The Lebanese Red Cross and Anfeh

As last year [Anfeh.com First Project in Anfeh], Anfeh.com Second Anniversary Party this year is going to be dedicated for a philantropic project in Anfeh.

After we contacted a number of people from Anfeh, in Anfeh and overseas, and discussed ideas concerning our second project, we decided that donating an ambulance vehicle to Anfeh would be a very good project that is necessary and helpful for the whole town.

Bringing an Ambulance vehicle to Anfeh is a good idea, but it won't succeed unless the vehicle is under the Red Cross control. We just didn't want to send the ambulance vehicle to Anfeh and have it stay there unused or misused. The Red Cross was our main (and only) choice because of few main reasons:

- There is no charitable organization in Anfeh that can run an emergency and first-aid center and have volunteers making sure the center is up 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

- The Red Cross is an international organization that we can rely on in such health projects.

- It is easier to donate from overseas to the Red Cross than any other local organization in Lebanon.

We contacted a few people who are active in the Lebanese Red Cross, and through them we got in touch with Mr. Georges Kattani, the head of the Red Cross emergency and first-aid centers in Lebanon. Our ideas were introduced to Mr. Kattani, and they were as follow:

- We are willing to send the ambulance vehicle with the necessary equipments to Anfeh.

- A number of young people from Anfeh have taken Red Cross classes and are willing to volunteer in Anfeh

- There is a public clinic (al-mustawsaf) in Anfeh that can be used for the Red Cross center.

Unfortunately, his response was that the Lebanese Red Cross is unable to open and run a center in Anfeh due to the following reasons:

- There are currently 7 Red Cross emergency and first-aid centers in North of Lebanon, and they are working on opening an 8th center in Akkar which needs that center a lot. The Lebanese Red Cross doesn't currently have enough resources to run a 9th one in Anfeh.

- There is already a center in Amyoun (in Qaza Al-Koura), and it is only 10-15 minutes (In Lebanon, it is considered a very short time for help to arrive!) far from Anfeh. If an ambulance is needed in Anfeh, it will be sent from Amyoun.

- The people from Anfeh who are Red Cross volunteers are needed in other centers in Lebanon.

It seems that opening a Red Cross center in Anfeh and sending an Ambulance vehicle there are not going to happen in the present time or even the near future. That's an unfortunate fact, but we will keep working on it and keep the doors open. Maybe some day soon, things change in Lebanon, and every town gets its own emergency and first-aid center, the same way it is in many other countries.

Anfeh.com team is currently looking for an alternative project. It will be decided soon and announced during the second anniversary party as well as on Anfeh.com.

Anfeh.com

Copyright © Anfeh.com. All rights reserved.

Send comments and questions to mailbox@anfeh.com.