As the minibus pulled inside Hamdanieh refugee camp in the snow covered Bekaa, the passengers fell silent. Most had never seen a refugee camp before, let alone one in the aftermath of a brutal winter storm. The aim of the trip was to aid distribution process firsthand. “We live in such a bubble…there are all these houses made of plastic, of nothing, and then you look up and there’s this huge villa meters away.” Read more here.
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The concert for the unity of Lebanon will be held this Saturday. At the Forum of Beirut, several artists and celebrities will host this event to promote national unity.
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LAU students have been busy in December. Young students have organized various events to raise funds to help the poorest in society. They subsequently bought clothes and food they generously distributed to needy families in all regions of Lebanon.
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More than 4,500 people donated bags full of clothing and blankets to a collection at BIEL Saturday in a gesture of support for Syrian refugees in tent settlements in Akkar and the Bekaa Valley who have faced sub-zero temperatures and heavy snowfall over the past week.
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Medical and social centers have long catered to the needs of the socially isolated elderly, most of whom have no contact with relatives. At times the onus to take care of them falls on the goodwill of nonprofit organizations, raising the question of whether Lebanese society has lost touch with values that once held the elderly in high esteem.
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Employees at Beirut’s international airport warned the government Friday they would join public sector workers in their strike over the delay in referring a wage scale draft to Parliament.
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Until recently, the issue of homelessness in Lebanon didn’t get much attention, possibly because it remains relatively uncommon and because of the plethora of other social issues facing the country. In January, Ali Abdullah, a homeless man and local icon who spent much of his time around Bliss Street, died during a winter storm. Abdullah’s death sparked outrage and drew greater attention to the issue of homelessness in the country.
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Hundreds of public school students, turned away from classes due to a 22-day-old strike, joined civil servants at a large protest in Beirut Tuesday and urged the Cabinet to refer a delayed wage hike to Parliament.
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Make the Cut calls on longhaired women and men to donate at least 20cm of hair in a quest to collect 400 ponytails by June 2013. The donated tresses will then be used to make wigs free of charge for breast cancer patients.
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Voices From the Periphery
leo bites 