What better way to open the morning than by baking my
bread for breakfast Lebanese style and handing over $2000. We were visiting a
Human Appeal social enterprise in Saida, an old port town on the Lebanese
coast. Its a family run bakery, producing their own bread. Of course in London we would die for these fantastic artisan flat breads, but here it is the staple of this working class
district. It's run by Palestinian refugees and HA are going them the money to
expand. And I got to hand over the cheque! Have to say the flat bread with thyme
and herb coating is most delicious. It's often called the Lebanese pizza I'm
told!
It was off to see
some schools. The first is a charity run school which takes kids from nursery
to secondary. The Principal is the brother of the President of the famous
Finsbury Park Mosque and his brother, Mohammed Kozbar, was there to greet me
as well. That was a bonus as he wants me to go and visit, which I shall
certainly do when I'm back in London. Then it was on to a school for Syrian
refugees. It's a mark of the crisis in Syria that all the pupils come from
every region in that country. There is no part of Syria not affected by war. These pupils have often seen the most applying abuse and atrocity. But they are
keen to learn and so return eventually to the country they have left. I wished
them well.
But the main event of the day was officiating at the
opening of The Sewing factory, along with the representative of the Qatar
charity and Human Appeal. This is a social enterprise which aims to train Syrian
women refugees and give them qualifications that will lead to employment. They
also take in donated clothes which they wash and sew and either sell or give
away. And they do a nice line in school uniforms. I made a speech which I hope
fitted the occasion. I'm afraid I used that corny line about how good it
is to give a starving person a fish, but how much better it is to teach them to
fish. But it seems so apposite for the occasion. Many of the refugees have been
here for so long they need to be supported both in their physical needs but
also in education and skills. A brilliant initiative which has been done with
major support from Britain and Qatar.
And then onto a
conference for representatives of local charities to hear and discuss the role
we have in humanitarian aid and sustainable development.
Then finally an hour of sightseeing. The port city of
Saida is an ancient settlement and has an old fortress, port and souk.
So now my 3 days here in Lebanon are at an end. My views on the importance of support for the work of the Muslim Charity Forum remain as
strong as ever. With the increasingly nasty climate that faces our British
Muslim community it's essential our charity's work as a whole to support their
work. Indeed we need to ensure the government, so far dismissive of the work that these charities do understand
that tackling extremism is built upon the roots that communities develop
themselves it is Muslim charities that
take such an important role in their humanitarian work and their development of
civil society. ACEVO will continue to battle their cause against ignorance and
prejudice. When governments are so keen to lecture and not to listen to the future
for social cohesion. It remains bleak.