For the past year and a half, Lebanon has been enduring a severe and prolonged economic downturn. According to the World Bank, the current economic and financial crisis ranks among the top 3 most severe since the 1800’s. Since late 2019, the socio-economic depression has been worsening; the Lebanese pound has lost more than 90% of its value, and over 60% of the population is below the national poverty line. The Lebanese economy has all but collapsed in the face of the compounded effects of an economic and financial crisis, COVID-19, and the Port of Beirut explosion.
The international community, along with the IMF, who have historically aided Lebanon in previous dire situations, have made it clear they will not provide any support to the country in the absence of serious initiatives and planning by the state.
We at the Atallah Foundation have been closely following the dire situation in Lebanon since its early stages. After months of collecting information on the most affected regions from our local contacts, we put into motion the campaign we had been preparing for since we were certain no relief was going to come from the Lebanese government or any regional or international cohort.
The month of June, 2021, marked the launch of our first aid initiative in the Bekaa valley region, targeting the distressed health sector. We donated and delivered 1,200 IV serum bags to the regional hospital “Al Mahaba Hospital” in the town of Deir El Ahmar. The health institution was in desperate need of IV serum due to a shortage in local production.
The following week, we supplied 40 underprivileged families with healthy and nutritional food boxes, providing them with a couple of months’ sustenance. Not unlike the majority of Lebanese employees, the breadwinners of these families were being paid with the devalued “Lira.” Considering the exponential rise in the prices of basic goods and the now negligible value of their already low monthly stipend, these suffering households were on the brink of famine.
After walking through the eerie, hollow neighborhoods of Deir El Ahmar during the strict COVID-19 lockdown and safely interacting with the poverty-stricken locals, we were undeniably in the right place at the right time. We decided to double-down on the initially planned missions. This region is going to need all the assistance we can muster.
