The entire day was a very surreal experience, as we were finally at the heart of this country, away from the hustle and bustle and modernity of Beirut and in rural, traditional Lebanon. The south enjoys a very beautiful terrain that is primarily devoted to the agriculture sector. In nearly every village we visited, construction and rebuilding efforts had already begun under local leadership, and it was very clear that the people have suffered this havoc far too many times. The ability to get back up on their feet and immediately deal with their needs demonstrated a resiliency that reminds me very much of the Tamils in the Northeast of Sri Lanka. It was very difficult visiting some of the sites of previous carnage, particularly those where the last Israeli attacks occurred. The grave sites still remain. I will never forget this experience.
We found out that one of the proposals we submitted has been awarded funding from the donor. Under the Lebanon Emergency Relief and Employment program, we will be providing farmers vouchers to restock on the required seeds and tools to jumpstart agriculture activities and provide mirco and small enterprises micro-grants to replenish their inventories and restart business in order to support immediate income generation. The next couple of weeks will be primarily dedicated to setting up this program, ironing out the methodology for implementing the proposed activities, and completing the recruitment of staff before I head to our Jordan office.
No comments:
Post a Comment