Really Important Update !

Since Santa Claus is about to knock on our doors, we also want to bring him to the boys and girls in the homes for the sick and the poor. The boys of Antelias and Deir El Salib, as well as the girls of Deir El Quammar are counting on you, to make there Christmas. 


Date: 11th November 2011 - 9pm 
Venue : Celtic Sports Bar , Monet Street , Beirut 


Tickets for students $10
Tickets for adults (over 25 ) $15 


Additional Cover charge: 25,000 LP (Two drinks included)


Everybody who is unfortunately not able to come, is still very much invited to make a Christmas donation to the boys and girls in the homes:


Account Number : 1013947310
Card Number : 5150181502
Sort Code : 12030000
Subject : Christmas Gift Donation


Remember it is for a great cause ! We look forward to seeing you there on the night .


Your sincerely ,


Caravan 

Life of Caravan while not in service :-)

27/10/2011

News from Beirut . As with every week we are busy with our Arabic classes and of course Abla infamous Arabic tests, service in Antilias, Deir El Quammar, Deir El Salib and our spiritual meeting. Furthermore we had a visit to Deir El Salib on Saturday with the Lebanese youth of the Order Of Malta – a very enjoyable afternoon was had by all. This week we have Christmas on the brain and are eagerly planning some Christmas events including a visit from St Nicolas with gifts for the boys and of course girls of the homes, the Christmas events will not be possible without finances so we are planning some really great fundraisers in Lebanon , Ireland and Germany to facilitate these events.

Moving swiftly on from Christmas as the blog writer does not want to hear Christmas mentioned until the 1^st of December , we have also been planning some events for the boys and girls – we look forward to updating you about these next week . The obvious allure of make up and nail polish has the caravan boys filled with dread (apparently it is too difficult for a boy to do! ) – we plan to show them that they can all be make up artist and nail technicians next week . Music is key to caravan service as it joins each of the boys and girls together – we are in the midst of learning a new song or two , well actually we are in the midst of making up the words as we go along . We received two Arabic songs from Michel that we look forward to singing in our German / Irish / Austrian and Dutch accents .

The last few weeks have been  busy for the Caravan , It started with a trip to our Naccache neighbour  Patrick Jabre for a lovely meal , a trip to see The Three Muskateers 3D ( rather interesting commentary from the two Irish girls throughout the film , a discussion arose as to whether it was meant to be a comedy which led to numerous fits of laughter. Lettie cousin features in this film and indeed she was definitely the best actress ) .Again  lovely evenings have been had by some of the team at the classics concerts with Dr Issa in Saint Joseph . We are becoming quite cultured really with trips to the museum and exhibition by Patrick Renauld , the ambassador of the Order Of Malta .

On Friday 21st , we attended the birthday of Pia and Lea , we were extremely grateful to be allowed celebrate their 18 birthday with them . Furthermore on Friday ,we were very fortunate to receive an invitation to attend the closing of Skybar , unfortunately it collided with Valerie arrival and the party but as I said previously we will always manage to fit three events in perfectly . The closing of Skybar was amazing and caravan really enjoyed and became weak at the knees J been so up close and personal with  Tinshy Stryder.

Valerie (the responsible for the caravan project ) arrived to visit on Saturday and we are really looking forward to spending some time with her , after all we have not seen her in two months .

Caravan arrivals for service on Tuesday in Deir El Salib was rather difficult as we  received the devastating news that Rene had passed away in the loving care of the hospital that he had been receiving treatment in for the last number of weeks . It is always with great sadness that we learn of the death of one of our boys. We hold him in our hearts, our thoughts and our prayers and we hold his family and the caretakers of Deir El Salib in our hearts at this difficult time. We know he has been called back to God and received with open arms into eternal peace.

Again busy weeks ahead so apologies on the fortnightly blogs but it is all that we can currently fit in to our schedule .


Caravan x

Update time

As promised another update for you all on the comings and goings in Naccache- apologies on the delay in writing but due to a sudden illness, our blogger was not able to update the events for a few weeks . We have started our service in Deir El Salib and Arabic lessons  – we pray that the Arabic lessons will reduce our need to say ‘Yallah’ in response to every question posed to us and that our time with the boys and girls will continue, like in Chabrouh to be filled with countless smiles and complete devotion to the boys and girls. We remember the boys often in our prayers and are so excited to finally be getting to work with them. We were also in the position to start out service in Antelias, again we knew many of the boys from Chabrouh –   very enjoyable afternoons are been had by all of us with the boys and I am certain that they thoroughly enjoyed the crazy caravanistas, who had each of them dancing and clapping from the moment we arrived . Deir El Salib and Antelias already feels like home for us and we are overjoyed and feel so honoured and privileged to be allowed spend time there each day .We are working tirelessly on some amazing plans for the boys – this week we hold our first birthday party for a very lucky boy ( We look forward to lavishing the special boy on his ‘caravan birthday’) . Continuing with Deir El Salib , we are really noticing a huge change in the boys – their is a lot of hugs , laughter and screams of delight . The little boys room continues to be a source of joy – the other afternoon saw the Irish tin whistle been played which was of great interest to many of the boys . Indeed it was a struggle to play the whistle without some little helpers . The garden and playroom are also sources of such joy considering it is such different scenary for the boys  and so many different things to look at and explore . The big boys room proves to be the toughest room as so many boys are trying to receive our attention – we are slowly getting to grips with dividing our attention  and at other times giving our individual boy the undivided attention that we and they so adore .

