Immediate aid to Beirut blast survivors

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On the ground in Beirut

Bring critically needed support to the survivors of the Beirut blast now! The AMURT Lebanon team is already on the ground, immersed in intensive relief work and urgently needs your help!

As you know, a massive explosion rocked the center of Beirut on Tuesday, devastating nearly half of the city, shattering windows, flattening cars and collapsing buildings. The AMURT Lebanon team immediately began its disaster intervention, even as team members were still themselves recovering from shock and minor injuries from flying shards of glass. Mercifully, nobody in the local team was severely injured or died during the explosion.

Get meals to front-line workers

Right away, AMURT Lebanon began preparing daily meals for the front-line medical workers at Rizk Hospital, which lost its staff cafeteria in the blast. The hospital was already treating a spike in COVID-19 cases before the disaster. Now it is flooded with blast victims, with doctors and nurses struggling to keep up. We have started with a commitment to provide 280 meals per week and anticipate that the number of meals needed will quickly increase. With just $160 you can offer nutritious meals to 40 doctors and nurses for two days.

Support the Rapid Response Team

Meanwhile, we have formed a rapid-response team for this effort. Fadia and Talal are coordinating the efforts and Tarek is attending UN disaster coordinating meetings and conducting assessments. They are networking with small community-based organizations to find an emergency field office and location for providing services. There is a massive need for post-traumatic counseling. Tarek reports that many children are separated from their missing parents, and have been temporarily accommodated in schools.

AMURT Lebanon has gained years of expertise in offering post-traumatic counseling, support and specialized services for children during its work with Syrian refugees. There will be a need to scale up our intervention quickly. Funding the rapid response team’s salaries and logistics will cost $2025 / week.

Equip Volunteer Rescuers

In Lebanon, a lot of the search and rescue operations are done by volunteer civil defense responders, who have been jumping in without equipment, returning coughing from the dust, their hands scratched and bleeding from moving rubble bare-handed. Our team wants to equip these local heroes with proper gear. A respirator mask and gloves for one rescuer costs $75.

Take Quick Action

We urgently need you to take quick action. Not only can you ensure that immediate food relief gets directly to the front-line workers at Rizk Hospital that desperately need it, or that search and rescue teams have protective equipment – your support will have a very important multiplying effect.

Multiply your Impact

The AMURT Lebanon team has years of successful, high-quality relief work with Syrian refugees and is well-positioned to receive big grants from international partners that know and trust us. While this disaster will only get media attention for a few days or weeks – the recovery process is going to take months and months. AMURT Lebanon can build on its successful experience and offer important trauma-relief programs, direct services and reintegration projects.

Please share this with all of your network and bring immediate aid and long term rebuilding to the people here in Beirut!

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Beirut Situation Report

• 300,000 people were displaced
• More than 160 people have lost their lives so far, and 100 are still missing. More than 5,000 people were injured.
• 3 hospitals and at least 12 PHCs were destroyed
• A rapid needs assessment was conducted by ACTED in Geitawi, Karanina, Bourj Hammoud, Nabaa, and Karm El Zaytoun. The assessment found out that people in Karantina, Karm El-Zeytoun, and Bourj Hammoud are extremely in need of cash assistance, shelter, food, reconstruction, livelihoods, and PSS. More than 80% of the buildings in Karantina are either partially or totally destroyed and thus are not inhabitable.
• Karanina, Bourj Hammoud, Nabaa, and Karm El Zaytoun were some of the most vulnerable neighborhoods in Beirut even before the explosions.
• In Bourj Hammoud, most people didn’t leave their houses even though many of these houses are damaged and may not be inhabitable.
• At least 150,000 people are currently in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.
• According to UNICEF, there might be up to 100,000 children who might be homeless, or without water and electricity.

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