Fayyad has ten children, five of whom are married. However, five of his children live still at home, three daughters and two sons. Only one of his sons works and helps Fayyad support the family. All children have only finished primary school and do not have any professional qualifications. Driving a taxi is not a very healthy profession. Sitting behind the wheel from morning until night, taxi drivers don’t get enough exercise. In Fayyad Faqih’s case, coronary heart disease was the result of an enforcedly sedentary lifestyle. As Fayyad’s health situation deteriorated, he became unable to work and the family had to rely on Mohammad’s salary of US$ 400.00 per month.
Allah entrusted our children to us so that we may nourish and nurture their bodies and minds until they reach their full potential. As all those of us who are fathers and mothers know, this can be difficult enough with a normal, healthy child. How much more difficult is it with a child that is afflicted with a handicap or disability! How much pain to bear for a mother and father who have to witness the sufferings of their children? If the situation is aggravated by poverty, it can be overwhelming.
Before and during the holy month of Ramadhan, many charitable organizations conduct food distributions. LFT Lebanon’s annual food distribution project has two aims: enabling families to maintain a balanced diet during the holy month of Ramadhan and drawing a smile on the faces of children in need.
The number of needy orphans in Iraq is perhaps greater than that in any other country. Iraq has suffered under a brutal dictator for more than 25 years, and continues to suffer from insecurity and internal strife. Every day, fathers die due to avoidable causes and small children are deprived of their love and care as well as their financial support.
Now eight-year-old Zainab Hejazi began to benefit from LFT Lebanon’s services last year, when LFT Lebanon paid her school fees for the 2009/2010 academic year so that the bright third grader was not forced to discontinue her education:
Many refugee families in Iran live on the margins of society. Most of them can only work in menial, low-paid jobs. Families that have lost their male breadwinners and are headed by women have even more difficulties to make ends meet. Many families are not able to eat balanced diets.
The number of orphans in Iraq increases every day. Disease, especially cancer, as well as terrorist attacks and roadside explosions take away fathers from their children every day. Each quarter, LFT’s representatives remove older orphans and those whose financial situation has improved and accept new orphans into the program. Almost 83 percent of the orphans sponsored in Najaf are now between one and twelve years old. The corresponding number for Basrah is 73 percent.
After LFT’s positive reply, IRAC called on the students’ parents to apply for registering in the program and submit related documentation. A total of 74 students benefitted from LFT and IRAC’s joint educational support.
IRAC’s and LFT’s joint Orphans’ Project began in mid-2007 in Karbala with 128 sponsored orphans. The project soon expanded to include a total of 850 orphans in Baghdad, Basrah, Amarah and al-Kut in addition to Karbala:
40-year-old Fatina al-Ali is an educated woman. She has an accounting degree from the Lebanese university, which, she had hoped, would enable her to shoulder a share of the burden of providing for her family and ensure that they live without major financial worries. Like for so many female graduates in still traditional eastern societies, this dream did not come true.
Hassan Choueib is 24 years old and works as a nurse in an intensive care unit. Despite his youth, he is the head and only provider of a family of six. He was offered the position of Staff Nurse in the critical care unit of his hospital on the condition that he entered a course for a master’s degree while continuing to work. Hassan was accepted immediately by the prestigious Beirut Arab University, but was unable to pay the tuition fee of $9000 for a three-year course.
In January 2007, LFT began to support the long-term treatment of 64 severely handicapped children in Lebanon. Its partner, the Philanthropic Association for Disabled Care (PADC) has a well-equipped treatment centre where children receive, among other treatments, speech therapy, and physiotherapy
Atfaluna (“Our Children”) School for the Deaf was established in May 1992 in Gaza City, the largest city in the Gaza strip, a piece of land sandwiched between Israel and the Mediterranean and bordering on Egypt. Today, 250 deaf children from Kindergarten through to 9th grade study in the school. Atfaluna also offers other services for the deaf, notably vocational training, income-generating activities, a range of training courses for the parents and relatives of deaf children and specialized medical and technical services.
Asmaa and Doaa are two deaf sisters. Both of them are enrolled in Atfaluna School. Asmaa is in the ninth grade and Doaa in the fifth grade. Asmaa & Doaa live with their family of eight persons in a small house in Tal el Hawa area in Gaza City. There father passed away last month December 2009 after a struggle with cancer.
