Safe road, irrigation of farmland, clean water. Polish aid in Lebanon

Road repair after a fire, canals to irrigate farm fields, riverbed cleaning, and solar panels to provide electricity. Help is preceded by a thorough analysis of the most needed support in northern Lebanon.

– We are in the final stages of building a retaining wall and improving traffic safety on the Kubayat-Hermel road. This road is crucial for the hundreds of Kubayat residents who use it daily to drive home and to work. Also, it is the main route connecting Akkar province to Bekaa province,” explained Jean-Claude Semaan of the PCPM Foundation.

The road was destroyed by fire. The fire burned all the vegetation in the area, causing the subsequent heavy rains to flow rapidly down onto the roadway, causing extensive damage. Before repairs, this mountainous road was 1.5 meters wide, posing a deadly danger to drivers who could not pass each other on such a narrow stretch.

The Foundation worked with the Qubayat municipality and the Akkar Disaster and Emergency Management Office to obtain the necessary work permits. The work includes the construction of a retaining wall with water culverts so that future floods will not threaten the road. The road will also be illuminated with lanterns powered by solar energy. Traffic lights and signage will be installed at the site to increase driver safety.

This is one of the activities of the PCPM Foundation, part of a three-year project funded by the Polish Aid program of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Reduce the risk of a cholera epidemic

Supporting drivers is just one element of assistance intended to improve the situation in various areas of Lebanon. The PCPM Foundation also focuses on agricultural development by cleaning the riverbed and building irrigation canals. Local cholera epidemics regularly break out in Lebanon. This is partly due to sewage getting into the water that irrigates farm fields. That’s why the PCPM Foundation has been building irrigation canals for several years, bringing clean water from the mountains. This helps counter the spread of infectious diseases and increases crop yields and farmers’ income.

In Lebanon’s prevailing economic crisis, any support that generates income is vital. South Lebanon, where the conflict is taking place, is the most brutal hit. Numerous raids and the white phosphorus used in them have contaminated the land. Farmers have been unable to harvest crops from 12,200 hectares of farmland.

The north of the country is relatively less affected by the war, and the PCPM Foundation is helping. Unfortunately, this region also struggles with an economic and refugee crisis; every support is needed. In recent months, PCPM has built more than 1,600 meters of irrigation canals.

Earlier, the Foundation cleared 2,500 meters of the Al-Ostuan riverbed in Akkar province.

-Last year, the river overflowed, endangering the lives of residents in the area and causing huge losses for farmers. That’s why we have widened the bank and cleared away the lingering debris before winter comes and the currently dry riverbed turns into a rushing torrent. This will allow residents and farmers to sleep more soundly and not worry about next year’s crops,” says Elie Keldany of the PCPM Foundation.

Lebanon also has a power shortage. The state provides only one hour of electricity daily, and residents rely on generators to support themselves. For several years, PCPM has been installing solar lanterns along public roads and providing solar kits to Lebanese families, who are thus more independent. Currently, PCPM is upgrading one civil defense post by installing photovoltaic panels. In Lebanon, civil defense posts are a public emergency medical service that handles patient transport, search and rescue, and firefighting operations.

The PCPM’s activities in Lebanon, under a project funded by the Polish Foreign Ministry’s Polish Aid program, are planned for the next three years.

For more than 12 years on the ground

The Polish Centre for International Aid Foundation has been helping in Lebanon since 2012. As the only Polish NGO registered in Lebanon, it has been helping victims of the war in Syria since the beginning of the crisis, as well as Lebanese families affected by the worst economic crisis in decades.

PCPM’s main focus is in the country’s north, including along the Syrian border. For years, the Foundation has been helping Syrians in Lebanon and Syria itself, and for several years it has also been helping Palestinianhttps://pcpm.org.pl/bezpieczna-droga-nawodnienie-pol-uprawnych-czysta-woda-polska-pomoc-w-libanie/s in the West Bank. Therefore, PCPM is looking at the situation throughout the region. With the rapidly changing situation in Syria and the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime, PCPM will respond as needed and possible. Currently, the Foundation is focusing on its work in Lebanon, where Syrian refugees are also beneficiaries.