WE MOVED!

The Nahr el Bared Relief Campaign can now be found at:

http://www.nahrelbaredcampaign.org

The new website contains all of our latest information. Please update your bookmarks and pass it on.
Thanks!

In-Kind Supplies Needed

If you donate any of these items, please bring them to Teh-Marboota Cafe, Pavillion Center, Hamra main road.

Kitchen and cooking utensils (including gas and gas stoves)
Milk
Baby formula
Diapers
Mattresses

SOLIDARITY ACTION FOR NAHR EL BARED- POSTPONED

Dear Friends,

The solidarity action scheduled for Monday May 28 at Nahr el Baddawi has
been postponed until Tuesday May 29 at the request of the youth of Baddawi
and Nahr el Bared refugee camps. They are going to be organizing a teach-in
on Monday 28 at 2 pm in Baddawi camp, which will include an open-mic,
discussions on what Lebanese civil society organizations and people can do
to help, and a statement clarifying certain points and intentions of the
solidarity action of Tuesday May 29 in front of Nahr el Bared. The statement
and details of the action will be disseminated tomorrow.

"They called it a second Nakba"

They called it a second nakba (catastrophe). "The first one in 1948 was a black and white nakba, it was easy to know who our enemies were. This one is more colorful." This is how Palestinian refugees from Nahr al-Bared camp described their flight to Badawi refugee camp, about twenty kilometers away. Their escape, as with their experience under fire in the Nahr al-Bared camp, was traumatizing. Not only did they escape Fatah al-Islam sniper fire and the Lebanese army's heavy artillery shelling, they also encountered a third group along the way, a militia group they identified as a local, Tripoli Sunni group which seems to have been operating inside Nahr al-Bared camp as well.

The road to Nahr al-Bared was a difficult one. For those who traveled on busses to Badawi camp they found their children taken off and assassinated by this militia group. For others they found themselves cramped into a refugee camp far smaller than their own and the new arrivals doubled the population of Badawi camp which previously held 18,000. The upsurge in population happened so suddenly that aid agencies have not had time to coordinate aid relief distribution. About 75 percent of the Nahr al Bared refugees who arrived in Badawi camp are living in peoples' homes -- sometimes adding an extra 20-30 people into an already extraordinarily small space. The other 25 percent are camped out in various schools throughout the camp. But NGOs have primarily been distributing aid among the people in the schools; 80 percent of the aid is going to the people in the schools even though this only gets at a small percentage of the population in need.

In order to remedy the situation a group, Nahr al-Bared Relief Campaign has formed to organize itself on behalf of those not getting NGO aid. Our group, made up of students, professors, and activists is working through the civil society organization League of Al Awda, which is a composite group of twenty-three various groups. Our grassroots effort with only two days work has brought much needed medicine, food, and diapers to people fleeing intense violence and trauma in Nahr al-Bared Camp. A variety of materials are being requested by the new refugees including: milk, diapers, women's sanitary napkins, pillows, mattresses, sheets, soap, towels, toothpaste, loofah, plates, glasses, utensils, house cleaning supplies, clothes, garbage bags.

- Dr. Marcy Newman
www.electroniclebanon.com

updated list of medication needed

- Diteopan: 12pcs
- Hydrea 500: 18pcs
-Trentol 400: 30pcs
- Nootropil 800: 30pcs
- Omeprazal 20: 60pcs
- Lonzoprazal 30: 30pcs
- Ventolin lyp: 30pcs
- Ventolin spray: 30pcs
- Roniticlein tab: 30pcs
- Dilatrend crvedilol 6.25mg: 10pcs
- Spasfon 3: 3pcs
- Mordex 2: 2pcs
- Vasopril -10: 4pcs
- Iburam -400: 3pcs
- Bebecal: 2pcs
- Ladinin: 2pcs
- Omepral: 4pcs
- Dexipan: 4pcs

Needed for Kids

As Beddawi camp is over packed with refugees fleeing from Nahr El-Bared, some NGOs along with few individuals arranged some psychosocial activities for the kids in the camp. They asked us if we
can help them in providing some of material needed.

big rolls of white paper
wide scotch tape
feutre pens
kids CDs
sound system
color paints
brushes
A4 white paper
colored cardboards
coloring pencils and crayons
little gifts

If anyone would like to provide these stuff or knows someone who would
like to help us getting these stuff please contact us as soon as
possible.

Updated list of needed items

During the visit to Beddawi camp, a list was put together with the help of volunteers and doctors from the camp, and we need need help supplying them. The camp and refugees are in urgent need of these items, so please consider donating in kind or money to buy them. Drop-offs can be made at Helem center, Zicco house, Spear's St. Click here for a map.

