ORDER OF MALTA LEBANON (LAKM)
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Mission Statement
• We serve all communities regardless of nationality or religion, promoting social coherence and advocating peace and justice through interreligious cooperation. • We work in full transparency and effective governance, collaborating with selected local and international partners and agencies. • We are constantly improving and expanding our capabilities to become a reference in health and social care to the vulnerable by offering state of the art services tailored to local needs. • We build a community of engaged volunteers and professionals sharing values of Love, Faith and Devotion through service to the underprivileged.
About This Cause
The first centers of the Order of Malta in Lebanon were created during the war in the mid-1980s, in the most remote villages, to attend to and relieve the suffering of the forgotten. Today, the Order’s actual network is made of 30 different operations established throughout the country, run in collaboration with congregations or foundations, targeted to serve the poor, the sick, the elderly, the disabled and the displaced regardless of their race, color or religion. The Community Health Centers: At the core of the Orders mission are the 9 Community Health Centers, that welcome everyone, without any distinction, offering a wide range of medical consultations, such as: cardiology, pediatrics, gynecology, ophthalmology, orthopedics and dermatology among others, as well as medical and paramedical services according to the standards set by the Ministry of Public Health for the Primary Health Care Program recommended by the WHO. These consultations are provided by healthcare professionals, at symbolic fees, in regards to a social work assessment for each individual, that would preserve the patients’ dignity. Every center has a pharmacy linked to the central pharmacy in Beirut, which ensures the continuity of medications. Social services are also provided, not only in the centers, but also at home, creating strong bonds between the population and centers staff. The Mobile Medical Units (MMU): The Order of Malta in Lebanon has 4 fully operational Mobile Medical Units (MMU) spread across the country. Following the 2006 war, we realized the need for Mobile Medical Units to reach people in remote villages, especially those unable to access our health centers. Therefore, 2 MMU were set up providing medical consultations and medical drugs in remote areas of South Lebanon. The other 2 were recently implemented following the Syrian crisis. The Lebanese healthcare system was already stretched before the influx of Syrians and relied heavily on the private sector. Syrians displaced face several obstacles when accessing healthcare including the expensive cost of services, geographical challenges, and restricted coverage criteria. The presence of the Syrians displaced affected particularly the North and the Beqaa governorates. The first Mobile Medical Unit was implemented in 2014 in Akkar (North) and the second one in 2016 in Kefraya (West Beqaa). The Day Care Centers for the Elderly: In the last few years, the number of older people has increased dramatically. Moreover, social, economic and cultural conditions impose a multitude of tasks and duties on the younger members of the family, making it very difficult on them to take care of their older parents. Youth leave the villages in search for better opportunities, leaving behind elderly relatives who live most often a lonely life without financial or social support. In addition, there is a lack of vital medical care for this category of people. Lebanon does not yet provide social security for retired individuals in the private sector. The elderly are left without medical coverage or any kind of pension. A great number of elderly individuals are not included in any retirement program. Despite efforts by the government to provide some kind of assistance to senior citizens through the establishment of retirement homes, it has been proven that keeping these individuals in their own homes is preferable, especially when social centers and day care institutions where they can meet are available. Since 2004, the Order of Malta Lebanon has decided to embark on a program of socio-medical day activities for these individuals. The 2 day care centers for the elderly in Roum (South Lebanon) and Kefraya (West Bekaa) operate five days a week. They offer round trip transportation of the elderly to these centers from nearby villages. They aim to: •Provide health care to the elderly by offering them monthly exams (or whenever necessary). This is done by doctors and nurses affiliated with the centers. Medicines for chronic and non-chronic diseases are also provided. •Strengthen the social relations and exchanges between seniors belonging to different communities and confessions. •Empower the seniors to remain independent by encouraging them to participate in different educational sessions about aging. Beside these 2 Day Care Centers in Roum and Kefraya, the Order of Malta also has an Elderly program in Zouk and 6 Warm Homes in nearby villages with the purpose of providing facilities where seniors can meet two or three times a week in addition to the days where they meet in the day centers. Therapeutic educational center for children with Cerebral Palsy: Located within the Bhannes Hospital, this center of the Order of Malta can accommodate up to 100 cerebral palsy children, boarders and day students, aged between 2 to 15 years. These children suffer from severe cerebral motor disabilities, due to a lack of oxygen at birth, all the while remaining smart and clever. They are surrounded by a large team of therapists and specialists who provide them with care as well as school education. The main objective is to try to reintegrate them into the civil society. A Balneotherapy specifically adapted for disabilities and the cases of cerebral palsy children was specially built. This pool is unique in the Middle East. The Hosting Center for the Disabled: The Chabrouh Center is now famous for welcoming, for more than 20 years, volunteers of the Order of Malta from Lebanon and abroad to hold holiday camps for disabled people. Our center is equipped with state of the art facilities catered to the need of our mentally and/or physically challenged guests who are aged between 7 and 60 years. They can suffer from severe conditions such as mental retardation, epilepsy, autism, polyhandicap and down syndrome. A total of 26 one-week camps are organized each year, serving a total of more than 620 friends (or guests) with the help of more than 930 volunteers coming from different countries. The main goal is to offer them nothing more than simple joy, care and true love. This continually growing project is more than a recreation center for this forgotten community, it is a message of humanism based on faith and the strength of love.