For two years now, the people have discovered that the State coffers were empty, that the public debt had skyrocketed, that the banks - the flagship of the Lebanese financial system - were failing, that the local currency was becoming day by day waste paper, having lost almost 100% of its value (from 1,500 Lebanese pounds for a dollar to 33,000 these days), with catastrophic consequences on wages and income, that the savings deposited in the bank were devalued and often inaccessible, that inflation was becoming triple-digit, that prices were rising day by day in a dizzying and often uncontrolled way ... The tragic explosion of 4 August 2020 and the subsequent wave of infections from Covid-19 further aggravated the situation, and those who can, leave the country.
In short, Lebanon, from a message-country, as dreamed and presented by Pope Saint John Paul II, has almost become a pariah-state, from which to stay away and almost abhorred by many of its citizens.
People's normal lives are disrupted, all the more so since they were accustomed to a relaxed and easy lifestyle, often beyond their means, because it was favored by policies of subsidizing basic products (food, medicine, fuel, electricity...), as well as by a rather mild tax policy.
Now that the State has removed almost all subsidies, the majority of the population has suddenly found itself impoverished and unable to provide for the needs of a normal life, having to give up not only the superfluous, but also the necessary.
How to maintain a family with salaries suddenly devalued and purchasing power reduced to zero? How to get to work if there are no public services and no means to run your car? How to live today without electricity, if you want the productive machine to continue working? And how to access the Internet for distance learning, made indispensable by the spread of the pandemic?
It is true that the presence of hundreds of thousands of private electric generators - with disastrous consequences on air quality - partly compensates for the lack of public electricity, but how to make them work if there is no fuel or if there is no money to buy it or to pay the invoice?
If the initiative of the Lebanese has allowed them to overcome other crises in the past, the current one is too serious, because it affects all sectors of public and private life. Without a massive and urgent intervention of international aid, hitherto blocked by government paralysis and the consequent lack of reforms, the situation will continue to worsen. Proof of this is the progressive dysfunction of public services, strikes and repeated demonstrations, with the closure of the main road arteries, an increase in crime, mental disorders in adults and young people (suicides), heavy emigration (for example, about 40% of doctors and of nurses) ...
In this dramatic context, the Salesians (four religious - two Italian missionaries, one Syrian and one Bolivian deacon), with many lay people who share responsibility for the mission (Lebanese, Iraqis, Syrians...) continue to work with serenity and determination and with all the means at their disposal, as a sign of solidarity and sharing, especially with the weakest or most marginalized, and there are many, too many of them: children and young people from the working class, Syrian and Iraqi refugees, families in need... All of them, without distinction, are supported through education by means of scholarships, psychological and material support (distribution of food, medicines, hygiene and cleaning items...) and proximity (oratories, youth centers, schools...).
"We ask for your prayers for this people and these young people and children who are suffering so much," the Sons of Don Bosco in Lebanon say in conclusion.