Alongside our service and Arabic courses , our weeks have been quite hectic  – our Lebanese friends have been so welcoming and we have been invited to numerous events . On Friday the 23^rd , we were invited to Fabio Khoury concert – 6 of the carvanistas attended the concert which proved to be an incredible night . Furthermore on Friday night , our Lebanese friends invited us to Gymasa and Hamra – a great night was had visiting many of the local pubs . On Saturday night , we received a really welcomed invitation to join Raissa , Maria and their family to celebrate the festival in Bkessine Village . Our thanks are extended to Maroun Nadar for his hospitality and warm welcome to the caravan team . We would also like to thank Michel for accompanying us in Bkessine . Our Lebanese friends as always Lea , Windy , Pia , Kathy , Maria and Raissa and so many more helped us to really enjoy the festivities . We received a rather strange weather phenomena ‘’rain’’ . For some reason , this brought some of the caravanistas out onto the street to watch the water flowing down the road like a river and then the words ‘photo opportunity’ where ushered – pictures to follow of the chaos. Tuesday we went to Jamhour which was a rather sedate affair – the team decided that Suzanne should ‘’go gently’’ on Michel in the soccer game, proving  a rather quiet affair . Jamhour is a truly amazing facility and we look forward to our Tuesday there  – Also this week , we welcomed Dr Issa to our home and indeed he welcomed us to his office ( we cannot express our gratitude enough for the care he takes of the carvanistas and in his organisation of everything from medication to hospital admissions) . This week , we saw most of our carvanistas going to a pc party – I will let the pictures do the talking on this one although we were assured it was fancy dress it was strange that all of the carvanistas and just 2 of our Lebanese friends where in full costume . Also an evening with Sheik Walid in le creparie and a really peaceful and relaxing weekend in the mountain of Sourat with Dr Issa , Patrick , Yann , Joy and George proved very enjoyable . The highlight of this week was our house warming party which saw 80 of our friends arrive as dead celebrities – a fun filled night was had by all.

We are fortunate to have such a great group of Lebanese friends around us and have many more events in the coming days and indeed months to look forward to . For our team , the events are important but what is of the utmost importance is that the boys and girls we are working with are given every opportunity that we can possibly give them to grow and shine in their own unique and individual ways . This week we start out service to the girls (due to slight transportation issue we had a delay ) we look forward to updating you really soon about the wonderful girls .We also begin our spiritual meetings in the coming days, which is so beneficial for our team – with so many topic ideas already it promises to be one of the highlights of our week . Our photo master is working over time to process the huge amount of picture but I am assured that we will receive some more pictures in the next few days ( and if the internet agrees we shall invite you into life as a caravan while we are not on service ) .

Love The 10 (nearly 11) muskateers

On a final note , we all wish Amelie a huge Happy 19th birthday . We know the next year will be filled with the most amazing of adventures .

Just a sneak peek for you all

Caravan first blog !

Greetings from the balcony of our new apartment, it is a cool 20 something degrees at 2am. Welcome to the blog of Caravan 2011/2012. We are currently a team of 10 but will become 11 in early December. We remember Matthieu often and eagerly await his arrival to Naccache and to the project. Let us see who is who!  First up is Suzanne Dillon, our team leader – Our Irish queens of the organisation. She produces her diary for note taking at every opportunity; in fact we hear that Suzanne often dreams of her diary. Then there’s Lucas our public relations maestro – Lucas learnt while on preparation camp the essence of been the P.R  man . He is one of our German boys and is really getting to grips with thank you speeches in English under the watchful eyes of the native speakers. Following swiftly from Lucas, is Johanna. Johanna was the kitchen mom for our final camp with the boys in Chabrouh , she is also our Austrian girl and promises us some really great Austrian beer.  Alongside Johanna, we have our singing sensation and at times violinist Amelie who was another of our kitchen whizzes in Chabrouh . Those girls sure know how to cook. We are all eagerly awaiting for some delicious gourmet .  Our 5th team member is our keen cook kitchen in Naccache, Daniel. His dishes have proven a real hit with the Carvanistas , in fact we went from eating little to arguing over the last tomato . Next up is our Northern Irish lass Leticia, Lettie is our messiest caravanista , while unpacking from Chabrouh many items of clothing where returned to Lettie, indeed while in Chabrouh many of us emptied Lettie’s clothing from our suitcase to put our clothing in . She is our artist and we await some portraits of the Caravanistas in the coming weeks for the blog – Lettie reminds us that we need to sit still for these portraits so it may take some time. Swiftly following Lettie , is our guitarist Maxi . Max is our Bavarian / Octoberfest guy . Maxi is a huge 2 metres tall, although we are certain that he is a mere 1.99 metres. Moritz , our money man saves more money at the shopping than any other Carvanista. He has banned snacks, sweets and chocolate in the hope that we can save money. So far this led to caravan trying to serve ice cream to Michel Yanni that was at least a year old and was widely speculated at been two years old – luckily only 3 of the caravanistas tasted it before a decision was made to bin it . Quickly moving on from this, we have Caroline from the Netherlands. Caroline is the picture master. If our blog is lacking pictures it is a sure sign that Caroline is on strike from been overworked. Last but not least is the little one of the group Maffi .  Maffi is not our early morning girl. From Germany, Maffi’s mother Elizabeth became our kitchen mom for a week of our boys camp in Chabrouh . Maffi celebrated her 18th birthday while on camp with two cakes cooked by Letti and Suzanne . Two cakes later and 40 eggs used, and a barely distinguishable cake was presented. As of yet the team name remains a surprise – even to the team!!! .  We hope that our work in progress bears some fruit. Although many suggestions have been offered, they have proven unproductive as of yet.