Education Support to Zeinab Hijazi, Lebanon
2010-02-06
Project Achievements and Realized Progress. Like thousands of employees all over the world, 53-year-old Afif Hijazi returns home from work every night to have dinner with his family. A typical family dinner contains of some lentil soup – the lentils having been given to the family by a friend - , some boiled eggs and baked potatoes. Meat is a rare delicacy on the family table.
Education Support to Rayan Ammar, Lebanon Dear LFT donors: Please, assist Rayan Ammar, his family and his community to build a better future for themselves.
2010-01-03
Project Achievements and Realized Progress. Mohammad Ammar was not only a capable and successful chemical engineer; he also was a man who had big dreams and a big heart. When he married 16-year-old Kifah in 1980, he encouraged his young bride to continue her education and obtain a university degree, something very unusual for a married woman, however young, at the time. For most of his married life, he worked abroad. During this time, he had three sons, Ali, Ahmed and Rayan. In 2000, he returned home. Together with his brothers, he established a factory that produced medical and commercial mattresses, an innovative and hence very promising business in Lebanon at the time.
Education Support to Sayed Hussein F Hashem, Lebanon
2010-01-01
Lebanese society has developed significantly in less than 30 years. Many middle-aged people have not received the education that would enable them to cope in the fiercely competitive Lebanon of today. Most of them realize that it is too late to change things for themselves, and that they have just to carry on with their lives and try to manage best as they can. However, all of them also realize that they have to struggle to provide their children with the only tool that will offer them a fair chance in life: A decent education. One of them is Seyyed Fawzi Hassan Hashem, of Kfar Joz, Nabatiyeh, South Lebanon. Seyyed Fawzi is 40 years old and a baker, providing fresh tasty bread to the families of his village every day. While owning a bakery provided a fairly secure existence in the past, and Fawzi’s father probably imagined that he provided well for his son, due to the rising cost of living and especially of education, Fawzi’s bakery no longer provides the income he needs to cover the essential needs of his family of five.
Education Support Success story – Giving a Future to Fatimah Abd El Hadi Chouman - Nabatieh, South Lebanon
2009-12-31
Project Achievements and Realized Progress. Fatimah Chouman lost her father when she was four years old. She was the youngest child of a family of four that was left behind after the death of Abd al-Hadi Chouman: Abd al-Hadi’s wife Khadijah, then 30, and her three daughters: Nadine (then 10), Hamda (then 5) and Fatimah. Despite the anguish, poverty and sense of loss she endured during her childhood, Fatimah has come a long way: Today, she is studying to become a computer technician and working part-time in order to pay for her tuition. Until recently, she was looking forward to her graduation that is only a year away. However, it seemed that the disaster of her childhood has finally caught up with her: Fatimah’s mother Khadijah, who had worked as an agricultural labourer for many years to provide for her girls and put them through school to honour the wish of her late husband and realize her own hopes for a better future for her girls, has recently been diagnosed with a severe chronic disease.
Education Support to Brother Hassan Saleh, Lebanon
2009-12-18
Hassan Saleh wants to be a mechanical engineer since he received an engineering toy for his fifth birthday from his father. He is the eldest son of 57- year-old Abdul Mounem Saleh, who runs a grocery shop in one of the poor villages in South Lebanon. Three younger siblings are still at school.
29th Microfinance Project success story – Securing a Family’s future in Nabatieh, South Lebanon
2009-11-30
Project Achievements and Realized Progress. Case Background. When Ali Mohammad Shoueib found a steady job as assistant school bus driver with one of Lebanon’s many private schools soon after his marriage 22 years ago, he considered himself a fortunate man, because this job, although moderately paid, had two big advantages: The school’s employees were all covered by health insurance, and the school offered their employees greatly reduced school fees for their children. Ali himself had only been able to study to 7th grade due to financial constraints. He would have loved to complete his education himself and most certainly wanted his children to be well-educated individuals who would be able to render significant services to their community and country. Unfortunately, public schools in Lebanon are neglected and underfunded and a good school education can only be obtained by studying at a private school.
Education Support to Mohamed Ayoub, Lebanon
2009-11-12
The Ayyoub family has dual nationality. Samir Ayyoub, the father, immigrated to the United States with his wife Najwa when they were newly married. Samir’s two children, Sarah and Mohammad, were born there and have thus American citizenship in addition to being Lebanese. Samir and his family returned to Lebanon when the children were teenagers. With the money he had saved in the States, he was able to purchase a house in his home town and a car. Samir continued to work in his trade as a tiler. With an income of about $18,000 he was in the upper income range in Lebanon and the family had a good life.
