It has been a bit more than half a year since the last interview with Marina El Khawand. Marina is a young female student at the University of Beirut. She is studying law and dreams of becoming a judge one day to serve justice. In August of last year, she founded an NGO to help the people in need after the massive explosion of the port of Beirut: Medonations. With her organization and a few friends, Marina has been helping many families and victims of the several problems they must face in Lebanon. Their first mission was taking care of the people in Beirut that were affected directly by the horrible detonation in August 2020. Together with her team, they provided everything from shelter to clothes, medicine, and so on. All of this would not have been possible without the help of the donations that were transferred through Medonations. Marina appealed to the compassion of the many Lebanese living outside of Lebanon and with their help she was able to take care of hundreds of families. And she continues to do so.
What has happened since?
First, the team around Marina has grown since our last interview in April 2021. Medonations now has 11 young students to manage and distribute donations. The team tackled the problem of homeschooling among other things. Many students could not participate in online classes, because they were lacking a laptop. Medonations was able to crowdfund and collect over 100 laptops. They were distributed to students in need and saved them from not being able to attend class.
Another huge problem is the overall lack of medication in Lebanon that has drastically exacerbated since the last interview. Marina explained that there is no medication available in the whole country. Ranging from over-the-counter medications like aspirin to medicine essential for survival like certain cancer treatments. The cause for this tremendous lack is inflation and the devaluation of the Lebanese pound. Since late 2019, the Lebanese pound has lost over 90% of its value. And there is measured inflation of 150%. The problem of hyperinflation and devaluations is even made worse by the exchange rates of the black market. To fight the shortage, Medonations organized a so-called meddrive.
This practice started in Boston where two Lebanese-American doctors collected donated medication. At those locations, the medications will be sorted out and stored until someone can be found who is willing to carry them to Lebanon on a trip. Medonations does not only promote the meddrives but also coordinates travellers to Lebanon to carry the medication. Once at the airport of Lebanon, Medonations picks up the medications. The medicine needs to be brought by travellers because the difficult relations of Lebanon towards other nations have caused major shipment companies like FedEx to halt their services in Lebanon. Once the medicine is in Lebanon, people in need of medical attention can reach Medonations through social media. They can send in their requests and the team around Marina will try to provide the medications as good and as fast as possible.
The project was such a success that Marina got unexpected requests from Portugal, Casablanca, and Marocco to expand the meddrives soon after. But the expansion did not stop there. Medonations currently has set up meddrives in 31 different countries. Over the last year, the NGO was able to help over 10’000 families in Lebanon. With the help of the meddrives, 52 surgeries could be followed through. Cancer treatments pose a big difficulty as they are expensive and usually only administered to hospitals. Therefore, only small quantities can be brought to Lebanon.
Marina told me that the administration and logistics behind the meddrives were the most complex part of her work. There are so many factors that have to be calculated, from different laws surrounding travelling with medications to simple frictions such as organizing everything remotely while working in Lebanon.
Blackout
As mentioned, Lebanon is facing hyperinflation and a strong devaluation of the Lebanese pound. But there are more problems. The average wage has dropped from around 500 dollars a month to just 30 dollars a month. Next to a shortage of various goods, people cannot afford basic living expenses. Lebanon imports a lot of its goods. In times of devaluation, this developed into a massive problem. No exporting country is keen on accepting payment in Lebanese pounds and therefore imports are dwindling. In addition, there is a lack of electricity that could first be compensated with usual generators. But as fuel is one of the goods heavily imported by Lebanon, electricity became very expensive. The government has now regulated its use and permits the people a maximum of six hours of electricity a day. When I wanted to talk to Marina over zoom, we had to reschedule because there was a blackout. This opened my eyes to how extreme the situation must be.
Justice pending…
In the last interview, Marina already insisted on the importance of justice. She told me that it would be imperative for the people of Lebanon to see justice served. The explosion caused an ongoing investigation. While the first judge was already dismissed from the case, Tarek Bitar has taken over. He seems to have a stronger stance against corruption but hasn’t come to any conclusions for now. Involved in the latest controversies were men of the highest positions in the Lebanese government. The former finance minister, the former public works minister, and even the former prime minister were questioned in search of someone responsible, so far with no results.
Ultimate elections
In Lebanon, elections will soon take place. For Marina and many other Lebanese people, it is crucial to register to vote to make a change. Marina and her team use the platform of Medonations to advertise the importance of the election and the registration. Although no candidates are announced yet, Marina sees the elections as a turning point in the history of Lebanon. She said that it would be okay to give up on Lebanon and emigrate if the opportunity of change is not used. She hopes the youth will strongly support alternative candidates in the upcoming election to exchange the ruling elite. The change must come from within.
Our country, our home
As per our last interview, Marina still stands by her plan to fight for Lebanon. She cannot imagine leaving Lebanon when there are families who cannot afford a piece of bread. It is her duty, the duty of all Lebanese, to stay and fight for a brighter future, even when it seems far away. She told me that, if she were to leave and build a good life outside of Lebanon, she would still lose. She would not have a home anymore, and this is true for every Lebanese. No one can make a change alone, but if enough people are willing to put up a fight to unite, there is a chance to build a country that is worth living in together.