Help us to help the people of Lebanon!

We need your help to support the millions of men, women, children and elderly struggling like never before in Lebanon - a small, beautiful yet very troubled country far from the safe and prosperous shores of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Lebanon, le Liban or lubnan as it is known in the country’s 3 languages, is suffering a devastating crisis that is almost invisible to us here in Aotearoa New Zealand.

You might remember the terrible explosion in August last year at the port of Beirut which was called the biggest non-nuclear blast in history. News of the horrific day briefly went viral on social media - the port and 3 hospitals wrecked, 215 people dead, 7500 injured and 300,000 homeless.

Since then, other catastrophes have captured the headlines around the world, but the tragedy in Lebanon is continuing and compounding - out of sight and out of mind.

We need your help to change this.

8 months after the explosion, this is the situation in Lebanon:

• Shortages of food with skyrocketing food prices, including baby formula and diapers

• Shortage of essential medical supplies such as Panadol, surgical masks and prescription medication

• Shortage of candles and batteries in a country where electricity is available only a few hours per day

• Crisis in hospitals with dangerously low supply of essential medicines to keep people alive (we’re not just talking ventilators, we’re talking all basic necessities to keep hospitals running and Covid and non-Covid patients alive)

• Ordinary people cannot access their life savings (and there is no social security)

• Astronomical devaluation of the currency (as seen in Zimbabwe and Venezuela) – an average salary worth $800 per month is now worth $60

• Massive inflation so that food is five times more expensive than in 2019 (the Lebanese army can no longer feed its soldiers meat)

• Over half the population is living below the poverty line (with hunger riots in the streets, and increasingly people eating out of dumpsters)

• Business closing daily and unemployment skyrocketing

• Hundreds professionals fleeing the country daily and emigration applications flooding embassies worldwide

All of this is happening against the backdrop of a global pandemic and TWO refugee crises that the world has forgotten about. Lebanon is host to 1.5 million refugees from Syria and 0.5 million from Palestine - the wold’s largest refugee population per capita, which places a further massive burden on the already dwindling infrastructure.

Lebanon has no functioning government and international aid has ceased due to complex geopolitics and rampant corruption, leaving the people with no safety net, no support and for the first time NO HOPE.

Throughout Lebanon’s troubled history, the Lebanese spirit has always been synonymous with hope and resilience. Sadly, both of these are running in short supply. The people of Lebanon have not only lost their jobs, their savings and any possibility of a security net, now they have lost hope in the future. The anguish and suffering they are experiencing is a grief for the expat Lebanese community worldwide.

The need is big, it’s real and it’s urgent.

FOR LEBANON WITH LOVE is a fund-raising initiative put together by the Lebanese in New Zealand to provide assistance to the country in crisis.

Can you help please??

The links below are to the donation pages of 2 established and reputable international NGOs that are known for providing help to the most vulnerable individuals and communities:

- Caritas - http://www.caritas.org.lb/donate-form.php

- The Lebanese Red Cross - https://supportlrc.app/donate/donate_guest.html

Please contribute what you can – even small amounts add up to make a difference. The price of a coffee in NZ is about 8 % of the average monthly income for more than half the population of Lebanon.

Please support Lebanon with Love.