'Difficult to say whether any place is truly safe': Disability charity manager in Lebanon describes life on the ground

15 October 2024, 08:49 | Updated: 15 October 2024, 10:21

Half of the 86 members of Humanity & Inclusions team in Lebanon have been forced to flee the recent violence.

I am living with my three children, aged between 12 and 23, and now my mother, my sister and my brother who have been displaced by the bombings. For the time being, we are still staying in my home. We live in southern Beirut, just 15 minutes from the centre, at a slightly higher altitude so we can hear everything. It’s difficult to say whether any place is truly safe or not.

Sometimes, when they target the surrounding areas, the sound is overwhelming. Whenever I hear the explosions, I check the news to locate the exact spots and ensure we are still safe. I keep the windows open all day to prevent them from shattering due to pressure if the bombings are close. However, if the bombing is extremely intense, as happened recently during the night in Beirut, with heavy bombardment and a terrible smell, I close the windows and tape them up with sticky tape.

Displaced people are everywhere in Beirut. More than one million people have been displaced from southern Lebanon. Finding a new place to stay is a significant challenge for many people at the moment. We are all trying to support our families and friends but there are only a limited number of apartments available.

People are in need of everything here. There is a massive need for shelter of course but also for hygiene, food and medication.

Even after a sleepless night I am still very much committed to go to work in the morning to be with my team and continue our actions to support the most vulnerable people impacted by this terrible violence.

At Humanity & Inclusion, we are particularly concerned about the situation for people with disabilities and older people as we know from experience that in emergency and crisis situations they are often overlooked.

Among the displaced, older people with reduced mobility, disabled people, and those who have been wounded are the worst affected by the current situation. Providing them with mobility aids including wheelchair and crutches, as well as rehabilitation care and the necessary psychological support is one of our priority interventions

We know that when people have to flee their homes in haste, they often have no time to gather their belongings including their assistive devices or medicine which are vital to people with disabilities.

We are working with partners to ensure that the wider humanitarian response is inclusive and that no one is left behind.

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Zeina Salhani is the Lebanon operations manager for global disability charity Humanity & Inclusion (HI). Based in Beirut with her family, she is working on HI’s emergency response to the current crisis.

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