Orphan Project in Gaza sponsored by Lady Fatemah (a.s) Charitable Trust
2009-10-02
Many families do not have anything to eat and every day they waited for the goodwill people to provide food Atfaluna social workers recommended that we distribute $ 200 to the mother of each student. In this way mothers can buy the food items needed by her children. She also will be able to manage expending this sum of money and keep it sufficient for the whole month. Moreover, she and her children will live the moment of choosing the food items they like and not what others like. Of this monthly payment, mothers won’t hesitate to fill the gas jar with butane in order to prepare food, buy soap to clean hands , dishes and clothes if need be.
Educational Assistance to War victims in Lebanon
2009-10-01
21-year-old Ali Chouman was one of the first university students who received support under LFT Lebanon’s Educational Project. He has received support since ***. Ali has two older brothers and a younger sister. His father, who worked as a sales representative for many years, was forced to give up his work due to health problems and the economic downturn, which eroded his base of customers.
Students’ Progress Report from May - Aug, 2009 Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children, Gaza
2009-09-17
Atfaluna (“Our Children”) School for the Deaf was established in May 1992 in Gaza City, the largest city in the Gaza strip, a piece of land sandwiched between Israel and the Mediterranean and bordering on Egypt. Today, 250 deaf children from Kindergarten through to 9th grade study in the school. Atfaluna also offers other services for the deaf, notably vocational training, income-generating activities, a range of training courses for the parents and relatives of deaf children and specialized medical and technical services.
Medical Appeal for 2006 War victim in Lebanon – Maryam Banout
2009-08-25
Project Achievements and Realized Progress. Fourteen-year-old Maryam Banout suffers from scoliosis, a sideways curving of the spine. This condition most commonly becomes appearant in late childhood and the early teens, when children grow fast. In many cases, it is not severe enough to cause problems and can be treated by conservative methods, like certain exercises. Sometimes, however, the sideway curve is so severe that it results in a reduction of the volume of chest and affects the function of the heart and the lungs. Weakness and problems of breathing result. In such cases, surgery is necessary to straighten the curve so that the young patient’s physical development continues normally.
Education Support to Hassan Mohi ed-, Lebanon
2009-08-16
Hassan Mohi ed-Din applied to LFT in 2008 for assistance with completing his Master’s degree in social sciences. He already had a bachelor’s degree in that major, but was unable to find suitable employment due to fierce competition. As employers were able to find higher qualified individuals to fill their vacancies they would pass by persons like Hassan with moderate, if sufficient qualifications.
Appeal on behalf of 129 handicapped children from war-torn Lebanon to make them self-reliant - £ 4.85 per session per child!!
2009-07-28
Allah entrusted our children to us so that we may nourish and nurture their bodies and minds until they reach their full potential. As all those of us who are fathers and mothers know, this can be difficult enough with a normal, healthy child. How much more difficult is it with a child that is afflicted with a handicap or disability! How much pain to bear for a mother and father who have to witness the sufferings of their children? If the situation is aggravated by poverty, it can be overwhelming.
2009-05-25
Rola Faqih is 29 years old and divorced. She holds a BT (e.g. two-year university course) in Special Education and works as a special education teacher with a charitable institution teaching handicapped children. After her divorce, Rola lives with her parents. Her father, aged 65 and suffering from heart disease, still runs a wholesale business selling paper bags and paper. Due to his age and health situation, he can no longer work hard and his income is insufficient to provide for household expenses, medications for himself and his wife, who suffers from diabetes and hypertension, and university fees for his youngest son, Tawfeeq, who studies hotel management. His three married children try to help out as much as they can, but the family can barely make ends meet.
19th Micro Finance Project completed for 2006 War victim in Lebanon
2009-04-21
Anyone who is acquainted with the social structure of Lebanon will be amazed to see the family of Abed Nasser. Abed Nasser is fifty years old and has been a farmer all his life. Making a living by farming is hard in Lebanon, and Abed Nasser has to care for a family of six. Usually the sons and daughters of farmers do not continue their education beyond primary or at most junior high school.
Abdallah Ali Yassine “Baba, so now I can walk and play with my friends?”
