Saint Rita School
Stream of Hope mission, through the Archdiocese of Furzol, Zahle and the Bekaa for the Greek Melkite Catholics, created a project of “remedial classes” for the Syrian refugees students at Saint Rita school, that belongs to the Archdiocese.
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Stream of Hope Mission is providing 100 school tuition for students yearly!
The main objective of our project is to help Syrian students and to get their formal education which leads them to live a normal life far from war and destruction.
This project aim is also making changes to the psychological, cultural and social levels to the Syrian children and their families: - Tutoring at the educational level in all required classes. - Psychological support by inserting them into a social group with extra curricular activities and school. - Religious support through participating in religious and spiritual gathering within the Church. The concrete result aimed at the end of the project is the students' enthusiasm and participation to ensure the achievement of the proposed objective. General objectives of the project: - Grouping of all Syrian refugee children under the patronage of the bishop and not let them stray into roads. - To assist and support these children to integrate in a social setting, in a school and cultural environment with their parents. - Prepare the students to be active members of society and protect them from road hazards such as drugs, theft, terrorism… - Prepare these refugees psychologically, academically and socially to be able to return to their country "Syria" or continue their studies in Lebanon. The project beneficiaries are:
Socio-cultural data: These refugees cannot follow in Lebanese schools system for several reasons: - Difference in curriculum (Lebanese school program differs from Syria). - Difference in levels of languages: The great majority of Syrian have a great difficulty to grasp materials neither in French or in English since the Lebanese curriculum is different than the Syrian. - Difference in the sociocultural and sociolinguistic levels. We must prepare Syrian children to be integrated into the Lebanese social environment and become adapted, oriented and active members in the Lebanese society. -Lack of spaces in the Lebanese schools. Data religious and pastoral nature : - This project aims to provide a certificate of attendance in the classes. - Integration of Syrian refugees in the school helps them to be active in the church and also helps them to participate in extracurricular activities, religious and social and to enrich their culture. - These activities are: scouting, camping meetings and religious retreats , field trips ... |
St. John the Merciful Table
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John the Merciful was the Chalcedonian Patriarch of Alexandria in the early 7th century and a Christian Saint. |
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Stream of Hope offers 1000 free meals daily for the vulnerable people of Zahle
The Divine Mercy year called for by His Holiness Pope Francis urged us to look more to the people in need around us. That’s why we started with some friends to think what’s the best to do in this special year for our needy people in Zahle. We decided to open "Saint John the Merciful table", to provide food - one hot meal per day - for each needy and poor. This will make us all feel the warm of love of Jesus the Savior to us, to be a touchable sign of His love for humans that heal their wounds.
To accomplish this mission, the person in charge of the project is a deacon, assisted with some IDPs, church members to serve our people. The project was implemented in Zahle in December 2015; the targeted populations are: Syrian refugees without discrimination and Lebanese vulnerable families of the Bekaa region. In addition to the social, educational, economic, health, and spiritual support, this kitchen named “Saint John the Merciful Table” will be a place of refuge and support to every single person living in the Bekaa area and cannot afford a meal a day. The Archdiocese of Furzol-Zahle and the Bekaa for Greek Melkite Catholic took over. The Archbishop Issam John Darwish was committed to help the Christians; Syrian refugees and the Lebanese. He founded a social office responsible to take care of all the Christian Syrian refugees who were in need; all kind of help is being provided: social, educational, food, health…. With a special personalized care to each family and person. He did the same with the vulnerable Lebanese people, providing them with all their needs through the “charity association” in the Archdiocese. Due to the economic conditions in Lebanon, and to the increase of the “poor” level, and because many of the Syrian refugees couldn’t afford eating healthy, or even having a daily hot meal, the idea of the restaurant was the best cure to this condition. The Archdiocese has already obtained all necessary permissions and permits to run this kitchen, and covered all governmental fees. The Archdiocese provided a location for centralized cooking, a restaurant of 160m². The same locale is used for safe food storage procured locally. The Archdiocese is also coordinating refugee for the daily cooking, so it is a vacancy to help them be productive. Additionally, the Archdiocese provides 3 church members to assist the deacon responsible; they will be in charge of reporting, field visits, inspections and day to day tasks. Finally, the local hospital (Tel Chiha), which is administered by the Archdiocese, also provides a dietician to ensure that 33% of the daily caloric intake is met with every meal. On a monthly basis, a set of different menus will be proposed to the feeding program team to incorporate in their plans. The Beneficiaries are:
The number of direct beneficiaries is overall 800 persons daily. They will receive:
Budget The activity cost for one year: 754,800USD The activity is foreseen to be durable for the coming years. The first 6 months (December 2015 till June 2016) were a successful period of implementation and test. It enabled us to take the appropriate actions to improve our mission at “Saint John the Merciful table” towards our needy people during and after the year of mercy declared by Pope Francis. The number of beneficiaries actually increases from 500 to 800 daily. |
Social Office
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Humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees at the Archdiocese of Furzol, Zahle and the Bekaa
Since the beginning of the war in Syria, and when the refugees started to flee to Lebanon, the Archdiocese created the social office who took in charge to help the Syrian refugees who came to Zahle and the region, it started to help 850 families and now it is helping 650 Christian Syrian refugees’ families (average of 3000 persons), because some of them went back to their homes in Syria, and some travelled to Europe, Australia and others foreign countries.
