A Story of Resilience in Beirut

Over the past year and a half, Lebanon has been suffering. In mid-2019, the economy collapsed and it has continued to decline rapidly. The COVID-19 pandemic has left millions of people without work and therefore no way to put food on the table. Then, in August of 2020, a massive explosion took place in Beirut, leaving thousands of people with destroyed homes. Maryam* explained that, “all buildings were highly damaged, for we are very close to the port… inside, all the windows exploded.” UMR had been working in Lebanon since the first economic collapse, providing food parcels and cash vouchers to those in need. But after the blast, we knew we needed to do more. Therefore, we decided to reconstruct people’s homes that were destroyed in the blast. Additionally, because people were desperate for work, we hired local workers to do the job in hopes that it would help them earn enough money to keep them on their feet. After we completed the repair on Maryam’s home, she thanked us profusely and asked us to please continue helping Lebanon in any way that we can. UMR completed hundreds of repairs all throughout Beirut after the blast. We are fully committed to helping Lebanon become a stable, peaceful country once again – no matter how long it takes.