After Iman Wehbe welcomed us into her humble abode located in Nahr El-Bared camp, she opened her heart and explained the gravity of her family’s financial situation. Iman is a mother to five children who struggles with their necessities. “I haven’t bought Tala any winter clothes. Like any kid, she asks for toys, and I tell her that we’ll get them soon. But soon is never soon enough” Iman talks about her youngest daughter Tala who’s only four years old. Tala goes to her KG eager to learn, happy to play, and loves presents, and today knowing she got a coupon for $50 worth of winter clothes she’s ecstatic.
This coupon was part of the project, “Enhancing the seasonal preparedness of 3,400 marginalized Palestinian refugee children residing in Beddawi and Nahr El- Bared, Lebanon 2022” that was launched with the support of the Lebanon Humanitarian Fund and Taawon and in partnership with the Women’s Program Association and Beit Atfal Assumoud. This project is set to reach all the 3,400 kids inside the KGs located in Nahr El-Bared and Beddawi camps, securing warmth for them this winter.
“Tala rejoices with new clothes and today with this coupon, I’ll make her happy again!” Iman chokes up.
Tala’s family relies on the income of her barber father. “My husband’s income used to suffice but now even though he works from dusk till dawn, the money is never enough,” Iman says. “We used to be able to buy meat regularly, that is obviously not the case now as we can’t even afford it once a week. We can’t even deal with our daughters’ necessities! This is why I am so grateful for this coupon and thank all parties involved”.
And in another alley inside the Nahr el-Bared camp lives a boy named Youssef. Every morning Youssef and his siblings are off to school with a bag full of books and an empty lunchbox. Youssef’s mother Hiba tells us with tears in her eyes how her husband has been jobless for two months. Not generating any income given the crisis in Lebanon is stifling enough but imagine how crippling it is for a family of seven?! “My youngest child is two years old and needs everything between diapers and clothes, we can’t afford the bare minimum” Hiba cries.
Under the “Enhancing the seasonal preparedness of 3,400 marginalized Palestinian refugee children residing in Beddawi and Nahr El-Bared in Lebanon” Youssef, who attends the Beit Atfal Assumoud preschool got a $50 voucher to buy winter clothes. Hiba affirms that Youssef was in desperate need of a jacket to keep him warm on top of needing new underwear which has become a luxury. “We buy fruit once a week,” she says choking up. Hiba and her husband have been in survival mode trying to make a penny last double its worth by cutting back on necessities like the essentials of a lunchbox and living day to day.
One coupon takes care of one need for only one child of Hiba. We sincerely hope the times are easy on them.
