Beirut Appeal Update

Image courtesy iNews

Thank you for answering our call for help after the massive explosion of 4 August 2020 left Beirut reeling.

You responded to this major catastrophe with amazing generosity, donating a total of $9,472.19. These gifts have enabled Subud members in Lebanon to start helping to fix the extensive damage to lives, homes and livelihoods.

Here is a word of thanks from them along with information on how the funds have been spent.

Dear All,

We are overwhelmed by your love and your empathy that all Subud brothers & sisters showed to us during this critical time when everything was going upside down throughout the time of this catastrophic explosion,

As we planned in the beginning, we divided our help into three parts in order to let the benefit reach the largest number of people affected in different ways:

1.   Hannah Sfeir took charge of helping in the spheres of medication and education (via a priest, Salim) and also of the reconstruction of the Hammoud family’s apartment which was severely damaged.
2.   Subud members worked as a team to help different families and individuals as outlined in this email from Saleema Halabi.
3.   The remaining balance was donated to Beirut Relief, an NGO initiated by Engineering University students directly after explosion, and has been working on ground since then. Here is their report.

With all my love & respect,

Rania Amal Chouman, Subud Lebanon

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

On the behalf of every Subud member in Lebanon and of every beneficiary who received the donation, we thank you for your contribution. It was our first initiation in the name of Subud here, and we’d love to share the experience with you.

Upon receiving the donation, we got a list people affected by the explosion. We contacted them and gathered data. On first of October, our sister Hana Sfeir held a meeting at her place in Ashrafieh. Nadia Yehya, Rania Chouman, Rima Yehya, Talal-Muchsin and I (Saleema) attended. We altogether discussed each beneficiary’s state and the amount to be offered to each. We followed the meeting with latihan. Then Rima, Talal-Muchsin and I, visited each beneficiary home, listened to their experience in the explosion time and to their daily life challenges.

To each one of them, the explosion was severely traumatizing and beyond the mind to believe its massive effects. The closer to the explosion site, the more severe were the injuries and the house damages. Many lost their businesses, jobs and cars. Nearly everyone reported that the renovation support from NGOs is so slow and at times absent. As a result, they had to fix their homes on their own expenses and/or in debt.

We approached them with empathy. We introduced ourselves as members of Subud organization, explained how our organization cares for humanity worldwide and about the offered donation. They expressed their appreciation and deep gratitude with tears, open hearts and genuine prayers for the donors and us as facilitators.

In parallel, our sisters Nadia Yehya and Rania Chouman visited our Subud sister Mary Madeleine whose house was seriously affected by the explosion and offered her a satisfactory amount that allows her to finish the renovation and to support her financially too.

We, Subud members, thank you all for your generosity, and thoughtfulness.  May Almighty God repay you all many, manyfold. May you, your families and countries be ever safe!

Love and respect,

Saleema Halabi, Subud Lebanon

The need in Beirut is immense, so please consider giving (again).