Published Date:
19 December 2006
CHILDREN from Edinburgh have helped to raise money to send bikes to youngsters in a crowded refugee camp in Beirut.
The Shatila refugee camp in the Lebanese capital is currently home to more than 12,000 refugees, who are forced to live in cramped conditions, on land covering roughly one square kilometre.
A total of 20 bikes are on their way to the Shatila camp in west Beirut, which has been a long-term base for Palestinian refugees and their families.
The initiative was started by an Edinburgh-based youth worker for religious group The Iona Community, who visited the camp in October.
Helen Wass-O’Donnell today said that she was struck by the desire of the camp’s young people to have something to do with their spare time.
She said: “We have much to learn from the simplicity and practicality that exists in young people, and their great capacity to be generous.
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Last Updated:
19 December 2006 1:04 PM
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Source:
Edinburgh Evening News
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Location:
Edinburgh
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Related Topics:
Lebanon
