Family Testimonials 2021 H1

These are testimonials we received from all the families that were sponsored from the launch of Aleb until July 2021.

CTS87: “Aleb donations helped me a lot in covering unpaid debts and paying for my sick husband’s necessary Diabetes and Anemia monthly medication fees. Monthly medication fees cost 200,000 LBP, in addition to the medical examinations and doctor’s fees (1,000,000 LBP). The only thing I am currently in dire need of is how to manage covering my husband’s needed gallbladder’s medical surgery. I started working this month in a clothing retail shop, with a 600,000 LBP monthly salary, to help in generating income to cover my husband’s medical needs; since he can't work due to his medical situation and his monthly medication fees are becoming more expensive."

FAS63: “Aleb donations helped me a lot in covering unpaid debts and paying for necessary heart medical surgery expenses. The initiative is also helping me cover my children’s monthly medication expenses and the only thing I currently in dire need to have is a stable monthly income to cover all my unpaid debts, which increased during the crisis. I currently cannot afford to start an official business of my own due to the unstable economic situation in the country, which keeps me helpless. However, to help in supporting my family, and to stand back on my feet, I started a "Sahbeh" business-cheap surprise toys, which I prepare at home and I sell them to the shops nearby. It is currently generating around 1,400,000 LBP/month. I am very thankful for this initiative and for my sponsors because they were our breath during this crisis.”

JGE78: “Your generous donations helped me cover my basic living needs. It is hard for me to find a good job at the time being and I cannot afford to start one of my own due to the current unstable situation in Lebanon. I wish this initiative lasts a little bit longer so that we can handle covering our necessary living needs. I am currently working in the Library with a 450,000 LBP monthly salary, which is not even enough to cover the basic living needs for a maximum of one week. I am very grateful for my sponsors and thankful for your support. I wish this initiative extends its duration until we can get back on our feet again.”

SRC17: “Aleb helped me settle unpaid debts, support my family and pay for my husband’s eye treatment. In addition to purchasing eyeglasses, we had to pay 1,500,000 LBP in total. This initiative helped us commit to our monthly medical treatment, which costs 400,000 LBP. I am in dire need of foodstuff, since I am still covering my unpaid debts and paying for my medical treatment. A $300 can help me open a grocery shop and a Saj bakery to generate a good income for my family. I am very thankful for my Aleb sponsors and a family member of mine who are financially supporting us to survive.”

RAZ1: “I used the Aleb donations to pay part of my sick wife’s medical treatment and personal debts and loans. We are also able to settle our children’s unpaid school tuition fees so they can receive an official certificate from their current private school allowing them to switch to a public one. I am thankful for the donations that helped me re-open my own bakery, but the business is slow due to the price increase of the raw materials, which hinders growth. If I want to make it work, I need around 20 million LBP (around $1,700 on the black market exchange rate) and this includes maintaining the shop, renewing what is old and buying the dough making machine. My income now is barely enough to buy food for my family and I hope to keep receiving your generous support until I can stand on my feet again.”

ZHH33: “I am very thankful for the Aleb initiative. The donations helped me improve my homemade food business and increase production so I can get back on my feet. I am the only breadwinner in the family and I am taking care of members with special needs, this is why I haven’t been able to focus on my business growth before.”

AMZ26: “Your generous donations helped me provide food for my family and cater to my three kids who have special needs. Aleb helped me keep my homemade food business but the economic crisis is making it very hard to continue and I might eventually stop. I hope the support we receive from you doesn’t end soon so we can at least continue helping our families until the current financial crisis in Lebanon ends. Your donations have so far helped us cover our basic needs and we are very thankful.”

AMH9: “Thanks to the Aleb donations, I was able to purchase a painting toolkit for my own business, pay my bill at the pharmacy and settle my debt at the supermarket. I was also able to register my kids at school and buy them school books. We are very grateful for that. My hometown in Adsheet is suitable for raising livestock and I am planning on buying cows and sheep to sustain a living with a regular income because my painting services are not enough to cover our needs.”

GTS32: “I used the donations to pay the rent and settle old unpaid debts. Sadly, it wasn’t enough to help me restart my business and I hope the upcoming remittances will help me restock my grocery shop and generate some income to cover my needs. I live with my son and his wife and the shop generates a very limited income to sustain the three of us.”

