LEBANON IS CALLING FOR HELP!
Lebanon is a country full of history, art, culture, and ancient secrets. Just because the current affairs are out of the news does not mean the impact of COVID-19 and the Beirut port explosion is not felt every day. We are still working with the Lebanese Embassy in Ottawa and various NGOs and Lebanese Canadians to do our part and pave the road to progress and recovery.
Aug. 14, 2020 | Ottawa, ON
As Canadians continue to watch the media and social media coverage of the tragic explosion in Lebanon my office continues to receive direct reporting from hospitals in Beirut.
The stories, photos and videos we are receiving from medical directors are far too graphic to describe. My staff and I have been in direct contact with an incredible team of doctors, nurses and medical staff who are working around the clock attending to the thousands impacted.
As we follow the situation in real-time we have come to understand that the current triage for patients is simply turning them away as the hospitals can barely support those already admitted under care. The ask from doctors is loud and clear; and we hear it repeatedly.
They desperately need medical supplies and medicine to treat the wounded including severely burned victims. Under the Operation Ramzieh umbrella, Canada for Lebanon was launched as a targeted initiative to directly support hospitals in Beirut at ground level.
We have charted a cargo plane to deliver over 40,000 kg of medical supplies, medicine and food on the ground. Through diplomatic channels we have secured unfettered access to personally deliver to an unbiased list of hospitals in Beirut.
Our list of in-demand medical supplies is being vetted by Canadians doctors in Ontario to help us manage the operational needs with complete transparency and full accountability.
This endeavour is not political or religious in nature and simply humanitarian and above all - Canadian! Admittedly, this is a major undertaking and I simply cannot accomplish this alone.
Therefore, I call upon the community of leaders who share the same courage and embrace the same vision as I do: Charles Kabouth, Wissam Francis and David Bitar.
I sincerely ask my kind hearted fellow Canadians to help us with the mission of filling this plane today.
If you are donating, please donate through our GoFundMe campaign, in association with with the Bruyere Foundation. Please view the list of required medical equipment and supplies here.
-Yours truly, Abbis Mahmoud and the Team
PRAY FOR LEBANON
“Lebanon, a beautiful, hospitable, and proud country has been brought to its knees for months now. Lebanon and its people have been facing a non-stop barrage of hardship, agony and torture on a daily basis, starting with an economic collapse that caused hunger and famine, which worsened with COVID-19. Right now, it feels as if this country is cursed; it seems that Lebanon and its people just can’t get a break - the clouds, the storm, the suffering just keeps getting worse and worse.”
- Abbis Mahmoud, President of the Dreammind Group.
APOCALYPTIC EVENT
“The hospital has never received this many people with heavy injuries… everybody was here for the call, for hours, from 630pm until the next day with over 65 emergency interventions and over 400 people in emergency care… we had to operate in the ORs and outside of the ORs… many of our colleagues had to stop functioning, which has never happened, even during the Civil War. We have to cater to their patients as well as ours. Please help us so that we can continue our mission.”
- Mr Sami Rizk, CEO of Lau Medical Centre
