Caram Portugal partners with Al-Kafaàt Foundation to help people with disabilities in Lebanon
The Al-Kafaàt Foundation (www.al-kafaat.org) is a private non-religious and non-partisan organization in Lebanon which provides all-inclusive education to students afflicted with social challenges and offers free rehabilitation services to over 500 children and adults afflicted with mild to severe disabilities including physical disabilities, cerebral palsy, mental impairment, trisomy 21 (down syndrome), autism, cognitive disorders and learning difficulties.
To provide care and rehabilitation services, a team of 158 people is employed by the Foundation. This team is made up of center directors, educators, therapists, instructors, night guards, drivers, etc. All residents are taken care of free of charge. The Foundation literally take care of them from cradle to grave, especially those who are the most afflicted and abandoned
Why Caram Portugal decided to support the Al-Kafaàt Foundation?
Under normal circumstances, the Al-Kafaàt Foundation benefits from public subsidies to cover rehabilitation and special education provided free of charge to children with disabilities. But with the deepening economic crisis in Lebanon, these subsidies almost disappeared: the daily cost study has not been reviewed since 2012, amounts remain in local currency, today devalued to more than 98% of its value and no payment have ben done since July 2021.
To this, we add the war endured end of 2024. The four rehabilitation sites of the Al-Kafaàt Foundation located in the southern suburbs have been severely hit, and the losses are enormous.
Learn about the Foundation’s inspiring history by watching this short video from 2017.
And while an official ceasefire has been announced, all rehabilitation services have been moved – and remain for the time being – to the Al-Kafaàt Campus in Ain Saadeh Fanar, until the Foundation reconstructs and repairs the four damaged and destroyed sites. With this relocation, the Foundation ensures that all children continue to receive the essential support and services they need without any interruptions.
Learn about the Foundation’s inspiring history with this short video from 2017.
Caram Portugal raised fund for Al Kafaat through a Dine & Donate Campaign in October 2024 with the following Lebanese restaurants in Lisbon: Touta, Happy Salad, Taza, Falafoliva, Mesa, Zaataria. We strongly believe in Al Kafaat Foundation impact and as an association of the Lebanes diaspora in Portugal we are committed to continue supporting Al Kafaat as part of our charity programs.
Important: All funds raised by Caram Portugal for Al Kafaat Foundation or other organisation are fully reversed to the organization without any operational cost except bank and payment platforms fees
How you can help
1- Sponsor Raymond
A resident at Al Kafaat afflicted with developmental encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disorder that includes intellectual disability and autistic spectrum disorder as well as physical disability and severe eczema.
Raymond is bedridden and needs to be taken care of continuously: he can’t eat alone, can’t dress alone, and can’t bathe alone. Raymond is also frequently afflicted with pneumonia which remains a risk factor in his case. As such, he is frequently in the hospital and all hospital expenses, surgeries and blood transfusions and daily medicine are solely taken care of by the Al-Kafaàt Foundation.
The average cost for Raymond Rehabilitation services is 416 € per month.
Choose the amount you would like to sponsor Raymond:
Learn more about Raymond
Raymond is from Ain el Remmaneh (greater Beirut). He is afflicted with developmental encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disorder that includes intellectual disability and autistic spectrum disorder as well as physical disability and severe eczema. He came to our Foundation at the age of 15 and integrated our sheltered workshops as an external beneficiary. Raymond’s social and health situation went downhill when his parents passed away and his brother refused to take care of him. The Al Kafaat team hear about Raymond’s about the situation and contacted the brother and his wife to lodge Raymond at the Foundation Special Home so he could be taken care of by our own Al-Kafaàt family.
Raymond is bedridden and needs to be taken care of continuously: he can’t eat alone, can’t dress alone, and can’t bathe alone. Because of his strong eczema in combination with his limited intellectual ability, his hands must be restrained from scratching his face and body. He eats minced and ground food because he has trouble swallowing and digesting. Raymond is also frequently afflicted with pneumonia which remains a risk factor in his case.
As such, Raymond is frequently in the hospital and all hospital expenses, surgeries and blood transfusions (Raymond had a hip surgery two years ago) and daily medicine are solely taken care of by the Al-Kafaàt Foundation, in addition to his weekly physiotherapy sessions.
Raymond talks little but is a sweet soul: he loves music and interacts with all. Raymond always has a smile on his face and is always happy to meet people. He recites prayers and attends all services at the Foundation: he prays daily with all the caregivers at our Special Home.
2- Fund a solar installation to ensure electricity supply and reduce operational costs
Since electricity is still not available in all major parts of the country, generators are operated at excruciating fuel costs. The average yearly cost for diesel in one site amount to almost $50,000. There is therefore an urgency to convert all energy consumption to renewable energy on the currently operating sites of the Foundation to considerably the operating costs thus allowing the organization to self-sustain a portion of its activities and enabling the use of funds for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the centers which have now been destroyed due to the war.
A preliminary technical design with budget & cost savings analysis for two sites were developed in July 2024 by a specialist and are available here.
Cost of the Solar Installation for the first site amount to a bit more than $200,000 with an ROI of 4 years. Part of the funding has already been secured by Al Kafaat and the Foundation is still looking to raise around $100,000 for this investment.
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Via Bank Transfer:
Name: ASSOCIACAO CARAM PORTUGAL
IBAN: BE72 9051 0128 8316
Swift/BIC: TRWIBEB1XXX
Bank name: Wise
Bank address: Rue du Trône 100, 3rd floor, Brussels, 1050, Belgium