WingWoman Lebanon: Urgent Essential Hygiene Kits for Displaced People

As we're sure you've seen, Lebanon is being heavily bombarded across the South, Bekaa Valley and southern suburbs of Beirut. It's being said nearly 1,000,000 people have been displaced (20% of pop'n) and the situation is deteriorating. Most have left home only with the clothes they are wearing. During traumatic times, menstruation often gets heavier, and many displaced women are left with no products to manage this, bleeding into the few clothes they have. On top of the trauma of war, this added indignity is unimaginable, as they sacrifice their own needs to feed their children. 

At our organization WingWoman Lebanon (more info below), just $15 (£11.20) provides a woman or girl with reusable pads lasting up to 3 years. In a conflict with an unknown end in sight, this gives long-term relief, ensuring they won’t face the same challenge next month. We also supply reusable diapers for infants with each pack covering the entire diaper phase of the infant.

We’ve already heard heartbreaking stories from Gaza, where women and girls have been managing their periods in unimaginable ways like reusing disposable products and where babies are having to be wrapped in old bread bags in place of diapers. As the situation escalates in Lebanon, we want to prevent people from having to adopt these harmful coping mechanisms. By acting now, we can ensure everyone has access to the menstrual products and diapers they need so no woman or family is left facing this indignity. Having been in what feels like this position after the Beirut port explosion it's heartbreaking to be yet again asking for your support. It feels like there is never ending suffering and challenge for the people here. If you can support these women and families in their hardest days, your help really would mean the world and be so deeply appreciated. 

Through this we are also able to keep providing decent work opportunities to the women who make our products; a much needed purpose and distraction at this time.GOAL: For now, we are aiming to reach 2,500 women and 600 babies in carefully selected shelters where water and detergents are available. But if we can do more, we will! Your contribution will make a difference and regardless how long this hideous situation lasts, these families will have access to essential hygiene items for years to come. 

Thank you so much in anticipation. 

Meelie, Jade and the whole WingWoman Lebanon Team

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For more info on our work check out our website www.wingwomanlebanon.com or see below

A heartfelt thank you to all of you who’ve been with us since our first fundraiser after the Beirut port explosion. For those new to our work, we’ve evolved into an NGO providing decent work opportunities for women from vulnerable communities through production of reusable period pads and diapers. We have adopted a social enterprise model, mainly selling our products to NGOs in order to reach those most in need and to maintain the financial sustainability of our organization. So far, we’ve distributed over 140,000 reusable pads and 2,500 reusable diapers through various NGOs including UNICEF, International Medical Corps & Oxfam. Given the current escalating situation, we have decided to shift our model temporarily to fundraise so we can distribute our products without delay. We already have strong and ongoing partnerships with many organizations in the South and we will continue our collaborations to access the most vulnerable populations over the coming weeks. 

Thank you again for taking the time and for any donation you are able to give.

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UPDATE - 20-11-24 

According to the UN about 800,000 people, ~20% of the Lebanese population, have been displaced from their homes with over 3,000 people killed (~220 children) and 14,000 injured. The government initially provided 60 shelters but this had to significantly increase to 1,100+ and growing. UNICEF is highlighting the severe trauma being experienced by children by the escalating and incessant bombing. Last week at a school, I saw a father taking his children to the lower floor to reassure them that the loud noises were construction sounds and not those of bombs.

During the absolute chaos and panic following this bombardment, the women working with us found themselves sleeping under bridges having fled their homes in the middle of the night. Others left Beirut entirely and one of our women made the difficult choice to return to Syria with her family. Many of us can’t even begin to imagine escaping one war, seeking peace, only to be faced with the hideous decision of where to go as you find you and your family present as yet another war breaks out. Khadija made the difficult decision to return to the unknowns of Syria where her sons risked forced conscription or disappearance. Luckily this week, they have all made it back here safely and thankfully all are now back to work. 

Initially, distributing our products was challenging given the numerous unknowns, panicked and understandably chaotic emergency response and the difficulty in accessing the necessary information but we have now managed to distribute almost everything. Thanks to your very generous help and through numerous collaborations with the shelters and other NGOs, we have been able to cover the menstrual needs of all women living in 9 shelters. We have given women a pack of our reusable pads covering menstrual product needs for up to 3 years. We are also giving families reusable diapers and have so far managed to cover the needs of all children in 3 shelters. These are size adjustable, making one pack sufficient to cover an infant's entire diaper needs. Whatever happens next, the menstrual and diaper needs are met for these families for the foreseeable future so thank you for enabling us to have such a long term and sustainable impact. 

At a distribution last Saturday one woman was overcome with gratitude expressing that “this has come just in time; we are running out of money and organizations have stopped being able to provide us with diapers”.

The other huge advantage is that we are able to provide work for the women who make these products, which in most cases represents their only income with which they support their families. The money is important but being part of a productive team helping displaced people gives a clear sense of purpose with unsurprising advantages for their own mental health during these challenging times.  

This really would not be possible without you, so THANK YOU - and thank you also for giving us the privilege of being able to, in our own small way, reduce the stressful burden of accessing these expensive products. 

As events continue to escalate, we continue to seek further support to expand our reach and we still have around $18,000 worth of reusable diapers to give away. Every contribution helps protect dignity and provide peace of mind to our families that were forced to flee their homes. I appreciate that most of you receiving this have already contributed, we would be so grateful for any further donations or if you could please share this message with others who might be interested to support that would be a great help. In this way we can reach our goal and support more impacted women, girls, and families all over Lebanon.

Many many thanks and much love from 

Meelie and The WingWoman Lebanon Team