WJA31: “Aleb helped me buy food for my family and medicine for my Herniated Disk medical condition. I paint house walls but no one is currently seeking my services so I have no income and my medical condition doesn’t allow me to work as much. I am still in dire need of food aid and medication and Aleb is my only source of income.”

QMI14: “Aleb helped me pay for my sick daughter’s medical treatment. I am so grateful for their help but unfortunately, I am still unable to relaunch my own business because it has become very expensive nowadays and it will take me an entire year to get back on my feet. I am forever grateful for your help and wish to continue receiving your support so I can at least continue my daughter’s treatment and cover our basic needs, nothing more. The monthly donations helped me cover 80% of my family’s needs but I have no income and I wish to receive a small grant to open a small grocery shop one day.”

GHA30: “I am the sole provider in a family of four. I used the donations to pay for my tractor’s maintenance fees, and used it to generate income to feed my family and buy our necessities. Aleb helped me relaunch my agriculture business. I am a cancer patient and in dire need of a medical treatment and I hope your donations can help me secure an ongoing treatment. I don’t have any other income aside from my seasonal work but I hope to get well soon to start taking care of my family.”

EAS4: “I am the sole provider in the family and the donations helped me settle a big part of my debts and cover our basic needs. I used to work but I am currently suffering from diabetes, blood pressure and Herniated Disk and I can no longer provide cleaning services. I hope I can buy more furniture for my rented house and Aleb is currently my only source of income.”

MAT11: “This Initiative is unique and it is hard to find a similar one. I benefited from these donations to cover my family’s living expenses and my own unexpected medical therapy’s expenses too. I could not invest the money in relaunching my business because I discovered that I have cancer and I had to start my medical treatment immediately. I believe your continuous support can help me continue my chemotherapy sessions, open my own business and cover my needs. You are my only source of income.”

JAK5: “I used the donations to pay for my husband’s chemotherapy treatment expenses. I wish I can continue providing my husband with the necessary treatment so he can be cured from cancer. I couldn’t invest the donations to relaunch my antiques business due to the costly medical treatment. Aleb’s donations can help me get back on my feet and decrease the burdens we are experiencing. I hope one day I can start my home-based clothes selling business.”

JMS16: “I used the donations to care for six household members and cover our daily living expenses. Your continuous support can help me get back on my feet. I used to work as a secretary at a doctor’s clinic and I hope I can find another job soon.”

FAE27: “We are five household members. Your donations helped me cover my family’s basic living needs and buy milk and diapers, which have become hard to find and very expensive because of the current financial crisis. I wish to purchase chocolate decoration tools and restart providing special occasion chocolate designs. Part of the donations were invested in paying for an expensive medical surgery for my eye. Aleb is now my only source of income and I hope the initiative lasts longer.”

AMY18: “Your donations helped me prepare fresh vine leaves and sell them as ‘Mouneh’ (homemade food). This generated a small income for a very short period and helped me support my family. I used the money to cover my family’s basic living needs but nothing else. My main goal is to find a good job for my husband who currently earns an income of 300,000 LBP (almost $25 on the black market exchange rate). Your generous donations were good enough to cover our basic needs but I don’t know how much more I need to start a business and become financially independent, because the current situation in Lebanon is not encouraging anyone to take a step forward.”

RZF6: “I am the sole breadwinner for my two children. I used Aleb’s donations to settle my sick mother’s medical treatment and death expenses, who passed away this month. Unfortunately, I could not invest the money in relaunching my own clothing business because I have to pay for everything in USD and the money was not enough to buy the requested quantity. I hope one day I could restart my business and be able to support my family on my own. At the moment, I am using what is left of the donated amount to cover our living needs and it will not be enough to pay for my rent or my yearly water subscription fees.”

SAKA25: “We are a household of four members and my husband is blind. Aleb helped me pay my debts and my daughter’s nose fracture medical surgery bill but unfortunately, I am still unable to open my bakery since I lost my work in a daycare. I hope that next month, I can use the upcoming donations to equip my bakery with the right tools to start over. I am also in dire need of purchasing a cooking stove and a washing machine for our home and your donations helped me until now cover most of our family’s basic needs.”

