Sarah, one of our Local Peace Economy partners, and me in Beirut.

Dear John,

I am back from Beirut, Lebanon, where I witnessed firsthand the devastation brought on by the August 4th port explosion, on top of a government that had already failed the people. The rebuilding process is slow on the ground; however, people are coming together to support one another in true Peace Economy collectivity.

On Armenia Street, just a couple blocks away from the blast site, Lebanese civil society projects and NGO’s line the street with tents to provide residents with food, water, mental health support, and medical aid. In an empty parking lot, a group of young Lebanese meet at the volunteer-led Basecamp to assemble box meals, which in turn were loaded into cars and onto scooters for delivery. Watch a tour of Basecamp on YouTube.

It is the youth and citizens that are picking up the pieces and moving forward as the Lebanon government is absent. And, the recent fire at the Port of Beirut doesn’t help in the rebuilding process. But, you can help the people of Lebanon by giving to the NGOs that are providing disaster relief.

CODEPINK will continue to monitor the situation on the ground in Beirut through our Local Peace Economy partners. We will keep you up to date. Again, thank you for your solidarity and love, I delivered it to all I met. 

Nancy and CODEPINK team 

PS. We still have an opening for our Regeneration Manager. Please send applications to [email protected].

Our CODEPINK store still has our Make Out Not War t-shirt in stock, if you’d like to show up in your community in this awesome merch.