Impact Stories

When a second hurricane hit Nicaragua in mid-November 2020, Yodelsi Alfonso Lagos couldn’t find her house.

Thảo’s neighbour drowned in the rising water. Thảo, his wife, two children and mother made it to a temporary shelter just in time.

When an explosion on August 4th 2020 in the port of Beirut, Lebanon caused devastation to the city and surrounding areas, the member agencies of the Humanitarian Coalition responded immediately. This report details that response.

Walid, a Lebanese teenager with a disability, is developing new skills and making plans for his future.

Ahlam’s husband makes a million a month – in Lebanase pounds that is. Unfortunately it only works out to about $57 in Canadian money.

“My children haven’t gone to bed hungry this past month. I can’t explain how much that means to me.”

For Alice Harant Gobanian, a 65-year-old widow in Lebanon, food vouchers make it possible for her family to eat nutritious food.

One of Alice’s daughters and seven grandchildren live with her in a small three-room apartment in Nabaa, a neighbourhood in Beirut.

When the huge explosion rocked the port of Beirut in August 2020, Fatima immediately had a flashback to the war in Syria.

“Everything is gone! You have to come to Beirut immediately. A disaster has happened!"

That's the message Christine Codsi received about the impact of the devastating port explosion on her business.

Like many in Lebanon, Darwich is a manual worker, looking for jobs every day. This means his income is unpredictable – if there’s no work, there’s no money.

“If I don’t gain money, my family won’t have anything to eat nor even drink,” he says of how he supports a family of eight.

“My children, especially the younger ones, were crying more often and wouldn’t leave me alone,” says Amal. The doctors told her husband -- a port worker -- to rest and stay off work for at least six weeks.

Water, too much of it, uninvited and out of control, flooded her house. Madina, her husband and her children spent the next ten days sleeping under a plastic sheet.