AMS2: “Thank you Aleb for your generous donations. I used them to buy the needed tailoring equipment and some fabrics to improve my business. The income I generate is not enough to care for my three family members but the donations helped me buy the needed items and medications. I still need support to continue purchasing medications on time and cover our basic needs during these hard times. I am very thankful for all your help and I hope to continue growing my business so I can generate enough income one day.”

DMM28: “Aleb helped me buy milk and diapers for my kids and cover our basic needs. My two sick kids are in need of continuous medical treatment. My daughter suffers from Thalassemia and my son is blind and has had brain paralysis since he was born. It is hard for me to leave my kids and find a job and I am very thankful for the donations and believe they are enough to cover my needs. My husband is an Army soldier and his monthly salary barely provides what we need.”

ZJH62: “I used to have a small mini-market of my own, but due to the financial crisis, I had to close it and work in a butchery and bakery for 10,000 LBP a day (less than $1). Unfortunately, even this income is no longer available and I am now providing agriculture crop picking services upon request with 10,000 LBP charge per day. Aleb helped me a lot in covering our basic living needs when we had no source of income. The donations were invested in addition to the basic living needs, in covering COVID-19 medication expenses and paying back debts. I hope that one day I can buy necessary furniture for my house, offer my daughter a decent life and start a clothes selling business, but I believe it is hard to do at the time being because this type of business needs a big capital that I cannot afford. I am thankful for my donor’s support.”

RMC54: “I used to raise cattle before for living but unfortunately due to a certain illness, which my cattle suffered from, I lost my business, and my family was left with no income. I used the donations to pay my pharmacy bill and my disabled son's medication, in addition to buying necessary food items. The donations covered my family’s basic living needs, especially my son's physiotherapy fees to help him to start walking, through paying 1,000,000 LBP per month. Since I did not invest the grant in relaunching my business, I will need around 4,000,000 LBP (around $320) to launch it again. I am in dire need to increase my son's physiotherapy treatment sessions to help him walk but it is too expensive for me to continue without any financial support. I am very thankful and grateful for your support.”

RHHH66: “I used this donation to pay for my husband's heart medical surgery expenses. We had to pay 20,000,000 LBP for the surgery and we received financial support from good people and we had only a smaller amount left to pay which was covered by your generous donations. I am planning to have my own agriculture greenhouses’ business, and I need around $1,000 to fund it. I have no current income other than Aleb and I am in dire need to start my own business to succeed in supporting my family members and improving our living. I am very grateful for this special humanitarian act.”

JFG36: “It is something that can't be described, which changed my family's life and they are very thankful for this donation. I invested in purchasing foodstuff, and bought my daughter's Rheumatism monthly medication that costs 500,000 LBP. But still I can’t provide her with the two monthly requested syringes which cost $2,000 a month to provide her with the complete medication. I am in dire need of stable financial support during the current financial crisis until I can restart my own homemade food business and start generating income. My husband’s monthly income is not enough to cover our basic living needs and without the donations we cannot cover our daughter’s medication and manage our basic needs properly. I can’t describe my children’s happiness when we received the donations. Thank you very much for your generous support.”

HFM38: “Aleb helped me cover my family’s basic needs and my kneecap cartilage's medication expenses, as well as pay for the washing machine and refrigerator maintenance expenses. It is hard for me to set the time and amount of money requested to get back on my feet, because I still have unpaid debts and my medical situation doesn't allow me to continue my furniture manufacturing and painting business. I need to do another Kneecap operation and fix my car motor engine, in addition to purchasing a cooking stove. I live in my brother’s house at the moment and I am unable to cater to my family on my own. I could not make it at all without the donations, especially that I have no income at all, and have no idea at all how I can reopen my business. The whole family is grateful for your support.”

KMJ29: “I am suffering from MS and from hemiplegia, which doesn’t allow me to work and support my family. I used the donation to secure food and medication (around 60% of the basic needs) for my seven family members. Your sponsorship helped me cover my MS medication expenses but I am in dire need of financial support to cover all my medication expenses and to buy a refrigerator for my family. I hope one day I can open a small shop to manage my family’s basic living needs.”

ZMN68: “The Aleb donation helped me settle unpaid grocery store debts and procure the necessary medication for my daughter as she suffers from kidney failure. I am looking forward to opening a small grocery store. I still need financial support to fix our room ceiling. In addition to Aleb, I am receiving a 200,000 LBP financial aid to keep me on my feet.”