2009-02-16
Abdallah Ali Yassine’s case is one of the most heart-touching cases LFT has ever supported, at least within its projects in south Lebanon. Abdallah is six years old and one of the brightest students in his school. His teacher says that he is always asking questions. While at school, many of Ali’s questions are answered to his satisfaction, there is one question he frequently asks his father, and which remains without a satisfying answer. Ali asks this question when waking up from another round of surgery in the hospital recovery room, and the question is: “Baba, so now I can walk and play with my friends?” Imagine how hard it is for Abdallah’s father to be compelled to answer each time: “No, dear, even after all these operations, you won’t be able to run and play.”
Gaza Crisis – Emergency Appeal
2009-02-12
The situation in Gaza is desperate and the bloodshed escalating as the death toll now stands at 1,440 Palestinians dead, of whom 431 are children and 114 are women.(According to UNECEF) This number does not include those who have died due to lack of access to regular health care. The number of injuries still stands at 5,380, of whom 1,872 are children and 800 are women.
Children in the Gaza Strip Overcome the Limitations of Deafness with the Joint Assistance of Atfaluna Institution and LFT
2008-12-16
Working in Gaza is especially challenging. Gaza is only 360 square kilometres large, but has a population of 1.3 Million, two thirds of them refugees originating from areas that today belong to Israel. These ca 870,000 persons live in eight refugee camps; the largest are Jabalia and Rafah, with 103,000 and 91,000 residents respectively. The degree of overcrowding is unimaginable. With about 60 percent of the population living on less than a Dollar per person per day, Gaza has one of the highest poverty rates in the world. In 2003, UNRWA reported that half of Gazan residents lived on one meal per day and 35 per cent of Gazans suffered from malnutrition. Political tensions mounted considerably since 2003, and both numbers are bound to be much higher now.
When a small step draws a smile on a child face… Educational Support to Kinder Garden Children in South Lebanon - Project implemented by LFT Lebanon
2008-12-02
“There is nothing more rewarding than seeing the smile on the face of a young kid so enthusiastic to go to class, not afraid of the cold inside the room and not feeling ashamed or a difference between him and his friends because his parents couldn’t buy that great new school uniform that everyone else got.” These were the words of Haji Ahlam, LFT representative in Lebanon after several days and nights of continuous hard work to achieve the results presented in this project with a big smile on her face that mirrored the young children playing happy with their new clean costumes.
Children in the Gaza Strip Overcome the Limitations of Deafness with the Joint Assistance of Atfaluna Institution and LFT
2008-09-15
Atfaluna (“Our Children”) School for the Deaf was established in May 1992 in Gaza City, the largest city in the Gaza strip, a piece of land sandwiched between Israel and the Mediterranean and bordering on Egypt. Today, 250 deaf children from Kindergarten through to 9th grade study in the school. Atfaluna also offers other services for the deaf, notably vocational training, income-generating activities, a range of training courses for the parents and relatives of deaf children and specialized medical and technical services.
The lives of 94 severely disabled children have been changed with LFT’s support
2008-09-02
The Philantrophic Association for Disabled Care (PADC) is a charitable institution working with disabled children in South Lebanon. In their rehabilitation centre in the southern town of Nabatiyah, children receive rehabilitative care including speech therapy, physiotherapy, psycho-motor training and occupational therapy. In one of their reports, a senior PADC staff member wrote: “Having these types of therapy is not merely a medical treatment; rather it is a social intervention that would not only change the life of the patient but also that of his family. Even the community where he lives will change as it will become more familiar with the existence of rehabilitation services and their capacities in changing people’s lives.” When the hidden potential of a disabled person is brought to light with the help of therapy, he will no longer be regarded as an “un-normal” person who is a burden to society and has nothing to contribute.
Appeal for Purchasing Four Milking Cows for Four Needy Families in Lebanon
2008-05-05
The July 2006 war in Lebanon affected the whole south of the country. Many families that were able to seek out a living and live a dignified life before the war have now been reduced to destitution. PADC, LFT’s partner organization in Lebanon, works with the handicapped and also tries to assist those who are desperately poor.
Help us give the Gaza Kids a future they deserve
2008-04-15
According to a study conducted by the Gaza Community Mental Health Program, every Palestinian child has been exposed to over nine shocking events. The study added that 95.6% of children have seen images of the wounded and dead, and 95% have been affected by the sounds of explosions.
