UPDATE ON BEIRUT AND THE STUDENTS OF BRUMMANA HIGH SCHOOL

We have heard more about developments at Brummana from David Gray, the Principal of Brummana High School, telling of the response by his students to this catastrophic explosion. He also notes new opportunities to support their work, and a new giving page on their website that Friends may wish to consider. David writes

"There is little doubt that Lebanon faces very hard times ahead. Before the explosion occurred there was over 50% poverty and 35% unemployment in the country with terrible levels of deprivation caused by the collapse of the currency (worth only 20% of what it was worth 6 months ago) and hyperinflation in the shops. The awful explosion in Beirut on 4th August and its devastating aftermath were the last thing that the suffering Lebanese people needed. 350,000 people have lost their homes, there are over 7,000 injured and there have been at least 200 deaths.

Physically Brummana High School, situated on Mount Lebanon overlooking Beirut, was unscathed by the explosion although it felt when the blast happened like a major earthquake. Miraculously no staff or students were injured, but many parents have lost their shops or businesses or employment and here there is no soft landing to cushion the blow. If you lose you lose everything; there is no compensation.

There were many heartwarming stories immediately after the explosion. Lots of our older students went into Beirut to help with the rescue and clean-up operations. Girls and boys became women and men overnight. At school the student council turned the playground into a massive centre for donations of food, clothing and other essentials for those who had been made homeless or impoverished by the blast. Members of the school and local communities brought their donations to the school after we had advertised and promoted our food drive for the poor. The student council had connected with various NGOs. Parents and others would arrive at school each day in cars to collect food parcels and clothing and other items which Brummana High School students had collected sorted and packed for delivery to the NGOs in Beirut. They also raised substantial sums of money for the Lebanese Red Cross. They worked tirelessly and learned just how much can be done for others in a time of crisis. This is a lesson which those who participated will carry throughout their lives.

The School has a giving page on its website www.bhs.edu.lb which can be accessed by clicking on giving on the home page. Donations go to provide education at Brummana High School for children for whom the devastation, combined with economic collapse, has threatened their futures. We live in hope, however, and shall not give up. Lebanon is in a state of collapse: our job as educators is to provide a beacon of light and rebuild. We must not fail the next generation in whose hands lie all hopes for the future. We begin teaching again, amidst growing numbers of cases of corona, online, on September 8th."

Supporting Brummana High School

Please find out more about our work by following the QuIETs Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=brummana%20high%20school&epa=SEARCH_BOX

https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=brummana%20high%20school

and the Schools web site http://www.bhs.edu.lb