Through SIA, Maeve’s Kitchen was able to provide daily hot meals for 40 individuals. The initiative was a catalyst for change in the area as it encouraged other individuals to support families in different ways such house rehabilitation.

Human Fraternity Initiative in Tripoli and North Lebanon is an initiative that promotes living together and human fraternity in North of Lebanon and especially Tripoli. Through SIA, this initiative provided food assistance to 90 families, medicine assistance to 90 families along with children stationary distribution. Furthermore, the initiative included a celebration day held on February 4, 2024 on the occasion of Human Fraternity Day joining local dialogue and fraternity pioneers from the North and declaring Tripoli as a City for Human Fraternity and celebrating its diversity.

Rouyouf initiative in Jbeil, Mount Lebanon is a local organization providing support to those in need. Through SIA, Rouyouf provided cash assistance to 11 Lebanese and Syrian families in need from different villages around Jbeil. The aim of this cash assistance was to support families in securing their livelihood during the winter season especially after the major devaluation of the Lebanese pound.

Syria Earthquake Relief Support – After the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria causing massive destruction and loss of thousands of lives several organizations launched relief support. Through SIA, two organizations were supported to provide immediate relief support to those in need in Syria. Support included housing and basic necessity assistance.

Al Mabarrat Charity Association – is a local charity organization supporting orphans and providing them with education and support. Through SIA, the association was supported in its mission to provide furher education support to orphans in need.

Saint Sauveur School in Jeita, Mount Lebanon is a private school in Jeita that has students from different backgrounds. Due to the current situation in Lebanese schools there was a need to rehabilitate classes to be adequate for students. Through SIA, the school was able to renovate classes and refurbish them with the needed tools for students to comfortably learn.

Annual Saint Elias Parish’s Iftarheld at St. Elias Church in Downtown Beirut. Every year members of Adyan Networks are invited to break fast during Ramadan period with parish members. This year Ramadan and Lent coincided and it was another occasion to live the common meaning of fasting in both Christianity and Islam. Through the support of SIA, iftar food was prepared through the community kitchen “Maryam’s Kitchen” a soup kitchen providing more than 1000 daily hot meals to those in need. 58 individuals took part of the Iftar.

In partnership with different NGOs and individuals around Lebanon, Adyan Foundation worked on implementing various initiatives through its Solidarity in Action project. These initiatives aimed at providing psycho-social support, house repairs, food security, and rehabilitation of schools and small businesses among other social welfare projects in different regions around Lebanon.

Psycho-social Support

Given the lack of services provided by the state, accompanied by a fragile education sector, especially in the Northern areas of Lebanon, female prisoners have often faced a challenging time reintegrating into society. Therefore, this initiative provided 20 psychological support sessions for inmates in Tripoli Central Prison to restore their self-confidence and help them re-integrate successfully into society at the end of their sentence period. It also aimed at promoting self-development and self-affirmation so that prisoners can successfully rebuild their lives and minimize the risk of re-committing crimes.  

Another psycho-social initiative is the “Better Together” project which included children and youth between the ages of nine and eighteen. The program sessions involved various topics such as protection information, well-being activities, psychological and social distress, coping mechanisms, conflict resolution, critical thinking, societal integration, and acceptance of others. The project took place in Al-Ouzai, an underprivileged and neglected area situated on the coastline of Beirut, and that has been suffering from lack of public services and poverty which was further aggravated by the Lebanese economic crisis.

Supporting schools and educational initiatives

Beqaa American Academy School first opened its doors in 2019 to welcome kindergarten students, then decided to expand to other grades as well. Nevertheless, many challenges hindered preparations in light of the exacerbated economic crisis that Lebanon has been witnessing. The initiative aimed at providing the necessary assistance for the school to prepare the third-grade class and equip it with the necessary tools, giving all thirty students of the second grade a chance to continue their education. The initiative is still in progress, as implementers are currently preparing more classes to host a higher number of students in the upcoming years.

Another initiative that tackles education is the “Après école” (After-School) project, which aimed at providing tutoring assistance for students of the Christian Parish of Mar Maroun – Haret Sakher in their schoolwork. The project was launched as a response to the Covid-19 outbreak that led schools to rely on online learning. Given the current economic crisis across the country, it has become harder to secure electricity and internet regularly. As a result, parents are no longer able to help their children respond in a timely manner to school assignments. Therefore, the initiative provided support for young teachers to give children after-school tutoring sessions and prevent them from failing their classes.

Food security and essential supplies

In an attempt to fight food poverty, the Lebanese House Establishment for the Environment took the initiative to organize an activity entitled "The Inclusive Environment and Living Together". They gathered families from underserved areas, including four Christian villages and five Druze villages in the Chouf Governorate.

The initiative aimed at inviting twenty families to Ouâdi Dardoûrîtin Mount Lebanon to socialize and promote reconciliation, citizenship, acceptance of others and coexistence, especially after the previous tensions between the two sects. The attendees participated in social bonding activities, then cooked meals and ate together, after which they took food parcels back home to their families.  

Another initiative was carried out by Home of Hope, where current and previous members prepared meals twice a week for thirty individuals in need to reduce food poverty and promote healthy living.  

Mariam’s kitchen was established in the aftermath of the Beirut Blast, as an attempt to offer aid to the individuals who were severely affected by its repercussions. Afterwards, this project expanded to involve regions from all over Lebanon. As part of the initiative, Mariam’s kitchen organized several events and activities during the holidays that included children, the elderly, parents of Beirut blast victims, and other vulnerable groups to promote social bonding and provide food parcels.

House repairs and Shelter

The initiative aimed at supporting two religious leaders from different sects in Lebanon to refurbish and rehabilitate their homes, in light of the current economic crisis. They were given a new kitchen, furniture, and other home improvement tools and supplies with the goal of consolidating cohesive social relations and aiding vulnerable individuals and families. These two religious leaders are considered prominent religious references to the people of the region and their homes are a place for meeting and dialogue.

Support for Volunteers

Beit El Diafeh is a Lebanese NGO located in Jounieh. It was established 30 years ago in an effort to help families in need. During the holiday seasons, the foundation organized different events and activities to help families, children, and the elderly enjoy Christmas. The initiative aimed at offering the necessary support for volunteers in the project to encourage their efforts and promote social welfare.