Homeward bound – and a last act of giving

Emdad’s Lebanon Diary
Day 4 I was supposed to chill before leaving today but, being the great leader that he is, I was invited by Human Relief Foundation big Chief Kassim Tokan to visit the Bourj El Barajne, one of the biggest refugee camps in Lebanon to meet Palestinian Refugees.

There are 45,000 residents and they have been living here since 1948. It’s like a very congested town (or prison). We distributed food packs within the camp complex and met the beneficiaries. The important thing is that we worked in partnership with Humani Terre, a French NGO.

I’m a massive fan of collaboration, so this was brilliant. More charities with access to the funds of the great public must adopt these measures in order to provide better value for money to their patrons rather than resort to their egos taking over the shop.

We travelled a short distance to the El Dorado shopping mall in Beirut, where 30 young children were taken on a shopping spree. It really was special walking and talking amongst the children and watching their eyes light up when choosing their clothes. The fact that we achieved such a level of fun and fanfare by joining Humani’Terre was such a great bonus.

Badih dropped me off to the airport, and on the way we stopped at the stunning Mohammad Al Amin Mosque, where we took a few snaps and prayed Dhuhr before I was dropped off at Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport.

I’m now off home to concentrate on domestic interests which is always my bigger passion and priority. This experience has once again hammered home the need to engage at that level which always requires greater discipline.

See you on the other side!

•To donate to Emdad’s contribution to the Human Relief Foundation Lebanon Ramadan appeal, go to:
https://www.muslimgiving.org/number7

emdad
#thewanderinglondoner

•Read earlier instalments of Emdad’s Lebanon blog:
Taking toys to Al-Jarahiyya
Beautiful game; beautiful people; beautiful place

•Read more about it:
Is it safe to give to charity?
Ramadan suspended as bombs rain on Idlib