List of Medications:

• Diteopan: 12pcs
  
• Hydraxa500: 18pcs
• Trentol400: 30pcs
• Nootropil800: 30pcs
• Omeprazal 20: 60pcs
• Lonzoprazal 30: 30pcs
• Ventolin lyp: 30pcs
• Ventolin spray: 30pcs
• Roniticlein tablets: 30pcs
• Dilatrend crvedilol 6.25mg: 10pcs
  

Urgent Necessities:

• Mattresses, pillows, bed covers and Hygiene supplies: 500 families
• Food and water: 3000+ families
• Milk: 2 tons
• Diapers: 200 bags
• Sanitary napkins: 500 boxes
  
• Soap, towels, garbage bags: as many as possible
  

Supplies for the Disabled:

• Water mattresses: 20
• wheel chairs: 30
• Walker: 20
• Crutches: 100
  

Baddaw Camp Report

On Thursday members of the campaign drove to the north carrying supplies to Baddawi camp. The situation there is dire. Estimates range from 12,000 to 18,000 internally displaced Palestinians from Nahr el Bared relocated to Baddawi camp, resulting in a severe shortage of food and medical supplies.

Around 25% of the displaced from Nahr el Bared are now staying in schools, while the other 75% are cramped in people's homes, sometimes 30 people to one house. The overcrowding is unbearable. International NGOs working in direct relief are distributing 80% of the supplies to the minority in the schools, while the other 75% are only receiving 20% of the undersupplied aid.

There are currently three different groupings working on relief in the north:

1. INGOs: Red Cross, Save the Children, Norwegian People's Aid, UNRWA, etc.
2. Palestinian political parties
3. A grouping of 23 local civil society organizations

Coordination between the three groups is sorely lacking, and the distribution of supplies is haphazard and beaurocratic.

The Nahr el Bared Relief campaign members formed a coordinating team with the civil society organizations since their networks were most established and spread on the ground, and distributed the $1,000 worth of food bought mostly in and around the camp to stimulate local economy and $2,000 worth of medical supplies through the Ghassan Kanafani Foundation clinic. While the amount was meager, the demand remained very high and people are still in need of much more aid than is currently being given out.

The campaign is still collecting donations and sending teams up to the Baddawi camp to assist the people there.

Relief coordination meeting

في ظل التطوّر السلبي للأحداث في مخيم نهر البارد، ومتابعة الاشتباكات وتكرر التفجيرات، ما زالت الضحية واحدة داخل المخيم وخارجه.
نتحرك اليوم من أجل:

- وقف اطلاق نار فوري، وفك الحصار عن المخيمات، وإغاثة الجرحى والنازحين، وتأمين مأوى آمن لهم.
- الكفّ عن الشحن الطائفي والتحريض على العنصرية والكراهية واستعمال وسائل الإعلام لهذا الغرض.
- تحميل الحكومة المسؤولية الكاملة في تأزّم الوضع وبلوغه مرحلة قريبة من عودة الحرب الأهلية.

لذلك، ندعوكم إلى اجتماع عام في زيكو هاوس، في الحديقة، في تمام الساعة السابعة من مساء اليوم الخميس 24/05/2007.

In light of the developments in Nahr el Bared camp and the continuation of clashes and bombings around the country, we are mobilizing for:

• An immediate cease fire, removing the siege on the camp, and aiding the injured and the displaced
• An end to fueling sectarin tensions and encouraging racism and hatred and using the media to these ends
• Holding the government completely responsible for the deterioration of the situation and inching us ever closer to another civil war

We are calling for a meeting in Zico House, Spears st, today (Thursday 24 May) at 7 pm to discuss further actions and relief work.

update

Dear friends,

In the space of a few hours we have managed to collected $1,000 worth of medical supplies and $2,000 in cash from various sources. A convoy will be going up to the north tomorrow to hand the supplies to the Badawwi hospital.

Dear friends,

If you would like to donate in-kind supplies or money to aid the injured in Nahr el Bared camp, you can do so at Helem center in Zicco House, Spears St. 01-745092.

الأصدقاء،

في ظل الأوضاع الراهنة و خلال وقف إطلاق النار الجاري، يقوم العديد من أهالي مخيّم نهر البارد بالنزوح إلى مخيّم البدواي الذي يستقبلهم في المنازل، ومدارس الانروا. تعاني المستوصفات في مخيّم البدواي من نقص شديد في المواد والمعدات الطبية، ومن خلال التنسيق مع فرق الإغاثة التي تنطلق من بيروت لمساعدة النازحين تمكنا من تحديد لائحة احتياجات أساسية

خفاضات
اسعافات أولية
باندول سائل
انسلين
كوفاج للسكري
كلاميد 5 مغ
محلول سالين
ايردان للعضل
خيطان طبية

يمكن للجميع ان يساعد ويدعم النازحين وذلك من خلال التبرعات العينة أو المادية. الرجاء الاتصال على - marcynewman at gmail dot com 70977812
r.moumneh at gmail dot com