South Lebanon’s coastal plains are a vibrant and fruitful area but, due to their exposure to conflicts and economic restraints, a number of social issues require attention.
Inspired by the call to a Weekend of Service, 35 students and four or five teachers at the Sarafand High School decided that they would give 27 orphan girls a good time on November 15, treating them to a lunch and outing in the City Park of this south Lebanese town.
The hosts brought the orphans to the park where UPF Ambassadors for Peace serving as project monitors joined them after their lunch at 3:00 pm. The City Park offers carousels, and the girls enjoyed themselves on the rides. Project Monitor Natascha Schellen reported that the high school girls and the orphan girls (who also seemed to be of high school age) were mingling together, and they were all greatly excited to see that the UPF monitors included several Japanese ladies.
The excitement was mutual, and the Japanese visitors gave origami birds to the children and also taught some of them how to make these bright little paper cranes. At the conclusion of the memorable outing, the high school volunteers gave the orphans gifts they had brought for them.