It's been over 3 years of the Mission of Domus Orientalis and Caritas Łódź in Lebanon!

117 renovated/equipped apartments and other facilities, assistance in reactivating/opening 41 workplaces, installation of nearly 150 solar lamps, distribution of 3,000 boxes of a baby formula, 190 packages, etc... For us, numbers are nothing else than the people behind them, their real stories that we process together with them. Stories that mark our path of solidarity. Helping in reconstruction, delivering packages etc. should be just a beginning of real support. It's a quick stitch up of a bleeding wound. However, treatment must be comprehensive: it must help people get back on their feet, above all by rebuilding their dignity and self-confidence. What helps with this? Culture and education help with this. "Give a job!" helps. Giving their children a smile helps with this.

St. Michael's Church in Beirut served as an operational center  for many NGOs after the explosion. We found ourselves there too. And although today we still provide emergency assistance and continue renovations through this place, something new is being created there: the Cultural Center. This is "our" place where the Young Team of Domus - YBTE - is forming itself by creating projects like: "Wojtek Helps", " The Book Corner", "Gardens of Lebanon"... Then YBTE implements these projects at the streets of Ain el Remmaneh - experienced with pain and the uncertainty place - where we have our office and help people, learning from them this how this complicated world works.

And what says best that what what we are doing makes sense and brings good? The fact that people whom we helped to install windows now appears in the Cultural Center: either as participants of the "Elderly Week", or at a Book Corner's meeting, or with their children at workshops "Young Gardens of Lebanon". And your faith in us is further proof that we are going in the right direction! We have learned a lot over these 3 years, although we still have a long way to go.

Many organizations have left Beirut, for us this is just the beginning. We stay here, we stay in Aleppo. As our dear Cardinal G. Ryś said, "until the very end", until help is no longer needed :)

Fund transfer information:

IBAN Number for USD: PL11 1140 2004 0000 3712 0693 5417

IBAN Number for EURO: PL16 1140 2004 0000 3512 0693 5425

IBAN Number for PLN: PL 70 1140 2004 0000 3002 7483 9388

BIC/SWIFT: BREXPLPWMBK

Recipient name: Stowarzyszenie “Dom Wschodni – Domus Orientalis”

Recipient adres: Ul. Piotrkowska 80, 90-102 Lodz, POLAND  

Transfer title: Solidarity with Beirut