These families are only helped by the Archdiocese. Since they don’t live in camps, they are invisible for all international organizations. |
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The Archdiocese is covering the below sectors:
As usual, the Archdiocese takes into consideration, along with the humanitarian aid, all the social, psychological and spiritual aspects that are very important for the families to help them survive their hard times. These families were coached as well on the psychological level by specialized psychologists and special sessions. Multiple gatherings and trips were organized for the families. Our priests were involved, and were very active in helping these families on the spiritual level by visits to their houses, evangelical evenings that took place at their houses, and masses at the church of the Archdiocese organized with them.
The burden is very big on the Archdiocese, and without help, the Archdiocese wouldn’t be able to achieve its mission towards the refugees in dire need. We are extremely thankful to all our benefactors! We count on them always to go the extra mile!
- Food packages: Inside these packages all the basics of food were present, and the families appreciated that they met their needs, having been taking into consideration their specific demands.These are added to the free hot meal offered daily by “Saint John the Merciful table”.
- Hygiene items: Inside the packages we find: Shampoo, soaps, trash bags, Clorox, Kleenex, Flash, wipers, fibers….
- Household items: The houses are empty; we provide them all items needed to be able to live decently.
- Blankets and mattresses: They are distributed every three months to the families who need them, specially to the newly arrived.
- Diapers: Diapers are distributed to all children, as well to all elderly who need them.
- Rent for houses: The rate of the rent of houses is very high in Zahle ($400 for 2 small rooms per month, where 2 families live together to be able to afford it)
- Primary medical assistance: It consists of giving the needed money to buy medications and visit the doctors, is very essential for these families who lack of insurance and money.
- Secondary care assistance: By lack of insurance and coverage of the UN as well, the Christian Syrian refugees need help to be able to be hospitalized (secondary care assistance). The Archdiocese, through Tel Chiha hospital contributed in paying the invoices of hospitalization to the families.
- Government dues payments: The new regulations of the Lebanese government insisted that each person should pay $200 per 6 months to be able to stay legally in Lebanon. The Archdiocese therefore helped some of these families in paying 200$ per person.
- Scholarships for students: The tuitions of the students who attend Lebanese schools are paid by the Archdiocese. As well, the Archdiocese created an afternoon school “remedial classes” to the Syrian students who couldn’t do the Lebanese curriculum.
- Summer camps for children: Yearly a summer camp is organized during a period of 2 months, for 350 children.
- Mazout for heating: We distribute $200 of Mazout per family during November-December-January and February (the coldest months of the year).
- Heating systems: Yearly, all families receive one heating system.
As usual, the Archdiocese takes into consideration, along with the humanitarian aid, all the social, psychological and spiritual aspects that are very important for the families to help them survive their hard times. These families were coached as well on the psychological level by specialized psychologists and special sessions. Multiple gatherings and trips were organized for the families. Our priests were involved, and were very active in helping these families on the spiritual level by visits to their houses, evangelical evenings that took place at their houses, and masses at the church of the Archdiocese organized with them.
The burden is very big on the Archdiocese, and without help, the Archdiocese wouldn’t be able to achieve its mission towards the refugees in dire need. We are extremely thankful to all our benefactors! We count on them always to go the extra mile!
