Therapeutic Education in Beirut: "The explosion broke our hearts"

The devastating explosions in the port of Beirut on 4th August hit this battered and weakened country hard. Some 5,000 people were injured and at least 135 died and many people are still missing. In recent years, the economic situation in Lebanon has steadily deteriorated. The government is not able to solve substantial problems of infrastructure and supply, while the national currency, the Lebanese pound, is experiencing a sharp depreciation of the exchange rate against the US dollar. Last autumn, demonstrations and unrest expressed the population's anger at the level of political incompetence and corruption, and the unsustainable economic conditions. Beirut is also home to Step Together, a centre for therapeutic education and a social therapy centre. For almost two years there have been no state subsidies for the institution, so it is now completely dependent on donations (as reported in previous newsletters). The facility is located in a part of the city away from the port, and yet it, too, is shaken by this catastrophe, as the director Dr. Reem Mouawad tells us in an email the day after the explosion:

“Yesterday’s explosions broke our hearts in the midst of COVID 19 pandemic. Corruption, economic crisis - How much shall we have to endure? What is the destiny of this country? Those of us who didn’t die from the explosion nearly died inside.

Every one of us has a story of that moment. I was in Beirut, in the district of Achrafieh. I begged my sister to come over to visit our uncle. We were about to get in the car when the first explosion happened; we were just on the stairways when the sound of the explosion came, followed by a bigger one, then all windows and doors broke, dust filled the air, we looked around, everything was destroyed. Thank God we were not injured. Yet, many of our friends and loved ones are still in hospital, some have died and many are still lost. After a long night with no sleep, I woke in the morning and with the help of the social worker, started calling all 180 parents and 85 employees. We cried together, they told me their stories and I told them mine. We prayed for justice and for change. We prayed for all those who lost their lives.

I hope I managed to describe our situation. We will stay strong to help each other. We have almost 80 parents who need medication, food, support and shelter. We have 13 students living on campus in Step Together, their parents live abroad, and they weren’t able to visit them this year, due to the difficult circumstances.

We hope we can continue our mission at Step Together to support students, parents and employees, with our friends from around the world. We will stay strong and rebuild our courage.”

You can donate for Step Together here