A Christian aid worker holds a Syrian refugee’s newborn baby during a visit inside the family’s makeshift shelter in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, where a large number of displaced Syrians have fled.
The staff at Brethren Disaster Ministries have directed an allocation of $50,000 from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) to support the Syrian refugee relief programs of Lebanese Society for Education and Social Development (LSESD).
“The now six-year Syrian civil war has displaced nearly 10 million Syrians, even as the other conflicts in the Middle East have displaced millions more,” said the grant request. “Lebanon, which shares a long border with Syria, now has 1.5 million Syrian refugees, and another half million Palestinian refugees.
“Public officials are very reluctant to provide support to these groups, and the government is unwilling to allow large-scale international relief or the development of Syrian refugee camps. Most refugees live in substandard housing with several other families and without enough food, little medical care, and poor sanitation, and the children are not able to attend school.”
Partner organization LSESD currently has more than 20 relief projects across Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq. Through support from LSESD, many schools and educational programs have been started for Syrian refugees. The organization’s monthly feeding programs, medical care, winterization supplies, and trauma recovery programming are reaching many in need.
This initial grant will provide monthly food packages for displaced people in Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq, along with health care, milk and diapers for families with small children, bedding, education for Syrian refugee children, trauma recovery, social and psychological support programs, and drinking water.
For more information about the work of Brethren Disaster Ministries go to www.brethren.org/bdm .
For more information about the EDF and to give online to the fund, go to www.brethren.org/edf .