Fundraising by Tommaso Memola

How much time do I have to recount what I saw and what I felt? And where do I find the words to describe it all, Lebanon. I ask because maybe you won't read to the end of this text... but maybe you should!

I left with Operation Dove to live in the Tel Abbas refugee camp in northern Lebanon. After the war in Syria, 1.5 million refugees have poured into Lebanon to whom the Lebanese State does not recognize the status of refugees, condemning these people to live in limbo without documents. Many volunteers like me have chosen to stay, for a period of their lives, with these people, getting their hands dirty, seeing what is the result of war.

Throughout my time there, my head began to have a huge "hope deficit." The impact of our actions and expectations for change that we wanted to have came crashing down hard against the reality of war. We had been warned, but seeing and knowing people's stories created a huge void in me, because we won't be able to save everyone but being there with them is a strong, immense sign. To be able to talk to these families, to play with the children running around in the tents, despite the harsh winter cold and the suffocating summer heat, despitethe dust, despite the fact that the war has taken everything away from them.

Solidarity involves effort. Do you feel like sharing this immense effort with me? Let's not let hope die. Let's not let life die. Outside that door in the photo, in the refugee camp in Lebanon, there are human beings whose lives should have the same value as ours. Support with a donation the volunteers of Operation Dove, support justice and peace.