With the war in Lebanon reignited in recent weeks, 800 people have already been killed and 800,000 displaced - nearly one fifth of the country’s population in just days of hostilities.
In the midst of the devastation, five extraordinary women are doing all they can to hold the fragile threads of their country together - feeding families, rescuing animals, protecting mental health and delivering lifesaving care and aid.
At Embrace, a national mental health initiative answering crisis calls around the clock, “the real crisis wasn’t only the suffering itself... it was the isolation around it,” says founder Mia Atoui. “Hope, for me, comes from people.”
In the kitchens across Lebanon, Christine Codsi of Souk el Tayeb keeps hot meals coming to hundreds of displaced families. “There cannot be life without hope,” she reminds us, even as bombs fall.
For families forced to flee, pets are often left behind. Everyday, Lana El Khalil and her team at Animals Lebanon risk their lives to rescue abandoned or lost. “The bombs haven’t stopped,” she says, “but neither have the rescues.”
At Beit el Baraka, Maya Chams Ibrahimchah has served more than 15,000 meals since March - insisting, “when dealing with people’s lives, dignity must remain central.”
And from the aftermath of the Beirut port explosion to a global network of lifesaving care, Marina El Khawand’s Medonations connects patients with vital medicine.
“Sometimes a family calls in
tears because a treatment will run out tomorrow... you can’t simply disconnect from that.”
These women - who represent just a portion of the organisations helping on the ground - are sustaining hope where it is needed most.
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