For those of you reading this, we are the first team to undertake this project for a 10 month period . We are currently on week 7 of the project. After 2 weeks in Houlhausen, where we received very apt lectures on The Holy Spirit, The Holy Sacraments , The Bible , Virgin Mary , The Middle East and Lebanon , First aid and an Introduction to the service of the sick and the disabled . I will try and catch you up on the 2 weeks of preparation camp. The lectures on the Middle East and Lebanon proved insightful for the caravan; there was interesting observations about Lebanon in the bible – also the symbolism of the cedar tree in the bible. A favourite aspect of this lecture was the taboos (do’s and don’ts)  of  Lebanon . Severin was just what we needed in preparation camp to build the dynamic; he really helped us achieve a positive start to our team. There was much joy and excitement when Suzanne and Moritz performed their play, they chose hunting, and climbing out of bushes, which were filled with nettles. Moritz, as the largest bunny rabbit in Germany and Suzanne as the hunter brought sequels of laughter to the whole team. Some of the team were not aware of the history of the Order of Malta. It was a really fascinating insight from founding to current days. We learnt about the history and structure of the Lebanese project, not just caravan but also the many other projects .

Chabrouh – Where the favoured topic of conversation between the Caravanistas was diarrhoea and vomiting . A rather rampant bug on the first day of the third camp saw 10 volunteers standing to care for our guests. Anyone that visits Chabrouh and In particular the centre run by the Maltesers knows about the amazing setting , the immense feeling of fresh air which differs so much from Beirut and the atmosphere that hangs in the air of Chabrouh. The boys and girls that we are caring for, with a wide variety of physical and mental handicaps, always enjoy their time up there. It is important to state that we also worked with many people that had mental health difficulties. It would be impossible for Caravan to explain or put a value on the camps. It is obvious to us on a conscious level that these camps are hugely beneficial for our guests and also for the many volunteers both European and Lebanese that share some time with these guests. The weeks that we spent with our guests where briefly broken with trips throughout Lebanon. It is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful countries in the world. With trips to Balbeek , Statue of our lady in Maghdoucheh which gave us an opportunity to view Syria and Israel while remaining in the Lebanese country . Also a trip to Pierre and friends was welcomed by the whole team as was a special visit with Lady Yvonne Chochran .  We had further trips to the ATCL and sunrise mass at the cross (certain members of our team had a sleep in but it was a truly remarkable experience for those that made it up to the cross). Trips to Beiteddine and the Holy Valley again proved spectacular, the walk, the views and indeed the sense of group further secured our opinion that Lebanon is an amazing country. As For BO18, the nightclub that we had our final party at, well it was described as wee , tiny , small , petit. There was also a query as to where the dance floor was- never mind a dance floor, tables and chairs where built for a reason.

We have been incredibly busy since our arrival in Naccache.  We heard that we had previously shared our apartment with a four legged friend so under the guidance of an astute and incredibly clean team, we scrubbed from floor to ceiling. After mass in the Philippine church and our first shopping, we tackled each room with oomph. It did dawn on us that we should not extend our very first dinner invitation on the same night we tear the whole apartment asunder but we’re young, we have the energy to do everything!! The first shopping trip proved disastrous, without a working fridge the team came up with a plan of not buying fridge food. It was a good plan but there was a communication lapse and some cheese was bought – our thanks as always to Michel for taking our cheese home with him .

On August 29th, We received the news in Chabrouh that Farid Shams El Dine passed away. We learnt of many descriptions of Farid namely that he was the gentleman of Deir El Salib . May Farid rest in peace.  We offer our prayers and thoughts to all those who knew Farid.

Busy week ahead – well if resting , going to the beach , a village festival , a concert and maybe a nightclub is considered busy then we are so hectic! We hope to blog as often as we can with pictures, pictures and more pictures of our various adventures. We will also keep you updated on the comings and goings in the hospitals of Deir El Salib, Deir El Qamar and Antelias as often as we can.

A brief snapshot !