Thanks to Caritas, we didn’t lose hope in Lebanon

Noha Lala: “Thanks to Caritas, we didn’t lose hope in Lebanon”

Upon hearing a sound of warplanes, Noha Lala anticipated that a bombardment or an explosion would follow, but she didn’t expect that to come true, and that she will witnessed, in an instant, the destruction of the capital of Beirut, and the collapse of all the drawings and statues, icons and artistic handicrafts, she created in her shop located in Ashrafieh.
Noha was not inside her store at the moment the Beirut port exploded, she had gone to a friend of hers on the opposite street. After the explosion, she ran towards the store on foot, amidst the destruction and the wounded everywhere.
"I couldn’t believe my eyes," Noha says, "My place has turned into a ruin, chaos and complete destruction! All my works were under rubble!", pointing out that "the worst of all what happened to us, is that some people exploited our misfortune and stole everything they managed to steal. They stole my money and my life before I could understand what happened to us.”

Weeks passed, and Noha didn’t know where to start to renovate the store, the source of her livelihood. "Until a person from Caritas contacted me and inquired about the situation of the shop; then, immediately a specialized team from the association went to help, and they installed a new door and glass facade door for the store”. Noha expressed her gratitude to Caritas team, “who accomplished its task with unparalleled mastery and professionalism, which allowed me to start my work again,” indicating that Caritas also helped her father, who owns a barber shop in Ashrafieh, which was destroyed in the aftermath of the explosion,” stressing that “Caritas is the only institution that cared for us and believed in us. Thanks to Caritas, we didn’t lose hope in Lebanon.”