by greekcitytimes.com — The fatal blast in Beirut on the 4th August left at least 150 people dead, 6,000 injured and 300,000 homeless. The large sum was collected, and forwarded to the Ecumenical Patriarchate to be added to their worldwide collection to help meet the great and pressing needs of the Orthodox brethren in Lebanon, as well as to ease their suffering. In his letter thanking all of the worthy donors, Archbishop Elpidophoros of America wrote: “It is my prayer that your loving offering will serve as a means of great assistance and fraternal solidarity to all those families in need during this Christmas season, and that their hearts and homes will be uplifted and filled with the newborn joy of our Lord’s Nativity.”

Lebanese-Greek journalist and documentary maker George Eid has made a powerful and emotionally charged documentary about zeibekiko about how the August 4 Beirut Port explosion made permanent damage to the city’s Greek community and its historical sites. After the explosion, George Eid did not hesitate, with a camera and crew, to shoot a short documentary called The Zeibekiko of Beirut, which records personal testimonies of Greeks that call Beirut home. In one testimony, Annoula Armaou explains how she lost her eye and her house was destroyed as a result of the blast. She also reveals that despite having a brother in Greece and another in Australia, she never wanted to leave Lebanon because “it was one of the most beautiful countries in the world” and that it was “a small Paris.” See the full documentary that will surely bring you to tears.