Humanity & Inclusion continues its response to humanitarian needs, following the explosion on August 4, in Lebanon. The Beirut explosions killed more than 200 people, injured more than 6,500 others, and caused widespread material damage. The explosions directly affected some 220,000 people living in an estimated 73,000 apartments in 9,100 buildings within 1.8 miles of the epicenter, according to UNHCR.

The situation is extremely tense. A serious economic crisis has left many in despair. A quarter of Lebanese people now live below the poverty line. Many families cannot afford access to basic services like healthcare, or even buy food. The political situation continues to cause widespread resentment. In this very unstable environment, the COVID pandemic is an additional burden and source of stress.

Humanity & Inclusion was one of the first NGOs to assist victims of the explosion by supplying rehabilitation care and mobility aids. Humanity & Inclusion now providing follow-up care to casualties with long-term rehabilitation needs: after surgery and primary health care, people with traumatic injuries such as fractures, amputations, brain, peripheral nerve or tendon injuries, or burns, require continued support to recover their functional independence and prevent long-term disabilities. The organization also supplies medical first aid kits to treat light injuries outside already overstretched hospitals.

Donor support has also extended psychosocial support to people traumatized by the explosion. Damaged homes, a dire economic situation, and political turmoil can cause severe anxiety.

In the coming month, thanks to donor support, Humanity & Inclusion will:

• support reconstruction efforts and ensure they are accessible to people with disabilities or reduced mobility by sharing its expertise with other NGOs. For example, Humanity & Inclusion will provide technical assistance to teams from other NGO (NRC Shelter) to ensure rehabilitated sites and temporary relocation centres are safe and accessible for people with pre-existing and newly acquired disabilities. Humanity & Inclusion will also support CAMEALEON, an NGO-led network co-managed by the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam and Solidarités International, so that teams have the tools and knowledge to include people with disabilities in their impact assessments and monitoring.
• extend its advocacy and awareness-raising efforts on disability mainstreaming in some working groups with Norwegian Refugee Council and International Rescue Committee as entry points, to promote systematic identification of needs of vulnerable people.
• alongside local partner Mousawat, provide people with disabilities or injuries including blast-related injuries and disabilities with access to specialized services based on HI's mental health psychosocial project and rehabilitation. Mental health services and support for the most vulnerable increase functional independence and help prevent long-term mental illness.
• identify the mental health needs of every individual in a household, alongside other urgent needs—medical, financial, hygiene, food/nutritional, rehabilitation, and continuity of care. Teams will then refer them for assistance. External referrals will be made to other humanitarian actors, with internal referrals for psychosocial support. Humanity & Inclusion will train Mousawat and its consortium partners to adapt their support to older people or people with disabilities or limited mobility, and provide home-based services via mobile teams for hard-to-reach populations potentially left out of the mainstream response. Vulnerable people will be prioritized for referral and assistance.

As a "First Responder," or monthly donor, your sustaining gifts can bring swift care and aid to people injured in natural disasters or other emergencies, and give teams the critical funds to provide long-term care and to support critical development projects. Your donation is charged to your credit or debit card each month. We will send you a receipt for your first gift, as well as a tax letter every January.

A disability can exclude a person from their work or community. Humanity & Inclusion rehabilitation services help people regain mobility and get back into employment and social activities. Since 2019, Humanity & Inclusion physical therapist Rana Abdel Al has worked with persons with disabilities in Lebanon. Among them, many were injured during the war in Syria.

Many of Beirut’s population were seriously injured when the explosions ripped through the city’s port, including Chakif who is now recovering from a serious leg injury.

Humanity & Inclusion’s teams have been reaching out to residents of two neighborhoods—Quarantine and Basta—to identify victims that need help recovering from their injuries and the trauma.

One of the people our team met with was 36-year-old Chakif. He was in the kitchen of his home near the port of Beirut when the explosions hit. “The blast from the explosions were so powerful that the kitchen ceiling collapsed on top of me,” he says. “I was in deep shock.”  

Beneficiary assistance

Chakif is still waiting to have his leg X-rayed and is injury is causing him a lot of pain. He finds it diffuclt to move throughout his home and go about his daily routine. To help ease the pain and give him more mobility and independence, Humanity & Inclusion’s team provided him with crutches and an abdominal belt, as well as psychological support to aid in his recovery.

Physical therapy care

Once doctors have fully diagnosed his condition, Humanity & Inclusion will provide Chafik with follow-up care and decide if he needs physical rehabilitation to rapidly restore his mobility.

“I’m grateful to Humanity & Inclusion’s teams, who have assisted everyone with a serious injury,” he adds. “I hope the support that I have been receiving from HI will help me get through this difficult period.”

