Escalating since October 2019, the political and economic crisis is driving Lebanon to the brink of bankruptcy. The tragic situation has been exacerbated by a gigantic explosion of chemicals stored in Beirut’s seaport. The middle class has virtually ceased to exist. Educated citizens are fleeing hyperinflation, rising unemployment, power cuts and fuel shortages.
03.11.2023
“No one visits me. Fuel is expensive. They probably have no way to come,” explains the 80-year-old. She very much wants to believe that this is the only reason. She hesitates for a moment. Finally, she shakes her head and pushes away unwanted thoughts. She smiles again.
Laudie holds a shoebox in her hand. When we introduce ourselves, she cradles it and caresses it. She has been living with nuns in the suburb of Byblos for three years. The old lady’s round, plain face, her eyes betraying how much she can enjoy the little things. She never stops smiling, even though she doesn’t have many reasons to be happy anymore.
“Come on! I have to show you something.”
Laudie opens the box and looks through photos from the past. She spreads out paper memories on the bed. For decades she raised the children of rich Lebanese. She devoted herself completely to them. She ran out of time to create her own home and start a family.
A double mastectomy, a circulation problem, no job, savings frozen in the bank for good, no income and loneliness. Any one of these tragedies can kill. Laudie carries them all.
“I am not alone. There are the sisters, there is Dr Elias, there are you. You give me my medication. Thanks to you I have something to eat. I still have something to thank God for.”
The crisis in Lebanon has turned everything upside down. The World Bank declared in 2021 what is happening here as the biggest economic collapse in modern history. However, nothing has come of it. Everything is still lacking. It is up to us to make sure there is no shortage of good hearts here. Laudie and our other wards in Lebanon need you
22.01.2024
On Grandma’s Day, our thoughts turn to the elderly women who will receive no flowers today. Perhaps they are forgotten by all. We think of 80-year-old Laudie, a senior living on the outskirts of Byblos, Lebanon. The nuns took her in when she lost everything. No one visits Laudie, even though she devoted her life […]
07.12.2023
“Without your help, life would be unbearable.” “What do you dream about?” “I don’t dream about anything anymore. I don’t want to bother anyone with my dreams. I like to talk to people. I miss my son.” We meet a man in a nursing home on the outskirts of Beirut. His name is Fawzi. He […]
11.10.2023
When Hamas entered Israel on Saturday morning, Charbel’s list of worries grew even longer. Charbel does not want war. -“Everything has already collapsed in Lebanon. We don’t need a war to not know how to keep living.” Hezbollah has shelled Israeli positions and announced an incursion into Israel. This is enough to drag the whole […]
