Aid to Lebanon

The Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA) began sending shipments to Lebanon in 2006 after Israeli attacks on the southern part of the country left many injured. MECA partnered with Medical Teams International to send a shipment of antibiotics, surgical supplies and other critically needed medicines. The International Orthodox Christian Charities' Lebanon office received and distributed medicine to hospitals and clinics. In 2007, MECA supported the Nahr Al-Bared Relief Campaign which provided food, blankets, and clothiing to families who were displaced from Nahr El-Bared refugee camp by violence.

2010: MECA Sends Aid to Palestinian and Iraqi Refugees in Lebanon

In August 2010, after a long wait and lots of red tape, a large air shipment containing $1.3 million in medicine and medical supplies has been distributed to community-run clinics and hospitals in Lebanon’s twelve Palestinian refugee camps as well as to groups working with Iraqi refugees in Lebanon. MECA workedwith Medical Teams International to procure and ship the specific medications requested by health workers in the camps, including antibiotics for skin, ear, sinus and respiratory infections;medications for high blood pressure, excessive bleeding after childbirth, asthma; and more. Another 40-foot container was sent a few months later with $452,417 of medical supplies, along with new books, toys, and clothes donated by individuals and businesses throughout the Bay Area.

"This is the first time we got medicines as ordered and not just the meds that donors want to get rid off." -Human Call Organization

"Thanks to all the efforts made to make the shipment reach us, we usually put a lot of effort to bring medicine in to the country and that's why we stopped receiving medicine directly ourselves." - Palestinian Red Crescent Society

Additional Information

MECA worked with Medical Teams International to procure the needed medicine and medical supplies. Community-based organizations in Lebanon who requested this shipment distributed the supplies to all 12 Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon as well as to groups working with Iraqi refugees who are scattered throughout the country. MECA has a long history of working with and supporting refugees and we are enthusiastic about this new collaboration.

In 1948, approximately 750,000 Palestinians fled or were forced from their homes by Israeli military attacks and ethnic cleansing campaigns. Many villages in the north of Palestine were destroyed and Palestinians fled over the border with Lebanon. They numbered around 100,000. 62 years later, there are more than 400,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon waiting to return to their homes and lands. The United Nations Relief Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) runs schools and provides health care. But its 29 primary health care facilities do not meet their needs. Community-run clinics and hospitals in the Palestinian refugee camps have reached out to MECA and requested a shipment of medicine and medical supplies to meet the growing health needs of children and families.

The coalition we are working with also includes organizations working with Iraqi refugees in Lebanon. There are an estimated 50,000 Iraqi refugees who fled from the violence of the US-led war and occupation.