Humanity & Inclusion in Lebanon

Our teams have worked in Lebanon since 1992. There, we provide assistance to the most vulnerable individuals and people with disabilities and help ensure they are included in community life. We also implement demining projects in the north of the country where people’s lives are still at risk from explosive devices leftover from the 15-year civil war, which ended in 1990.

How can you help?

Generous donors all over the world help Humanity & Inclusion (the new name of handicap international) respond to emergencies, and to deliver long-term care and aid where it's needed. Here are a few easy ways to become a donor today.

As a "First Responder," or monthly donor, your sustaining gifts can bring swift care and aid to people injured in natural disasters or other emergencies, and give teams the critical funds to provide long-term care and to support critical development projects. Your donation is charged to your credit or debit card each month. We will send you a receipt for your first gift, as well as a tax letter every January.

Many of Beirut’s inhabitants have been affected by the explosions that ripped through the city’s port on August 4. Ramadan, 23, a Syrian refugee from Aleppo, who now lives in Beirut, is one of them.

Humanity & Inclusion’s teams have been reaching out to residents of two neighborhoods—Quarantine and Basta—to identify victims that need help recovering from their injuries and the trauma.

One of the people our team met with was Ramadan. Ramadan lives in a house in a neighborhood close to the port of Beirut with his mother Hourya. The young man was gravely injured in an explosion in Syria. As he does not receive care for his multiple wrist, knee, and shoulder fractures, his health has begun to deteriorate. He also has a spinal cord injury that has left him paralyzed and an ulcer on his lower back.

Emergency equipment

Humanity & Inclusion’s teams met up with Ramadan to find out more about what had happened to him and provide him with emergency equipment and psychological support to relive his pain.

The seriousness of his injuries makes it impossible for him to move around on his own. Since the explosion in Syria, he has received no physical rehabilitation care and he has been bedridden for four months. Like everyone in a critical condition, the deterioration in the city’s health services has made him even more vulnerable than before.

Our teams are providing him with a water mattress, orthotic devices, and a new wheelchair. He also benefits from an alert system set up by Humanity & Inclusion in case his ulcer worsens, and he needs urgent care.

Ensuring continuity of care

Humanity & Inclusion’s rehabilitation experts will assist Ramadan to ensure continuity of care and prevent his condition from worsening. This assistance brings some degree of comfort to Ramadan and his mother. Like many Syrian refugees in Lebanon, they live in highly precarious conditions.

Humanity & Inclusion in Lebanon

Our teams have worked in Lebanon since 1992. There, we provide assistance to the most vulnerable individuals and people with disabilities and help ensure they are included in community life. We also implement demining projects in the north of the country where people’s lives are still at risk from explosive devices leftover from the 15-year civil war, which ended in 1990.

How can you help?

Generous donors all over the world help Humanity & Inclusion (the new name of handicap international) respond to emergencies, and to deliver long-term care and aid where it's needed. Here are a few easy ways to become a donor today.

As a "First Responder," or monthly donor, your sustaining gifts can bring swift care and aid to people injured in natural disasters or other emergencies, and give teams the critical funds to provide long-term care and to support critical development projects. Your donation is charged to your credit or debit card each month. We will send you a receipt for your first gift, as well as a tax letter every January.

Nada Baghdadi, 27, lives near the port of Beirut and has intellectual disabilities. On August 4, she was at her home when the district was hit by two explosions.

Emergency equipment

Many of Beirut’s population were seriously injured when the explosions ripped through the city’s port, including Nada who is now recovering from a fracture in her leg.

Humanity & Inclusion’s teams have been reaching out to residents of two neighborhoods—Quarantine and Basta—to identify victims that need help recovering from their injuries and the trauma.

One of the people our team met with was Nada. She shared her experience and we provided her with emergency equipment and psychological support to aid in her recovery.

Since she finds it extremely difficult to move around with her broken leg, Humanity & Inclusion also provided her with a set of crutches so she can move around more independently.

Physical therapy and cash assistance

Humanity & Inclusion has been providing Nada with physical rehabilitation care to help her get back on her feet as soon as possible. She will also receive cash assistance to pay for essentials like food and medication.

"I'm so grateful for Humanity & Inclusion’s support,” she says. “You were the first to come and see me.”  

Humanity & Inclusion in Lebanon

Our teams have worked in Lebanon since 1992. There, we provide assistance to the most vulnerable individuals and people with disabilities and help ensure they are included in community life. We also implement demining projects in the north of the country where people’s lives are still at risk from explosive devices leftover from the 15-year civil war, which ended in 1990.

How can you help?

