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.“