The community of Lebanon has sent us a new witness: it is part of the drama that the Christian and Muslim population of this small nation are living, and it is a witness that the commitment for peace and solidarity wins over fear, hatred and violence. 

Those who would like to contribute help by sending money, they can do so through AMU (see note at the end).

The Witness

I was in my car. Traffic was very slow and  I  could see that  supermarkets and  big shopping centres were very crowded. The look on people’s faces was sad or rebellious. It was only in my car that I could sense that  which I thought has been forgotten.

 As I  was  listening all the time to a radio station that warns against any danger that can crop up any minute, once again I could hear the same note on Flash Information Radio Liban, the one  we  have been listening to during the most difficult and terrible moments of the long war.  It is a note that has stuck to our ears and it continuously makes us shiver: “Here is the news:  the villages of South Kleya, Debl, Marjehyoun and many other localities are in a very critical situation.  Crowds of people are sheltering in churches and in townhalls because  they are in great danger. They are appealing for help to evacuate the sick, the handicapped, the old, the wounded. . . They lack food and medicines, and they have neither water nor electricity. This is a state of emergency, a situation that cannot last for a long time. . .

After a few seconds I hear the same sad voice: “The outskirts of Zahle` have been intensely bombarded; the central electric power station has been damaged. We appeal to everyone to stay indoors unless it is extremely necessary to go out.”

My mobile phone rings: it is a friend of mine who lives in Achrafieh, Beirut. She asks me to find a safe place for her mother. . .

Yes, this time war is presenting a new danger: it is destroying a nation, a people. . . This war is being fought by distructing bridges, roads, all public and private infrastructure. All regions are being targeted; not one region is being spared: the south, Bekaa, the north, the coast, Beirut. There is danger everywhere. The people are exhausted. And by the look of things, the end does not seem to be near. . .

But . . .
. . . amidst  this hell and state of general desolation, there is always a ray of light,  of new energies that give hope, motivate and encourage. . .

This is what is happening in IRAP (a rehabilitation centre for the deaf and dumb):  there are crowds of people in the big hall, in the corridors, in the classes that have been transformed into lucky places of shelter.

One  tries to establish contacts with social institutions to coordinate help. Rolls of toilet paper, blankets, foodstuffs, medicines for small children who risk to suffer from acute diarrhoea, are being transported to a  centre in Bourg Hammoud  where people  are finding shelter.  Matresses and clothing are being donated by the Lebanese themselves to help families with small children.

We try to contact our friends, who live in the south and who are isolated wihout any help.  But many telephone lines have been destroyed.

The will to live and make others live does not die out even though the possibilities are very limited.

Christians, Muslims, Schiiti and Sunniti, all  share the same fate, and they are united because they  are all  prey of  the same violence. They  are united because they are Lebanese, they love their country and they are faithful to their roots.

This spirit of solidarity is kept alive. We, ourselves must build the peace  we strife for, sustained by prayer; we must build it inside us every moment being ready to always start afresh. This is the way to win the sentiments of fear, hatred and violence that want to destruct us.

A group of young people has left our Centre to go to help others. One of them said: “We have lived ‘heavenly moments’ here”. I said to her: “May you bring this heaven to the places where you go.”

This is the greatest richness we try to give to those around us. We need all kinds of goods. Many people  lost everything. But above all we need friendship, solidarity and prayers.

For yet another time “The Country of cedars” will be born again, it will live! The hope of Claudel and the faith of the great saints are alive in us.  Our Lady of Harissa  protects this small country, the garden of God, “a piece of heaven on earth”, that everyone wants to possess, as a Lebanese singer says.

We launch an appeal to all our friends, to all organisations that have already collaborated with us: start a chain of prayers, a chain of help.  Mobilize the public opinion in favour of the sovereignity of Lebanon. Every act of solidarity is welcome!

From the group at IRAP:  Janine and Mona

How to help:
Association: “Action for a United World”
NGO – Via Frascati, 342 – 00040 Rocca di Papa (Roma) – Italia
Bank Account No.  640053
Bank:  Sanpaolo IMI, Ag. di Grottaferrata (Roma) ABI  01025  CAB 39140 CIN M

International Bank information needed for contributions from other  foreign countries:
IBAN IT 16 M10 2539 1401 0000  0640 053 BIC IBSPITTM – “Emergenza Libano”

In Italy one may also use the conto corrente postale 81065005, made out to AMU, indicating the address of the NGO and specifying the project one wishes to support.

The “Action for a United World” (AMU) association is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that is inspired by the spirit of unity of the Focolare Movement.  It aims at universal brotherhood,  promoting projects of cooperation for the development of countries and peoples while fully respecting their  social, cultural and economic realities.