Ever since our new governor assigned me to chair the Hunger Relief Committee in District 351, I have been very busy. Hunger relief is a cause that is close to my heart. Now that I have gathered necessary documentation, prepared my plan of action, procedures and approach, target initiatives and an emergency plan, I can sit back and relax for a few days (though this fight won’t wait).
I still remember the old days; the war days. We could never put in enough effort into hunger relief. We worked hard. We filled big black garbage bags with different items – those were the only items available for us to fill-. We put some evaporated milk, some rice, some sugar and always flour. We walked to the fire lines and delivered bag after bag to older people, to deprived families, to smiling children whose eyes were filled with sadness and terror. Many of those people didn’t have the necessary mobility and absolutely did not have the necessary income to provide a daily meal, a weekly glass of milk.
Today, hunger is just as bad. It’s an obscene monster. We cannot overcome it with minimal efforts. It is bigger than society itself; but every change that has ever happened for the better in the world, was catalyzed by groups of thoughtful committed people like us, working hand in hand with other small groups of thoughtful and committed people. There is no place for complacency.
Two individuals at the heart of my cause: the elderly and the hungry malnourished child. There are poverty pockets in every Qada, however, the disparities in the country have shown three areas to be most afflicted: the Bekaa, the North and the South. At the moment in Lebanon, over 21% of the population is classified as poor while around 8% are classified as extremely poor. That is around 30% of the population that is below the national poverty threshold.
I keep close to my heart what Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the FAO said “Hunger is not an issue of charity. It is an issue of justice.”