Generous donors all over the world help Humanity & Inclusion (the new name of handicap international) respond to emergencies, and to deliver long-term care and aid where it's needed. Here are a few easy ways to become a donor today.

As a "First Responder," or monthly donor, your sustaining gifts can bring swift care and aid to people injured in natural disasters or other emergencies, and give teams the critical funds to provide long-term care and to support critical development projects. Your donation is charged to your credit or debit card each month. We will send you a receipt for your first gift, as well as a tax letter every January.

Zeina is coordinating one of Humanity & Inclusion’s teams of 25 emergency responders in Beirut. The situation is worse than she imagined possible. Here’s what she shared with us:  

To understand my experience over the past few days, you need to know a little bit about me. I was born in Lebanon and I live in Beirut—it’s my home. I joined Humanity & Inclusion 11 years ago. My colleagues are like family.

I was at home when the explosion happened. My house is a long, long way from the port but just before the noise of the blast, I felt the strangest wind—like a great big wave pushing against my body.

The next day, I saw the destruction in the city with my own eyes. I had seen the photos and videos on the TV but a part of me thought perhaps there was some exaggeration. If anything, the reality is much worse. What I saw on the news is just a glimpse of the scale of the disaster. It’s difficult to describe and I still find it hard to believe that something like this can happen in Lebanon.

The first place I visited was the Humanity & Inclusion office and I remember my first thought when I walked in—I was just so thankful that the explosion happened after working hours, thankful for Humanity & Inclusion and for Beirut. There was glass everywhere. Desks thrown around. Complete chaos. I believe there would have been many casualties if we had been there. 

Since that day, the Humanity & Inclusion team has been doing everything in our power to help. We have been in the hospitals and in the areas that have been destroyed beyond recognition in order to find out what people need.

Each day, I meet people with difficult stories. One gentleman, a taxi driver, lost his home and his car in the blast. He has five children and, due to the economic crisis, was the only person earning an income before the explosion. He has been forced to send his children to live with four different families who can help support them. He told me he would rather be dead than deal with what his future holds. This is something my team has heard repeatedly. It’s harrowing, but it helps you to understand why the psychological first aid we are providing is so essential.

We are also coming face to face with the urgent need for rehabilitation. People were discharged from hospital very quickly, many couldn’t return to their homes because the buildings are dangerously unstable. We need to find these people and provide physical therapy to kick-start their recovery.

This is not the first time that Lebanon or Beirut has dealt with a disaster. We know how to pick ourselves up and rebuild. But this time, the explosion is only part of the picture. The economic situation is dire, the politics are complicated, and we are desperately struggling to control the spread of COVID-19. We’re on our knees and I honestly don’t know how we’ll stand up again.

On behalf of my team—thank you for supporting us!

Explosions rocked Beirut, Lebanon's capital, on August 4. The blasts injured more than 5,000 people, and claimed at least 220 lives. Damages to buildings and infrastructure left 300,000 people homeless.

Humanity & Inclusion teams have worked in Lebanon since 1992, most recently in aid of Syrian refugees, especially those with disabilities, serious, conflict-related injuries, chronic illnesses, and the effects of aging.

Our 100-person team in Lebanon, including physical therapists, psycho-social, and livelihood experts, are leading this critical response. Post-surgical physical therapy, in particular, will be a vital component of our actions.

Make an urgently-needed donation today.

Injuries caused by the huge blasts in Beirut that occurred on Tuesday include burns, fractures, and amputations, in addition to thousands of minor and major wounds caused by shattered glass. 500 people are likely to need physical rehabilitation in order to recover.

Hospitals in the city are damaged and under-resourced. To contribute to the collective humanitarian effort, Humanity & Inclusion will be providing wheelchairs, walkers, and other mobility aids to victims with serious immediate needs who may be discharged from the hospital early. We will also distribute wound treatment kits containing alcohol, plasters, and bandages to allow those with minor injuries to treat themselves at home and avoid over-burdening hospitals.

Humanity & Inclusion currently has a team of 98 staff in Lebanon who are all being deployed to respond to the crisis. Additional emergency response experts will arrive in the country in the coming days.

Humanity & Inclusion has worked in Lebanon since 1992. Caroline Duconseille, Humanity & Inclusion's Head of Mission, was on a roof terrace of Humanity & Inclusion’s offices in Beirut's Achrafieh quarter (just over one mile from the explosion site) at the moment of the explosion. In the video below, she explains the dire situation in Beirut and what Humanity & Inclusion's teams are doing to help the victims.

Photo caption: A view from inside a building shows the aftermath of the blast at the port of Lebanon's capital Beirut on August 5, 2020. © Anwar AMRO / AFP