Micro Finance Appeal from a Palestine Family, head suffering from kidney stones, living as Refugees in Lebanon
2007-12-05
The Shamandis are a Palestinian family who live as refugees in Lebanon since 1948. Eleven family members share a flat comprising two rooms, a kitchen and a bathroom. Aziz Moussa Shamandi, aged 70, is the only breadwinner for seven family members. He suffers from kidney stones and tries to support the family by selling cigarettes on a street corner. His income is barely sufficient to cover daily
Education Appeal from Kosaybah in South of Lebanon
2007-11-29
Basila Mansour is from the village Kosaybah in Southern Lebanon. In 2006, directly before the July war, Basila finished her diploma in Social Sciences. Basila’s father is an agricultural labourer who also cultivates tobacco on his own land. Due to the war, his whole harvest was lost in 2006 and he was not able to continue supporting his daughter’s education. On the contrary, Basila had to find employment as a social worker, gaining a monthly salary of 300 USD in order to help supporting the family.
24-hour care for the two sisters' 91-year-old blind father and their severely disabled brother
2007-07-17
Noor al-Houda al-Roumi is 52-years old. She works in Al-Mahdi School as a secretary every day and is known for her diligence and care at work. With her modest salary of 500,000 Lebanese Pounds (333.00 USD), Houda is providing for two severely disabled persons and their caretaker.
Life-saving appeal - Please, help us save the life of one-year-old Mohammad Jawad Skafi
2007-05-26
Mohammad Jawad Skafi is a one-year-old Lebanese boy who lives in the small southern village of Kfar Seer. Until war with Israel ravaged the region in July 2006, Mohammad was a healthy, happy baby and the joy of his father and mother, Khalil and Soheir. Shortly after fighting ended he was diagnosed with severe immune deficiency brought about by his exposure to harmful substances Israel used in its weaponry. According to his doctor, he needs treatment with “Oktogam 5 gm” injections for at least a year, one injection per month. The price of each injection is One Million Lebanese Pounds (ca 555 USD).
Appeal from Education funding from Lebanon
2007-04-02
The Lady Fatemah Trust has received an appeal from our partner organisation PADC in Lebanon, from a young lady studying pharmacy at the Lebanese University. Despite the volatile situation and ongoing conflict, she has managed to continue her studies, and is now in her fourth year with another two years left. Her father used to support the family with his income from being a taxi driver, as she also has brothers and sisters at school. She writes of her father:
Land Mine and Bomb Victims Are Appealing for Your Assistance
2007-04-01
When a war ends and fighting is over, people take a deep breath and hope that life will soon return to normal. However, again and again they have to deal with a dangerous legacy that turns people into victims long after fighting has ceased. Many former battlegrounds have been mined and unexploded ordnance and bombs that are designed to explode when picked up by unsuspicious persons litter the landscape. This is the situation in Southern Lebanon after the July 2006 war with Israel.
Assistance with Treatment Cost to Handicapped Children – LFT & PADC January to March 2007
2007-03-22
In January 2007, LFT began to support the long-term treatment of 64 severely handicapped children in Lebanon. Its partner, the Philanthropic Association for Disabled Care (PADC) has a well-equipped treatment centre where children receive, among other treatments, speech therapy, and physiotherapy, therapy for disorders of movement, psychotherapy and occupational therapy. As PADC is a non-governmental organization and does not receive support from the Lebanese government, families need to pay for treatment cost. Many little patients come from poor families; other families have more than one handicapped child. Such families are unable to pay the full price of treatment and need assistance. The table beneath offers basic information on all children covered by LFT’s assistance program:
Appeal on behalf of 64 handicapped children from war-torn Lebanon to make them self-reliant - £ 40.00 per month per child!!
2007-02-06
Allah entrusted our children to us so that we may nourish and nurture their bodies and minds until they reach their full potential. As all those of us who are fathers and mothers know, this can be difficult enough with a normal, healthy child. How much more difficult is it with a child that is afflicted with a handicap or disability! How much pain to bear for a mother and father who have to witness the sufferings of their children? If the situation is aggravated by poverty, it can be overwhelming.
Aid Relief to Lebanon
2006-08-05
The people of Lebanon have suffered much since the beginning of internal strife in 1975. 25 years of war were followed by a mere six years of fragile peace; barely enough time to rebuild what was destroyed and heal bodily and emotional wounds.
