Polish Center for
Lebanon is enduring a severe and prolonged economic depression. The effects of the economic crisis are being felt acutely by citizens, but also by local governments which are unable to provide their residents with access to basic public services due to the lack of subsidies from the state budget and the drastically falling collection of municipal taxes. Thanks to funding from Polish Aid, the PCPM Foundation continues its development mission in Lebanon.
On August 4, 2020, 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate improperly stored in the port of Beirut caught fire and exploded, rocking the entire city, shattering glass in buildings, and causing extensive structural damage in the port. At least 200 people were killed and many more injured in collapsing buildings or from breaking glass. PCPM Foundation was the first Polish organization to start a fundraising and to start helping those in need.
Flooded tents, wet mattresses and ankle-deep water. Every winter the inhabitants of Sammaqiye informal settlements in northern Liban are fighting water that’s flooding their shelters and are struggling with repercusions of the extensive floods year after year. This season was different- first time in years, thanks to the PCPM foundation’s construction work in the field, we managed to control and avoid the flood damage.
COVID-19 pandemic has deeply impacted people all over the world and it was not different in Lebanon. The country was already struggling with a deep economic crisis, so the pandemic and measures taken to fight with it were another blow for the most vulnerable people and to the struggling health system. PCPM with the funding from Taiwan ICDF supported primary healthcare centers with personal protective equipment and know-how, to make sure people can access the healthcare in a safe way.
Thanks to the support of Polish aid, the PCPM Foundation was able to illuminate one of the main arteries in the Akkar district in Lebanon. The road connects the places where Poles help Syrian refugees. Almost 100 solar lamps installed there will improve road safety and reduce air pollution caused by exhaust fumes from power generators.
We took care of Lebanese seniors in a difficult time of the pandemic. We have rebuilt and arranged a safe space in the garden that will allow the oldest residents in Andaket to leave the house. Our help was possible thanks to the financing of Polish aid.
From March 15, 2011, until today, in front of our eyes, over half a million people in one country have died and 13 million have lost their family homes. 40% of Syria is razed to the ground, and the material damage is greater than in Poland after World War II. The drama of millions of people cannot be expressed in words - the armed conflict has affected absolutely every family in Syria, a country where the bloodiest war of this century is taking place.
PCPM Lebanon cash assistance project, funded by Taiwan ICDF, continues to be a helping hand for hundreds of Lebanese and refugee families.