September 6, 2006. As we drive from the airport to our accommodation, I can’t help feeling inspired by the Johnnie Walker advertisement situated along the route to Hamra. The bridge in the ad has clearly been destroyed in the middle, but there was Johnnie, having made it to the other side and still going. Crowning the illustration were the words, “Johnnie Walker….Still Walking.” 34 days of nonstop shelling and bombing by the Israeli Defense Forces in Southern Lebanon finally had come to a standstill, and a ceasefire had been declared on August 14th. International NGOs who did not have a presence in Lebanon prior to the 2006 war were flooding in from Cyprus and other surrounding nations, where they had all set up camp after vain attempts to enter Beirut in the preceding weeks, and were now scrambling to identify funding and contribute to the massive rehabilitation efforts already underway in the villages of the South. This included a team from my NGO, which I’ve just joined in Beirut to conduct additional needs assessments and begin establishing our office in-country.
This is my first time in Lebanon, and to come here has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. I just never anticipated that a war would be the reason for visiting this beautiful country. Mike and I arrived to meet Adam who has already jumpstarted the networking and identification of needs and the funding required to implement potential programs. Though IRD is new to the country, it has an impressive track record of successfully delivering relief and development programs in conflict ridden societies such as the former Yugoslavia and Iraq among others, so we are considered a strong implementer despite having to compete for funding in an environment relatively saturated by other humanitarian agencies that have been established for quite some time. Adam brought us up to speed on all efforts underway, and we’ve begun setting out an action plan and deliverables to achieve during the five weeks of our assignment.
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