In January 2017, Abri Aid started with support and funding for medical treatments. Zeinab of three years was the first to receive medical treatment for Abri Aid.
The little girl had a congenital cyst that grew in her head. Without treatment and surgery, the girl would not have the chance to survive. The parents of Zeinab had been told by the UNHCR that they would cover 75 % of the operation. The problem was that the parents could not afford the remaining 25 % of the treatment. It was this sum that Abri Aid covered and supplements the child needed in retrospect (medicines, and hygiene articles).
The camp was robbed
There was, however, a problem, Zeinab was too sick to be operated when we visited her on January 23rd. The girl was therefore hospitalized and given a strong antibiotic cure for a week before the doctors would reassess her condition. Zeinab had become seriously ill due to the extreme living conditions the families had lived underneath just before Christmas. The family belonged to the camp, which was robbed two weeks before Christmas in 2016, and thus had to survive under very tough conditions for several weeks and months.
The little body tolerated this badly, and her medical situation was therefore greatly worsened. There was no time to lose. While we were expecting Zeinab to be strong enough to operate, we spent time setting up a system for taking out new medical cases with local partners. In addition, we performed inspections/assessments of new medical cases for the coming months. Several cases turned out to be acute, so we also had to act quickly and make a priority based on the vulnerability of the current refugee.
Inspected several camps
In parallel with the medical inspections we had meetings with, among other things, UNHCR to clarify further cooperation. Abri Aid inspected and conducted assessments of several relevant camp sites in the area of basic needs, to see what we could cover in the coming month. Several cases were very acute which resulted in us covering more of the needs every now and then (tents, cloths, fuel cookers and stoves). All these in the Bekaa valley.
From 26. January until 2. February I worked in parallel with a development project and Abri Aid. During this period we finally got Zeinab. After countless visits to Zeinab and conversations with the hospital, we finally got Zeinab. Abri Aid visited the girl and the family two days after surgery and then she was significantly improved. That little girl smiled for the first time since she was born. It was a great moment not only for the family, but also for Abri Aid. Abri Aid worked intensively with the development of the partnerships in Lebanon during this period. Several meetings were held with key actors to clarify working methods, expectations, focus areas, and the way forward. Scheduled activities were set up, among other things: The distribution of stones to camp areas in order to create greater hygiene in and around camps.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery interval=”3″ images=”323,324,325,326,327″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column][/vc_row]