Lebanon is in Crisis
The financial crisis in Lebanon is spiraling out of control. The country’s currency has lost 90% of its value, and prices for basics like food and fuel have reached all time highs. At least 60% of the population lives in poverty, and nearly 90% of refugees from Syria are living in extreme poverty. To make everything beyond worse, approximately 80% of Lebanon’s wheat and corn oil (cooking oil) is imported from Ukraine and 15% from Russia. The price of fuel has increased by 33%, and food prices have risen by 1,000%.
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- In just the last two years approximately 78% of the Lebanese population has fallen into poverty.
- The currency has fallen by more than 90%.
- Food prices have increased by 557% since late 2019 according to the World Food Programme.
- Fuel shortages are causing essential institutions including hospitals and bakeries to cut services drastically.
- Vital medicines are in short supply or just completely unavailable. When life sustaining prescription medicines for diabetes, high blood pressure and other chronic diseases are not available, people die.
What is Mercy-USA doing to help?
Hay al-Tanak Slum Relief
Hay Al-Tanak, the poorest area in Tripoli, is essentially a slum made of tin homes. These homes are completely neglected, unfinished, and lack electricity, fridges, stoves, ovens, and any heating or cooling. In March, 2022, people told us that they had not had any meat for months and often have to choose between buying their medications or bringing in a little food so not to starve.
During the month of Ramadan, 2022, Mercy-USA provided hot iftar meals to all the families there. The next step was to help them by rehabilitating their homes. The conditions in the slum were barely livable and very unsafe. These improvements provided safe and dignified living to this marginalized community.
We replaced items like broken windows; fixed roofs, damaged pipes or latrines; installed doors where there were none, as well as installed solar water heaters where needed. We installed handrails wherever necessary to make it safe for disabled members of the community. These rehabilitation efforts ensured that the homes met the minimum standards any human being should have to be protected from the elements, and provide security from the outside world. Our goal was to make sure these families have a safe space to gather, privacy, adequate water and sanitation facilities.
Free Prescription Drugs for Chronic Diseases
Because of the financial crisis in Lebanon, people are choosing between eating or buying the medicine they need to control chronic illnesses that require daily treatment. Mercy-USA is providing prescription medicines for hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol and cardio vascular disease free of charge. Some of the beneficiaries to this vital program are poor Palestinians in the Beddawi refugee camp, Syrian refugees and poor Lebanese in Wadi Khaled and other various locations in Lebanon. This is a lifeline for those who couldn’t afford their prescriptions. This program will prevent unnecessary hospitalizations and death among the chronically ill.
Free Health and Nutrition Services in Lebanon to the Most Vulnerable
There are over 850,000 registered Syrian refugees, however the United Nations estimates there are approximately 1.5 million Syrians living in Lebanon, meaning that hundreds of thousands are not able to work legally or access services and are vulnerable to exploitation, detention or deportation.
It’s reported that about 90% of Syrian refugee households live in extreme poverty. According to the United Nations, Syrian refugee families are surviving on about $36 USD a month and this number is shrinking with each day that passes.
Um Ayman’s Family Story
Mercy-USA is providing free healthcare and nutrition support to extremely poor families like that of Umm Ayman. She has 4 children with another on the way. The family lives in a substandard
tent home that leaks rain and mud each winter and her husband who suffers from kidney disease struggles to find enough work to cover their basic needs.
Umm Ayman has not had prenatal care for her unborn baby and the rest of her children are on the brink of malnutrition. “I know I should be getting prenatal check-ups for my baby, but we
can’t afford it.”
Now, Mercy-USA community health workers will visit her and her children in her tent home to check on them and provide free healthcare and nutrition support.
We need your help to reach thousands of Lebanese and Syrian refugee families just like Um Ayman’s.
