Little Alaa was only 4 months before he died last week. He was born a month too early, should have been completely unproblematic, but under miserable living conditions the little body was unable to make it.
Had he been born in the summer half he might have lived today. This had of course never happened in Norway. We have helped Alaa with a relatively simple treatment at the hospital right after birth but to no avail. Tough meeting with parents yesterday, we even have to pay the hospital to get his ID card out of death. A reasonably contrasting world we live in, hurts to accept.
Important contributions
The war in Syria seems to end, but the refugees in Lebanon are still living under demanding conditions. Sandra and I have been on a new trip this weekend to contribute as well as we can with our relief work, especially medical treatment of Syrian refugee children living in the tent camps down here. New tents and heating have also been important contributions.
There should not be much imagination to understand how hopeless conditions in the camps are, especially this winter was tough with snowstorms, floods and broken tents.
The approximately 1.5 million Syrian refugees have become a huge burden for Lebanon. Help from other countries is shrinking and most political parties in parliament will send them back home to a bombed Syria.
Orphans
A new problem we have been made aware of and asked to help with is orphans. There are many of them, there is no device that can be organized by them or money to make orphanages. Possibly we will consider doing something here.
The pictures show some of the conditions in the camps and some of the children we have helped over the last few months, the number is over 50. Here are children who are exposed to poison gas and must be treated. The cooperation with the Lebanese government works great and we experience effective but demanding days.
There are of course many sad fates, but also several bright spots. The experience of meeting grateful families again after the medical treatment of the little pod has yielded positive results, gives us much back.
Still, it is the thought of the fate of little Alaa that hurts. Totally pointless. And unfair.