by Franklin Lamb

Syrian Embassy, BEIRUT — On January 13, a minibus organized by Lebanese4Refugees (L4R) arrived through the snow-covered Bekaa Valley into Hamdanieh, a Syrian refugee camp in Al-Majr not far from the Syrian border. One volunteer gasped, “So this is how they live.”
Increasingly at odds with some of their political leaders, a growing number of Lebanese citizens are working to help Syrian refugees forced to seek temporary sanctuary in Lebanon. Mona Ayoub, social media coordinator for L4R explained that “These volunteers are not like those who say that we don’t want refugees in Lebanon. Most Lebanese people are caring, and they feel compassion about this issue.”