A ug 9 2006

A Day in the Life of a Relief Center Volunteer: Armenian Activist
Reports from Beirut

Maral Mgrditchian sent us this exclusive report on her experiences
with Mowatinun, a relief organization staffed by young activists from
across the Lebanese confessional spectrum.

As I try to make my way through a small crowd of people to get to
the abandoned building where Mowatinun has set camp, I hear them ask
for a so-called "Nayla", whom they have probably never met before,
and wouldn’t recognize if they saw her, but have heard about by word
of mouth. They must have heard, as many have before, that they need
to ask for "Nayla from Mowatinun" to seek for help.

These people standing outside the alley will most probably come to
add to the list of more than 4000 people Mowatinun is already taking
care of, a number which is increasing by the day with each
bombardment of a new area in the South of the country, or in Beirut.

Inside the building, the central hall on the first floor is full of
young volunteers. Everyone is busy. Some are preparing food units to
be sent to the registered families, while the medical unit is taking
care of organizing the medication supplies to be coupled with the
food. Going up, the second floor is bustling with another group
dealing with administrative issues such as fundraising, budgeting,
accounting, web developing, contacting the displaced families…

A volunteer comes running up announcing the arrival a food supply
delivery that needs to be brought to the warehouse. So everyone
leaves his/her assigned original task in order to form a human chain
connecting the supplies truck to the warehouse. The only missing
person is me as I’m off to meet the supplier and settle the invoice.

Looking at the invoice, I notice red dashes on several products.
Those are the products that he (and most probably all our suppliers)
has run out of. No more tuna, sardine, infant milk and diapers for
babies. They are either not available on the market, or they have
become too expensive.

Our supplies are getting scarce, as are the means to transport them.
Volunteers who use their own cars to deliver the supplies to the
families dispersed in Beirut and its suburbs, are currently extremely
worried that if in two days fuel is not delivered to the country, it
will be impossible for them to accomplish their task.

It is really inspiring to see how the spontaneous initiative of a few
devoted Lebanese citizens could attract, in a few days, such a
significant amount of young volunteers working restlessly, and thus
gaining the trust of donors, nationally and internationally. Those
donors are, as a matter of fact, a crucial factor in nurturing
Muwatinun’s ongoing vigor in its commitment to assist our displaced
citizens and to overcome the current humanitarian crisis.

Maral Mgrditchian
Accounts Manager, Mowatinun