In Beirut, Lebanon, in the middle of the destroyed neighborhood of Gemmayzeh, a team of volunteers, all donning masks and gloves, sanitized oxygen machines, packing them up to be sent to those in need. It is the latest effort of Lebanese civil group, Baytna Baytak ("Our Home is Your Home" in Arabic), a nonprofit that launched at the start of the pandemic with a very different initiative: "finding a home-away-FROM-home for frontline workers who were worried about exposing their families to the virus." When Lebanon's pandemic lockdown started in March 2020, they housed 750 frontline health workers in various apartments donated by community `member`s. After the Beirut explosion on Aug. 4, 2020, the group rushed to provide temporary housing for those who lost their homes. In just 24 hours of putting out a call for housing, six apartments had been donated. Today, about 100 frontline workers have been placed across six apartments, a few hotels and a convent. Despite a 24-hour lockdown that started in mid-January, the group is unhindered in its clarity to serve its community. One of Baytna Baytak's co-founders,Melissa Fathallah, said, "We took it upon ourselves because of the greater good, because of the bigger picture because of the country and the citizens. We took it upon ourselves."

Read Full Story


More: