IMC provides critical care to Tyre District; mayor expresses gratitude

PHOTO: IMC The mayor of Tyre Caza met with IMC Founder & Chairman Dr. Bob Simon during a recent visit.

International Medical Corps is supporting conflict-affected southern Lebanon through primary health care programs; water, sanitation and hygiene projects; psychosocial support; and winterization.

Its work is making a big difference in the lives of people living in southern Lebanon’s Tyre Cazaand has the support of Abed Al Mohssen Al Hussayni, the Mayor of Tyre Municipality and head of mayors for the district.

He expressed his gratitude on behalf of all the municipalities in Tyre Caza in a letter presented to Dr. Robert Simon, IMC Founder and Chairman of the Board, during a visit in November.

“IMC was the first international NGO which provided help during the war and continues to do so,” the Mayor wrote.

IMC has a large office in the region’s capital Tyre, from which it administers projects in communities throughout southern Lebanon.

Tyre Caza is made up of 64 municipalities and covers an area of 414 square kilometers—a little more than twice the size of the District of Columbia. The region was hard hit during last summer’s conflict. About 10 percent of homes were either totally or partially damaged, and livelihoods in the mainly agricultural district suffered due to burning fields, cluster bombs, and lack of water during the hot summer months. Medical services and vital infrastructure such as water towers, roads and bridges were also seriously jeopardized.

In an interview with IMC this year, the Mayor gave IMC the thumbs up.

“It is a great thing IMC is working for the benefit of people and serving the people. They are not searching for media. They are just looking to fill the gaps of society,” he said.

• IMC has structurally rehabilitated seven medical clinics in Tyre Caza so far, and is supplying medicine and medical supplies to 14 clinics and two hospitals in 12 towns in the district. Seven clinics have received IMC-donated office supplies and furniture.

• IMC rehabilitated two water towers and is in the process of repairing an additional two in Tyre Caza. Families in the district also benefited from IMC’s post-war donation of several hundred water tanks to families throughout southern Lebanon.

• IMC distributed hundreds of hygiene kits to vulnerable citizens in four villages in Tyre Caza as part of a response to a medical report about an outbreak of skin infections in the area this winter.

• IMC is creating child friendly spaces, so children in three communities in Tyre Caza will have a safe space to play. Outdoor playgrounds will be set up close to the indoor spaces.

• As part of its winterization program, IMC supplied 233 families in two Tyre Caza villages with enough wood to last for three months. IMC also supplied wood heaters to the families in one village.