Day 1: TRAVELLING TO LEBANON

After all my fundraising efforts, today was the day! I was so excited and nervous to set out on my first deployment trip.
But my nerves were eased as soon as I arrived at Heathrow Airport – the Deployment Lead welcomed me and introduced me to all the team.

Everyone seemed to click really fast, even though most of us had only just met, maybe because we were all in the same shoes – never having done anything like this before! The whole team was so friendly, and the Salam Charity staff reassured us and kept us calm.

We heard about their experiences and entertaining stories about things that had happened on previous deployments! I felt very safe and comfortable to be travelling out with them ahead of this long trip.

We'd had a Zoom briefing ahead of travel so were ready and had everything prepared to go.

We were all handed a nice booklet with itinerary and important contacts.

The staff were also very caring about all of us, during the flight and at the airport, they were constantly checking and asking if we needed anything.

When we arrived in Lebanon, we were greeted by the partner organization and the minibus ready to take us to the accommodation.

It was so thoughtful finding a lovely welcome note and sweets on our beds upon arrival.
We all checked into our rooms, ate, and went to bed to get some sleep ready for our first day on the ground!

Day 2: Visiting families and distributing food

Our first day ‘working’, and we really got stuck in! We started with a meeting about the projects and the itinerary for the week. A couple of icebreakers activities helped us to get to know each other better. There’s already a fun atmosphere as the group is very friendly and the staff are very kind too. Before we set out, we had a briefing about safety, ethics, and responsibilities which helped us feel more aware, more prepared, and ready to go!

It was extremely hot outside. We travelled to the nearby refugee camps to give out food parcels. They’re large parcels and can feed a family for around a month. Each family received two food parcel boxes and two bags of bread – it’s part of Salam Charity’s food security project and gives families relief from constantly worrying about where their food will come from.

The next part was genuinely eye-opening. Our group was split into teams with a staff member (who spoke Arabic) in each team, and we visited people in different tents. Our job was mainly listening; we heard stories and asked questions about how people felt and what they needed. This experience today taught me a lot about the way the refugee crisis is affecting individual people, and why aid work here in Lebanon is so important.

When we got back to our accommodation, we got together for a very important 'reflection' session. We went around the room listening to what everybody had learned and what really stuck with them. We talked about the best ways to help people – based on the family situations that we’d witnessed – including raising emergency funds for sponsorship or emergency medical aid. This part of the day was something I really liked as it made me feel seen, heard, and able to comfortably share my thoughts and feelings in a safe space.

Day 3: Distributing supplies for babies, teenagers, and parents

I’m exhausted and full after a delicious Lebanese meal, but I’ll try to capture today’s highlights! We started by distributing milk and nappies in one of the camps. Aid is provided to everyone regardless of ethnicity and about 50 people of Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinian heritage received 3 bags of nappies and 3 tubs of milk each. We had the chance to listen to them and ask questions about their experience in the economic crisis and why things are becoming so unaffordable.

After this was another food parcel and bread bag distribution. This was in another camp and we also visited some more families in their tents. During the evening, we distributed hygiene kits for men and women. I was very impressed with this because Salam Charity also ran an educational session on hygiene, puberty and other subjects which are taboo in the Arab culture and community. The whole group gathered for dinner in the Salam community kitchen, where we had a delicious selection of Lebanese food before our end-of-day reflection session.

Day 4: A trip out to Aarsal

A lot of travel today, but a very heart-warming experience. We had an earlier start than usual since we were travelling 1.5 hours to Aarsal, at the Lebanese Syrian border, to distribute aid. Aarsal is in a mountainous region and it’s a much more deprived area, where they really need our aid – once we arrived, we could understand the importance of our work there. We visited a few camps around the area, distributing food parcels to families and visiting people in their tents. Handing out shoes was one of my favourite parts. A lot of the children here have NO shoes, or shoes which are just falling apart. With a harsh Lebanese winter approaching, they will be struggling. You should have seen the smiles on their faces when we gave them shoes!

Day 5: Cooking, sharing, and working together

Today was a bit different – somebody decided to put us in charge of the community kitchen!! I was excited about doing some extra hands-on work: after cooking hot meals, we would then hand-deliver them in the camps. First, we visited the Salam-funded bakery in Beqaa and saw how they produce 700 bread bags every day, which are distributed in refugee camps. Then we went to the kitchen to prepare 200 hot meals – my favourite part! We cooked soup, chicken, rice, Lebanese Fattoush and a chocolate coconut dessert... everything was absolutely delicious (obviously the chefs had to taste-test)! Then we got to see the results of our efforts as we distributed all the hot meals and bread bags in the camps. I loved this. But our work STILL wasn’t finished for the day. Next, we went to oversee Salam Charity’s tent rehabilitation project. We split into teams, and we managed to renovate 6 damaged tents, making them safe and secure for the harsh winter ahead. We ended the day by visiting Al-Awde camp to meet up with the beneficiaries of Salam’s Tuk-Tuk project. This was very inspiring – it’s an amazing, sustainable project helping break the cycle of poverty.

Day 6: Happiness kits!

How fast this week has flown. Today was our fifth and final day on the ground and I was determined to make the most of it. It also happened to be one of my favourite activities today: the Orphan Fun Day! Salam Charity had organised various activities for us to run, and we distributed gifts, shoes, and back-to-school ‘happiness kit’ distributions. It was a day of smiles, entertaining activities, and fun! We also looked into orphan sponsorships on this day and managed to get every single orphan out of the 50 in the room sponsored Alhamdullilah! It was a beautiful ending to our deployment. After dinner with the kids, we returned for our final reflection session. It’s been an incredibly rewarding trip. We all shared our takeaways from this deployment experience in a very intimate discussion that left me feeling truly inspired. We all received a certificate at a little ‘congratulations’ ceremony organised by the Salam staff, which was a very thoughtful touch... it really is the little things!

Day 7: Travelling back home

At the start of this trip, I set out with a group of complete strangers... but we returned feeling like a family. We all got on so well and made the best memories together. I felt so sad to be leaving, but so grateful for our incredible experience. If you’re reading this with an interest in volunteering but you’re worried about the trip – please don’t worry about a thing! From the moment I signed up to the moment I left, it was all perfectly organised, and I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people. The Salam staff were always there for reassurance and made the trip so special. The staff told me that many of their volunteers return for another trip. After my amazing time in Lebanon, I hope that I shall also be back again, Inshallah!