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Immediately after the war
stopped, and as the displaced started moving
back to their cities and villages, the Kamel
Jaber Cultural and Social Center geared up
all its human and logistical resources
towards helping in the emergency efforts to
provide aid to returning families, in
co-operation with a number of international
organizations working in the aid field.
The beginning was an initiative from the
center to distribute bread bags to the
residents of the city of Nabatieh on the
first two days of their return, since
bakeries were not operating yet. The second
initiative was made with the UAE red
crescent through the UAE embassy in Lebanon,
and more than 80 tons of food supplies were
made into food parcels and disributed by the
Jaber Center to all needy residents in the
city of Nabatieh. This operation moved into
a much bigger scale in co-operation with
Mercy Corps. Thousands of food boxes and
hygiene boxes were distributed by Jaber
Center staff not only in the City of
Nabatieh but also in more than fourty
villages in Caza of Nabatieh in co-operation
with municipalities and NGOs in those
vollages. We made sure that no supplies go
to warehouses, they were all given by our
staff directly to the families in need,
making sure that all aid is available
immediatly and directly to the
beneficiaries.
During the period of the war
and short period that followed, the center
provided advice to mothers with infants and
provided them with baby milk and diapers.
There was a lot of demand, and hense the
Jaber Center has decided to expand it, and
in co-operation with ANERA has extended the
period of the program and opened four
additional outlets in the four villages in
the Caza of Nabatieh. For the
past 8 years, the Jaber Center has
specialized in dealing with childrens
programs. During the war some activities
were carried for children in their refugee
centers in schools in Beirut. After the war
the center has again started to deal with
returning children trying to make them feel
that normal life is back. One of the
projects it has started backed by UNICEF is
the establishment of summer camps, that
include entertaining activities, in eight
centers in the caza of Nabatieh, and two
centers in greater Beirut.
Plans are being prepared for the coming
weeks. they include helping children to go
back to school, specially those who attend
public schools. Also opening new centers for
computer training, and use of the internet
not only in Nabatieh, but also in other
cities, plus all the usual programs that the
center has been providing for the past eight
years. |
