Lebanon Trust’s 2015 results

Lebanon Trust Chairman Christy Kinsella delivers the financing for the school bus and classroom heating to FAID	Two young deaf pupils at FAID, refugees from Syria
Two volunteers at work at FAID.	Some of FAID’s deaf pupils, in their school uniforms, during recess.
Lebanon Trust made a donation to the kindergarten of the Burj el Shemali refugee camp, Tyre	Lebanon Trust volunteers deliver their donation to the Chatila kindergarten head teacher Mariam, in the refugee camp
A refugee child at play. The kindergartens are an oasis of calm and safety in the overcrowded refugee camps.	The Chatila kindergarten has a small playground on the roof, the only available space in the refugee camp; the children love it

In November 2015 Lebanon Trust’s volunteers again travelled to Lebanon for their work in support of the Father Andeweg Institute for the Deaf in Beirut and of two kindergartens for refugee children, in the refugee camp of Chatila in Beirut and in the camp of Burj el Shemali in Tyre, in the South of Lebanon. The total amount donated in 2015 slightly exceeded last year’s.

Lebanon is in a critical situation due to the war in neighbouring Syria. Refugees make up one in four of the population, the highest proportion in the world. The UN Refugee Agency has a 50% funding shortfall ahead of winter. Violence spilling from across the border creates a volatile environment. During our stay, nearly 50 people lost their lives in a twin suicide bomb attack in Beirut.

Our volunteers’ mobility was partly curtailed for security reasons.

Like every year, our donors will receive a detailed financial report.

A brief summary of our results in 2015:

• The Father Andeweg Institute for the Deaf (FAID) in Beirut: one year’s worth of funding for the school bus, the electricity generator and the classrooms’ heating. Total: $ 8000.
• Kindergarten of the Chatila refugee camp in Beirut: on-going financial support for books and educational material, $ 3000
• Kindergarten of the Burj el Shemali refugee camp in Tyre: on-going financial support for books and educational material, $ 1000
• Partial re-painting of the school’s external walls; general building maintenance work; pruning of all trees, removal of dead or dangerous branches and plants. Clean-up of the playground, garden, courtyard, outside perimeter. Painting of windows, handrails, roof gutters, external doors and gates. The tools and material have been purchased by Lebanon Trust, and the work carried out by the volunteers themselves and by local staff paid by Lebanon Trust: total $ 800
• Evaluation of the work done by FAID and discussion of their plans and needs; meetings with their management (Director and Board), with the staff and pupils; further definition of our mode of collaboration
• Field visit to the Chatila refugee camp in Beirut and its kindergarten; inspection of classrooms, roof playground and educational material financed by Lebanon Trust, meeting with the teachers, the children and the schoolmaster
• Field visit to the Burj el Shemali refugee camp in Tyre and its kindergarten; inspection of new and refurbished classrooms and playground; meetings with pupils, teachers and head teacher; detailed discussion about their needs and plans

For the eighth consecutive year, in 2015 we worked at the Father Andeweg Institute for the Deaf (FAID) in Beirut. Last year’s changes in the school management have yielded very positive results. Staff members are motivated, new initiatives are undertaken, the school premises are well kept and there are many ideas, of course limited by the very scarce resources available to the school.

The school hosts many Syrian refugee children, referred by the government. Many of them are traumatised by war and violence, and the youngest have never attended school, having come of age during the war. Despite this, at FAID they learn and progress, however slowly, thanks to a safe environment where they find warmth and friendship. The school provides them with hearing aids and individual therapy free of charge.

It is a delight for us to meet FAID’s pupils year after year – thriving, taller and taller, more and more talkative, full of life and happy to see us, too. Their speaking skills get better and better thanks to FAID’s speech therapy.

The Chatila refugee camp in Beirut hosts hundreds of families from Syria and is now overwhelmingly crowded. The Burj el Shemali camp in the historical city of Tyre hosts many Syrian refugees as well, mostly of Palestinian origin, in addition to its original population. The camp kindergartens that we support strive to offer a haven of calm, order and safety to their pupils despite these extremely difficult conditions. The Burj el Shemali kindergarten recently managed to build a new classroom in the tiny space it has at its disposal, and refurbished its small playground. The children learn reading and writing in Arabic and English. The teachers are extremely motivated, active and welcoming; they make the most of the limited resources they have. This is very encouraging for us and, we believe, for our donors as well.

Lebanon Trust donated toys, colouring books, pens, balls, etc. to the kindergarten and a total of $ 4000 for additional educational material.

The necessary funds have been raised through:

• Private donations
• Proceeds from the publication of MC Ferraro’s latest book (in Italian)
• Corporate sponsorships
• Events: parties, raffles, quiz nights, disco nights, etc
• Sponsorship cards
• Collection cans