Help our friends who lost homes in Beirut blast
Donación protegida
Dear friends abroad,
As you now certainly know, there was a big explosion on Tuesday the 4th of August in Beirut which resulted the displacement of more than 300 thousand people, the destruction of more than 10 thousand building constructions, and more than 150 dead and 5 thousand wounded ; some people haven't been found yet. Among the houses destroyed were those of our friends, who lived less than 1km away from the explosion, between Gemmayze and Mar Mikhaël. They now need to repair their houses and get back some basic necessities, and this is the reason we are creating this crowdfunding.
Life in Lebanon has been difficult since October, with the economic crisis and the sanctions on Syria ; our friends being themselves mainly (but not only) part of the Syrian or Syrian-Palestinian communities in Lebanon, they do not have access to any functional support system. We are trying to react fast and collect money to help specific people who need it, so they can survive this immediately difficult situation. Western Union is accepting to give dollars without any added fees for a short period of time, so locals can get the totality of the money, and we want to use this time window to send as much support as we can. The 3 of us have lived in Lebanon and are still very connected to the friends we made there, it is quite difficult not to be able to do much from afar but we're hoping this will already be something.
Any amount, no matter how small, will make a difference. Feel free to contact us or our friends directly for any questions, or more information <3 thank you !
The 2 people who will be responsible for getting the money and redistributing it as needed in Beirut are our friends Shadi J.and Zaki H.
PS : if you know of opportunities to work or study abroad for Middle Eastern people please contact us and we will give more details.
Julie-Yara Zimmermann Atamaz-Sibai
Leila Zimmermann Atamaz-Sibai
Lama Ghanem
Pictures of the neighbourhood they live in.
A few words on the status of Syrian or Palestinian people in Lebanon:
Syrian Palestinian communities had the status of Palestinian refugees in Syria, as such they are not eligible for any support in a third country; one cannot seek refuge twice. Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are themselves in a situation where the Lebanese government doesn't allow them to work outside a list of 20 specific jobs and often end up living in permanent camps where a big part of the Syrian community has now joined them. In addition to that, the Lebanese government often leave Syrian workers and refugees undocumented and only few had had the opportunity to register with UNHCR, leaving Syrian and Syrian Palestinian communities in Lebanon generally marginalised and vulnerable.
Details of how the money will be distributed:
The official value of the Lebanese pounds is currently half its market value. For that reason, the funds need to be sent in USD and withdrawn in USD. There are currently two ways to do so. The first one is through a so-called fresh dollar account, an account where the beneficiary can receive the money in USD without it being devalued by being automatically exchanged to the Lebanese pounds but these are rare, only few people have those, generally only those working internationally. The other way is through Western Union which generally redistribute the money in Lebanese pounds at the official exchange rate but is currently distributing it in USD.
We intend to send the money to Zaki and Shadi by either one of two ways depending on how the situation evolves. It will be initially withdrawn by me, Leila, in GBP and subsequently converted to USD to be send to Lebanon (unfortunately we were not allowed to create the fundraiser directly in USD as it requires being a resident of the US).
If we can ensure that the money will be distributed in USD then the money will be sent through Western Union directly to Shadi or Zaki. If Western Union only distributes the money in Lebanese pounds, we have decided to send it through the fresh dollar account of a trusted friend who will then deliver the money to them in cash. Should you want any further information we're happy to be contacted directly at any point.
As you now certainly know, there was a big explosion on Tuesday the 4th of August in Beirut which resulted the displacement of more than 300 thousand people, the destruction of more than 10 thousand building constructions, and more than 150 dead and 5 thousand wounded ; some people haven't been found yet. Among the houses destroyed were those of our friends, who lived less than 1km away from the explosion, between Gemmayze and Mar Mikhaël. They now need to repair their houses and get back some basic necessities, and this is the reason we are creating this crowdfunding.
Life in Lebanon has been difficult since October, with the economic crisis and the sanctions on Syria ; our friends being themselves mainly (but not only) part of the Syrian or Syrian-Palestinian communities in Lebanon, they do not have access to any functional support system. We are trying to react fast and collect money to help specific people who need it, so they can survive this immediately difficult situation. Western Union is accepting to give dollars without any added fees for a short period of time, so locals can get the totality of the money, and we want to use this time window to send as much support as we can. The 3 of us have lived in Lebanon and are still very connected to the friends we made there, it is quite difficult not to be able to do much from afar but we're hoping this will already be something.
Any amount, no matter how small, will make a difference. Feel free to contact us or our friends directly for any questions, or more information <3 thank you !
The 2 people who will be responsible for getting the money and redistributing it as needed in Beirut are our friends Shadi J.and Zaki H.
PS : if you know of opportunities to work or study abroad for Middle Eastern people please contact us and we will give more details.
Julie-Yara Zimmermann Atamaz-Sibai
Leila Zimmermann Atamaz-Sibai
Lama Ghanem
Pictures of the neighbourhood they live in.
A few words on the status of Syrian or Palestinian people in Lebanon:
Syrian Palestinian communities had the status of Palestinian refugees in Syria, as such they are not eligible for any support in a third country; one cannot seek refuge twice. Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are themselves in a situation where the Lebanese government doesn't allow them to work outside a list of 20 specific jobs and often end up living in permanent camps where a big part of the Syrian community has now joined them. In addition to that, the Lebanese government often leave Syrian workers and refugees undocumented and only few had had the opportunity to register with UNHCR, leaving Syrian and Syrian Palestinian communities in Lebanon generally marginalised and vulnerable.
Details of how the money will be distributed:
The official value of the Lebanese pounds is currently half its market value. For that reason, the funds need to be sent in USD and withdrawn in USD. There are currently two ways to do so. The first one is through a so-called fresh dollar account, an account where the beneficiary can receive the money in USD without it being devalued by being automatically exchanged to the Lebanese pounds but these are rare, only few people have those, generally only those working internationally. The other way is through Western Union which generally redistribute the money in Lebanese pounds at the official exchange rate but is currently distributing it in USD.
We intend to send the money to Zaki and Shadi by either one of two ways depending on how the situation evolves. It will be initially withdrawn by me, Leila, in GBP and subsequently converted to USD to be send to Lebanon (unfortunately we were not allowed to create the fundraiser directly in USD as it requires being a resident of the US).
If we can ensure that the money will be distributed in USD then the money will be sent through Western Union directly to Shadi or Zaki. If Western Union only distributes the money in Lebanese pounds, we have decided to send it through the fresh dollar account of a trusted friend who will then deliver the money to them in cash. Should you want any further information we're happy to be contacted directly at any point.
Organizador
Leila Sibai
Organizador
England