A number of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon have taken part in initiatives seeking to reconstruct damaged buildings, including schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

“My sense of belonging to the UNRWA Jalil School is very strong, because I was a student there. This strongly motivated me to participate in this initiative and invite other colleagues to participate in it”, said Palestinian girl Manal Bishr, 19, a student at the College of Business Administration from Shatila camp.

“Damage to the school felt like it happened to me. The damage, albeit somewhat minor compared to the horrors of the damage to the port, is painful,” she added.

Manal said the impact of the explosion affected her, especially after going to the place of explosion and witnessing the extent of the destruction. This prompted here to “move alongside the Lebanese people to heal the wounds of Beirut”.

“I feel a sense of mutual solidarity, Lebanese youth have also taken the initiative to extend a help hand to remove the rubble from the UNRWA school”, she said.

She further stated that young men and women, need someone to support them and advocate for their causes in order to be an effective force on the ground.