AMERICAN wOMEN'S cLUB of lEBANON

American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) Naef K. Basile Cancer Institute

As the economy crises continues in Lebanon, simple over the counter medicines are in short supply.  Unfortunately,, common drugs such as aspirin and ibuprofen can not be found.   For cancer patients at AUBMC, these types of medicines are crucial.   In June of 2022, CSF reached out to the American Woman's Club to collaborate on fund raising ideas.   While discussing the needs, an idea came to the mind of our president - she was traveling to the United States and could bring back these meds at a fraction of the cost (if they can even be found) in Lebanon.  As a result of generous donations by AWC family members in the US and a shopping spree at WalMart pharmacy in the US, AWC was able to secure and return to Lebanon with an entire suitcase of over the counter meds!   

Father Robert Institute for the Deaf and Mute

   The first visit to the Father Robert Institute for the Deaf and Mute in Sehaile was made  a year ago on January 24, 2020! Father Robert first came to Lebanon as a chaplain in the British army in 1942. Realizing the lack of help for the deaf and mute, he returned in 1959 and seven years later founded the charitable institution that bears his name.  The institute has since been run by Sister Patricia. 120 children, from 6 months to young adult, board at the school during the week and go home for the weekend.  Most, if not all, are from very poor families.  The focus is on early education, specialized education and training, and professional job training for the deaf and mute children. There are teachers in both English and French. Many of the teachers were former students. At present boarding at the school is no longer possible due to COVID-19. A number of children come in for treatment and there is an attempt at remote learning.

COVID-19, subsequent numerous lockdowns, and the financial crisis affecting all NGOs delayed an AWC donation. But finally the Caring Committee was able to help with Sister Patricia’s request for a much needed heater. With an approved Lebanese lira budget from the board and a generous donation of fresh dollars from the states, the heater was delivered on Friday, December 18, 2020. Just in time for the winter cold. Mr. Merhi from Merhi Stoves was generous in that he accepted the remaining dollar amount needed to pay for the heater to be in Lebanese lira considerably below the black market rate thus thus saving money for the remaining Lebanese donated to the school to pay for food supplies for the children

Blankets for Beirut

It took a while, but the Blankets for Beirut project has been accomplished! The fresh dollar donation from the states paid for exactly 56 standard size blankets. 4 more were donated by a member and 3 from the wholesaler for a total of 63!  The blankets were donated to "We Stand Together", an initiative founded after the port blast by Abed Hatahet, a project manager for Arcenciel. Mr. Hatahet has developed a data base of the needs of NGOs. It provides a link between donors and the needs of beneficiaries. The AWC will be provided with a confidential list of the families who receive the blankets as is the policy for donations. They were picked up on December 16. With the winter cold fast approaching, it’s great to know the blankets will help keep families warm

Ayadina’s Soup Kitchen

"Cooked & Served from our hearts with your generous donation to Ayadina Association”

Ayadina is an NGO the AWC Caring Committee has had a long relationship with beginning in 2005.  Now in 2019-2020 as the economic situation in Lebanon continued to worsen and Covid 19 to spread, it became apparent at Ayadina that the members of the Senior Citizens’ Club who could no longer socialize on the premises would need extra care.  Ayadina decided to open a Soup Kitchen in April to meet this need. Now every Thursday about 70 seniors are offered a takeaway hot meal along with a salad and dessert. Some of them live with other family members who also rely on these takeaway meals to survive. Keeping the soup kitchen open continues to be a challenge financially. In keeping with the AWC’s long relationship with Ayadina, the Caring Committee made a donation in November to support the Soup Kitchen for 2 Thursdays.

The second half of this donation went to prepare a meal for Eid el Barbara on December 8. Grace, the cook at Ayadina, said that our donation allowed more protein to be added to the meal. Also that she was able to stock up on some still good but soon to be expired food items offered at a reduced cost. On December 22 the Soup Kitchen prepared a takeaway Christmas meal. AWC members who attended the Coffeelicious Christmas Cookie Exchange baked an extra dozen to be donated as the dessert. The cookies were most appreciated. A big thank you to all members who joined in the Christmas spirit of giving!

Avance School for Epilepsy and Special  Needs

Christiane Haddad and Sherry Mikadisha visited the Avance School for Epilepsy and Special  Needs on November 10, 2020.  We were pleased to know that the damage caused to the school by the Port blast had been repaired with the help of the Lions Club.  The founder of the school, Arlett Honein, continues to struggle financially though but is determined to keep the school open.   At present, the students attend in two shifts with only 6 students in each classroom.   AWC was able to help with our donation to purchase much needed supplies for the children such as cloth masks, face shields, sanitizer, construction paper, crayons, pens, and notebooks to name some. The pictures here illustrate our donation.  In addition to our donation, we put Arlette in touch with the vice president of Beytna Beytak, an NGO we donated to, who passed on the additional needs of the school to other NGOs in her network. Hopefully she will receive additional help

The AWC Heart Pillow Project

The heart pillow project in partnership with the Lebanese Breast Cancer Foundation continues to bring comfort to women who have had a mastectomy.  In early August, 30 heart pillows were delivered to Zeinab in the LBCF office at AUH. Once again she expressed what a comfort they are to mastectomy patients.

Thanks to the sewing skills of Material Girls group, there is a large supply of pillows just waiting to be stuffed and sewn closed! Once we can hopefully have our monthly general meetings, pillow stuffing will be on the agenda

DiaLeb

On October 9, 2020, our treasurer May Safi met up with Dr. Jackie Kassouf at the DiaLeb office to present her with our donation for the purchase of diabetes medication. She has since reported that our donation will help twelve people for two months.

Below is the acknowledgement of our donation.

Dear AWC team, 

Hope this email finds you well. Thank you for your donation to the DiaLeb - National Diabetes Organization. It really makes a difference for people with diabetes and other chronic disease in our community. Your financial support helps us to continue our mission of providing diabetes medication for people in most need during these difficult times