More foreign donations to Lebanon arrive after blasts
Beirut: More foreign donations arrived in Lebanon after last week's huge explosions that rocked the capital Beirut, the National News Agency reported.
Two aircraft arrived in Beirut from Czechia, carrying medical equipment and special beds to be used in the emergency rooms of hospitals in the Lebanese capital, Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday.
Tunisian Labour Federation sent a military plane carrying 16 tons of medicines and food products for Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Kuwait sent two military aircraft with several tons of food and medical products as part of the daily products sent to Lebanon.
An aircraft arrived from Spain handed to the Lebanese army a donation of six tons of flour.
Lebanon has in the past days received donations from countries including China, Russia, France, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Britain and many more.
Two huge explosions rocked Port of Beirut on August 4 at around 6.10 p.m. local time (1510 GMT), shaking buildings all over the capital city.
The Beirut governor has said the losses resulting from the explosions range between US $10 and $15 billion.
Meanwhile, when the huge explosion ripped through Beirut last week, it shattered the glass doors near where 3-year-old Abed Achi was playing with his Lego blocks. He suffered a head injury and cuts on his tiny arms and feet, and he was taken to the emergency room, where he sat amid other bleeding people.
In the days since then, Abed has not been the same. Like thousands of others in Lebanon, he is grappling with trauma.
When I got to the hospital, I found him sitting in a corner in the emergency room, trembling at the sight of badly injured people around him, blood dripping all over the floor, said his mother, Hiba Achi, who was at work when the blast hit on August 4 and had left him in the care of his grandmother.
He hates red now. He refuses to wear his red shoes," Achi said, adding that Abed insists that she wash them. The massive explosion of nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate in Beirut's port killed more than 170 people, injured about 6,000 others and caused widespread damage. The UN children's agency UNICEF said three children were among the dead and at least 31 were hurt seriously enough to need hospital treatment.
As many as 100,000 children were displaced from their homes according to Save the Children, with many of them traumatised. Any noise makes him jump now. He is not eating well anymore, Achi says. He was a happy boy, very sociable. Now, he doesn't talk to anyone.
Joy Abi Habibi, a mental health expert with Save The Children, says young people who are traumatised can react differently. Headaches, nausea, bed-wetting, digestive problems are physical symptoms parents tend to overlook, she said. They become clingy and extremely on edge.
Zeinab Ghazale's daughters, Yasmine, 8, and Talia, 11, have refused to sleep alone in their bedroom since the explosion, which broke windows in their apartment and sent glass flying around their room.
We miraculously survived, said Ghazale, who had to move her daughters out of their home for a few days until the windows were fixed. But my daughter Yasmin keeps asking, 'Why don't I have a normal childhood? Why do I have to go through all this when I am only 8?'"
Psychologist Maha Ghazale, who is no relation, has been treating many children after the explosion. She said many are experiencing uncertainty "and they keep asking if this will happen again". "Many children are refusing to go back home, to get close to a glass door or window, Ghazale added.
Ricardo Molaschi was visiting his grandparents' apartment in Beirut with his Italian father and Lebanese mother. When the blast hit, the 6-year-old was cut by flying glass, requiring stitches. His grandfather, Kazem Shamseddine, was killed.
The youngster has been having recurrent bursts of anger toward whoever caused the explosion.
