BEIRUT, Lebanon (KSEE) – It’s a part of daily life in Lebanon: sudden darkness. Government-supplied electricity is available for only one to three hours a day. Those who can afford it, get a generator.
But on this day at the Armenian Relief Cross Clinic in Beirut, Dr. Van Boghossian of Fresno’s medical mission team had to use a battery-powered light to get the job done.
“We’ll make it work. We deal with whatever we get,” Dr. Boghossian says.
Power outages are among the many challenges in Lebanon. The economy is in crisis, the currency has lost much of its value and people struggle to buy food and basic necessities.
Even government leaders acknowledge something needs to be done.
“It’s really highly needed because as you know, all over the world, not only the Armenians, but the international community also knows in what devastating situation the Lebanese people are living,” says Lebanese politician Hagop Pakradouni.
But a generous gift from Fresno is offering hope and shining a new light at this clinic.
A $25,000 donation to the Advance Armenia Foundation provided funding for solar panels and a generator to keep the lights on from now on. The gift was bequeathed by the late Clara Margossian of Fresno who passed away in February.
Three years ago, Clara donated a million dollars to build apartments in the country of Armenia, and she left even more of a legacy in her wake.
“I think her vision was very great because today if you ask any Lebanese people this time they say the most important aspect of our life is the cost of energy and the cost of gas. If we can eliminate those, we will survive,” says Dr. Varoujan Altebarmakian of Fresno, the executor of Clara’s estate.
Among those attending the ribbon cutting, was U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea.
“So to have a generator and solar panels to make a community health clinic accessible to everybody who needs it without regard to what community they belong to, that is what American values stand for,” Shea says.
Going solar at this clinic will save the staff thousands of dollars in electricity costs. But more importantly, it keeps the lights on so life-saving work can continue in a country that’s struggling.