Laudie holds a shoebox in her hands. When we introduce ourselves, she hugs it and caresses it. She’s been living with the nuns on the outskirts of Byblos for three years. She has a round, ordinary face of an elderly lady, her eyes show how much she can enjoy the little things. She never stops smiling, even though there are not many reasons for joy left.
“Come! I have something to show you.”
Laudie opens the box and looks through photos from the past. She spreads out her paper memories on the bed. For decades, she raised the children of wealthy Lebanese families. She dedicated herself to them entirely. It didn’t leave any time to create her own home and start a family.
“No one visits me. Fuel is very expensive. They are probably unable to come” – the eighty-year-old explains. She really wants to believe that is the only reason. She hesitates for a moment. Finally, she shakes her head and wards off unwanted thoughts. She smiles again.
Double mastectomy, circulation problems, unemployment, savings permanently frozen in the bank, no income, and loneliness. Each of these tragedies can be fatal. Laudie bears them all.
“I am not alone. There are Sisters, there is Doctor Elias, and there are you. I receive medication. I have something to eat. I still have reasons to thank God.”
The crisis in Lebanon has turned everything upside down. In 2021, the World Bank declared what is happening there as the largest economic collapse in modern history. That declaration doesn’t really matter. There’s still a shortage of everything. It’s up to us whether there will be a shortage of kind hearts. Laudie and our other beneficiaries in Lebanon need you.