Hadn’t it been for the volunteers, Beirut would have died twice

Photo: Patrick Baz/ AFP

Report by Elia Nasrallah

The catastrophe that hit the heart of the capital Beirut on the 4th of August, at a time where the country was drowning in an endless cycle of political, economic and health crises. On that day, the scale was tipped, during which the Lebanese people lived horrifying and difficult hours in a tragic black cloud.

But the very next day, the Lebanese rushed to the streets of the destroyed capital, and before scenes of massive destruction, they stood in solidarity to save their injured capital, in complete absence of the government. The Lebanese people, especially youth, refused to have their dreams buried in these streets, that turned into war-like zones; rather they wanted to saw hope to rebuild their Beirut.

Volunteers rushed to remove rubble and glass... and to even support those affected psychologically and physically. They remained alone in the destroyed streets until the concerned associations and institutions started launching the disaster plan and organizing work on the ground through the limited capacities available to them. In addition, there is all the hard work that the civil defense volunteers and the Lebanese Red Cross is still doing until now.

About these volunteers and with them is the following.

The relief operations are still in progress

Two months after the blast, volunteers were continuing their relief work on the ground. Adel Berbary, a Lebanese guy, decided to devote his time to helping Beirut and its people. On the fateful day, after reassurance about his family and loved ones, Adel and his friends decided to visit the affected cities to check the damages and contribute in the relief of their capital and its people. Adel said the following "it was the first time I feel like I belong strongly to my country Lebanon! I wanted to stand with the affected people and support them". The young volunteer did not expect to see a wounded and afflicted Beirut; nor did he expect to see the scenes of destruction and fragments of glass that covered the ground in Gemmayzeh and Mar Mikhael, where they used to gather with joy and entertainment. His great regret was for his school " Sacré-Coeur " in Gemmayzeh, which was badly damaged, and where he has beautiful memories.

With an individual initiative, as all the volunteers, Adel and his friends cleaned the streets and public places, and removed the rubble and glass ... The hardest thing they went through, at the beginning, was the disorganization of work, "because we did not know the best ways to carry out our tasks" Adel explained. That was until he joined “Rise Built Beirut” association, where his biggest challenge began. Therefore, through his skills and experience in interior engineering, he was able to contribute in the restoration of houses and support the affected cases in an organized way. With great sadness, he listened to the stories of the families he visited to check the damages in their homes. "The biggest responsibility, in addition to my duties as an interior engineer, was to support every individual who is hurting, in order for them to regain hope without letting them feel lonely in the midst of the tragedy”. What was even more painful for him was consoling families who lost a member.

Adel called on the Lebanese people to remain in their country and continue making efforts to restore Beirut. He also indicated that one of the most important needs today, in addition to the restoration, is to help the affected citizens psychologically. He hoped that the associations working on the psychological treatment would increase their efforts to accompany these families who have faced a severe trauma.

The story of a Lebanese firefighter

Photo: Mohammed Azaker/ Reuters

The firefighters made huge efforts during the relief operation, especially in the first days following the explosion; Charbel Salameh was one of them. While he was going to his place of work, Charbel received the news of the disaster, he rushed immediately to his station to accompany his colleagues to Gemmayzeh and Mar Mikhael, while being psychologically prepared to face the repercussions of one of the biggest disasters. Therefore, their first mission was to evacuate the buildings, and to search for the wounded and the injured. They found many bodies in the houses and also found many survivors praying on candlelight, as they were asked to leave their homes, after refusing to evacuate. At the end of this mission, the firefighters team moved directly to the port of Beirut, as Charbel said, where they were searching, for 7 days, for the victims of the silos, in the offices; and when finished, they started working under the rubble. Salameh added that many foreign teams joined and supported them to accelerate the searching operations using their advanced equipment. He also mentioned that the number of Lebanese volunteers was insignificant in comparison with the size of the affected areas. It was also very hard for them to remove the rubbles of the silos building, due to its reinforced foundations and the lack of necessary and advanced equipment, as well as an adequate training to face such a disaster.

Charbel is still unable to overcome his sadness over the port victims whose bodies were found even weeks later, and the repercussions of his shock did not end. The young volunteer has passed through difficult psychological times, despite of the fact that he was trained on the first firefighters mental health’s rule, which is separating the feelings during relief operations. However, the scenes of the massive destruction in Gemmayzeh and Mar Mikhael, in which he spent his most beautiful memories with his friends, hurt him a lot. Moreover, he was sad seeing the elderly sitting in front of their shops, facing an unknown fate after their livelihoods were completely destroyed.

After this harsh experience, Charbel hoped that the concerned parties would develop ways of coordination between them, and receive the authority to take appropriate decisions and develop the plans to face emergencies and disasters. He also continued his work on the field by participating in the establishment of a new association for families that did not receive any kind of aid, in cooperation with many international partners.

Amidst this catastrophe, a ray of hope appears with the relief work in the field. Perhaps Beirut will rise from its ashes and life will return to all the affected Lebanese who have been hurt and affected by this disaster. It is true that aid was offered generously from all friends around the world following the explosion, but Beirut needs a lot of support at all levels. Many families are still homeless till now and hospitals have not yet been able to receive patients in many of their departments ... Winter is coming and the danger of Coronavirus is increasing in Lebanon. Who will support the Lebanese? and who will help them overcome these difficult times in the absence of governors?

Communication and Public Relations Department