What we did in 2019 |
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Dear friends and supporters,
despite the volatile situation in Lebanon, due to continued protests against mismanagement of public money and corruption, in November 2019 we went to Lebanon to visit the Institutions that we support thanks to your donations. They are: the Father Andeweg Institute for the Deaf (FAID), two kindergartens for refugee children, and the Home of Home, for orphans and street children.
This was our 12th consecutive visit to FAID, School for the Deaf in Beirut, which teaches about 80 children, Christian and Muslim alike, and refugees from Syria; many receive full boarding during the week. We restored and repainted the room for vocational teaching, where the children will be taught the art of hairdressing. We also did much maintenance to the school building, fixed and installed a door for the clinic and cleaned up the garden.
Towards the end of our stay, all the pupils gathered in the school’s courtyard to celebrate (and eat sweets).
Thank to your support, we were able to
- donate 8000 dollars towards speech therapy, so that the deaf children can learn to speak and lip-read, necessary skills to become independent and support themselves;
- donate 2000 dollars to buy heating oil for the classrooms (winters are cold in Lebanon!)
- buy equipment and materials for the work we did
We also visited the Home of Hope, an institution for orphaned and street children. They are now creating a vocational training programme, to make sure that the children can leave the institute equipped with professional and life skills, to become independent and build their own future.
We were able to donate 3000 dollars towards this programme, on behalf of our generous donors. We also brought sport equipment and clothes, thanks to O’Neills House of Sports in Dublin.
We went back to the refugee kindergartens in the camps of Shatila in Beirut and Burj el–Shemali in the ancient city of Tyre in the South of the country. Despite the poverty and squalor surrounding them, these kindergartens are oases of gaiety and serenity, painted in bright colours and spotlessly clean. The children, aged 3-5, play and learn how to read and write in Arabic and English. The staff are very resourceful and super-motivated. As always, they welcomed us with great hospitality and a veritable feast of Palestinian delicacies.
Thank to your generosity, we were able to donate 3000 dollars to each kindergarten towards teaching material for the children and maintenance of the buildings.
Finances
Income: donations to Lebanon Trust (Euro)
| Fundraising events | 1555.00 |
| Private donations, collection boxes, sponsorship cards | 9219.02 |
| Corporate sponsorships | 8515.92 |
| Total | 19289.94 |
(Year close Nov 30, 2019; EUR/USD/CHF currency exchange rate: as applied by our bank in Ireland)
Expenditure: Donations to the supported institutions, expenses (Euro)
| Web hosting & domains, Paypal/banking commissions |
178.15 |
| Hardware & materials, transport, logistics, local labour | 1191.21 |
| Donation to FAID | 9243.85 |
| Donation to the Home of Hope | 2773.15 |
| Donation to Shatila refugee kindergarten | 2773.15 |
| Donation to Burj el Shemali refugee kindergarten | 2773.15 |
| Total | 18932.66 |
| Difference | 357.28 |
Our volunteers displayed a great imagination in devising ways to raise funds: Christmas swims, street collections, raffles, cake sales, quiz nights, office collections, etc.
Our special thanks to the friends who helped this year:
| • Mick Halpin & family (Dublin & USA), for their fantastic, generous & constant support • All colleagues at Symantec (Dublin) • Paul’s Barber Shop, Crumlin (Dublin) • Anna Galli (Genoa, Italy) • Geraldine McGrath (Dublin), for her amazing cakes! • McCormack’s Cycle Centre (Dublin) • O’Neill’s House of Sport (Dublin) • Paul Reid Dental Laboratories (Dublin) • Gerard Kelly, Kelly’s Welding & Engineering Supplies Ltd (Dublin) • Pat Stafford of Stafford Engineering (Dublin) • A. Bertolotto & MC Ferraro (Genoa, Italy) • Martina Merkle (Zurich, Switzerland) • Big Mick & all the lads at Farleng Engineering (Dublin) • Ole Vossnack (Zurich, Switzerland) • Fam. Liverini-Swanström (Zurich, CH) • Fam. Delfante-Cocurullo (Genoa, Italy) • Anna Dal Negro & fam. (Zurich, CH) • Giovanni Zappavigna & fam. (Massa, I) • Elena Prola-Smith & fam. (London, UK) • Fam. Bertolotto-DellaPenna (Genoa, Italy) • Milda Cocurullo & fam. (Genoa, Italy) • Enrico & Lilli Bertolotto (Genoa, Italy) • Fam. Parodi (Genoa, Italy) • Fam. Devia (Genoa, Italy) |
• The Silicon Valley Community Foundation (USA) • The Symantec Foundation (USA) • St Peregrines GAA Club (Dublin), for their ongoing support over the years • Patricia Meade (USA), for her generosity • Kelly’s Welding & Engineering (Dublin) • The Terence Welding Company (Dublin) • ProWeld (Dublin) • Brenden & staff di Lilliput Stores (Dublin) • Dolphin Furniture Sales (Dublin) • Lufthansa Airlines • ChAir Airlines • Advanced Car Rental (Beirut) • All the generous Walkinstown friends in St Peter’s Crescent and St Peter’s Drive for their constant support • Carla & Natale Ferraro (Genoa, Italy) • G. Margotti & S. Falaschini (Livorno, Italy) • Fam. Fasciolo (Arquata Scrivia, Italy) • Fam. Pellegrini (Genoa, Italy) • Fam. Aquini (Arquata Scrivia, Italy) • Fam. Ricci (Arquata Scrivia, Italy) • Fam. Vigna-Mori (Savona, Italy) • Fabio Minotti (Lentate sul Seveso, Italy) • Catherine e Adrian Ruf (Zurich, CH) • Chaithra Vishnu (India) • Community Foundation of Collier County, Florida (USA) |