arcenciel began its activities in 1984 in the middle of the Lebanese civil war. Its first activities were focused on people with disabilities in order to enable them to acquire autonomy and financial independence. Through its technical aids manufacturing workshops, its adaptations of living spaces and vehicles and its trainings leading to employment, the association has rapidly acquired a wide expertise in the field. It has also developed a very active health program. For these reasons, it was in the order of things that with the conflict in Syria it was destined to become one of the key partners of all those who are faced with the situation of the sick or disabled, pre or post war.
Since the beginning of the crisis and as part of several partnerships, arcenciel has provided many services in mobility and health.
Between 2012 and 2013, through a project funded by UNICEF and after a large number of assessments and home visits, arcenciel has provided to 10,000 Syrian children clothes (in kit or coupons), technical aids (wheelchairs , crutches, walkers…) and assured them physical therapy and speech therapy. As part of another project funded by UNICEF (November 15, 2013-November 15, 2014) arcenciel, in partnership with himaya, has distributed to date 150 technical aids, assured 800 paramedical sessions (physical therapy, speech therapy, psychomotor) and 278 psychological follow-up sessions as well as other psychosocial activities. Many psychologists receive and provide counseling in several arcenciel centers (Halba, Tanaïl, Jisr el Bacha, Jisr el Wati) for Syrian children facing war and exile and suffering from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), trauma that results in aggression, enuresis[1] and many behavioral disorders.
Currently, through a project funded by OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) project agency of the United Nations and in partnership with Fundación Promoción de la Cultura (FPSC), from October 15th, 2013 to April 15th, 2014, arcenciel provides devices (prosthesis, orthosis), medical consultations, dental care, physical therapy and speech therapy, mobility technical aids, medicines for chronic diseases of the elderly.
Thanks to the Spanish Agency of International Cooperation to Development (AECID) funding and part of the franchise system designed by arcenciel in 2006 aiming at exporting its knowledge and expertise to other countries in the region, arcenciel developed in 2010, a partnership with a Syrian Association (Yadan Biyad) and supported its activities in the field of disability. Due to the security situation in the country and the inaccessibility of its initial center outside of Aleppo, the association moved its activities within the city to the university campus. Since then, it manages more than 35,000 displaced people to whom it provides mobility aid, among other things. To support the continuity of its technical aids repair workshop, arcenciel continues to transmit its skills and to train its technicians. Within the framework of a project funded by AECID – part of which is devoted to humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees in Lebanon with disabilities – and in partnership with the Spanish NGO FPSC, arcenciel could serve 275 people with disabilities in three Lebanese regions (North, Bekaa and Mount Lebanon). arcenciel gave in this way technical aids and provided a better access to services such as medical consultations, physical therapy, speech therapy and psychomotricity to its beneficiaries.
Despite all actions, many needs are still far from being met or are not.
If the need for technical aids for people with motor disabilities identified are covered by Handicap International, arcenciel or other organizations, the great difficulty lies in taking care of children and young people with mental disabilities who cannot be integrated into a mainstream school or into anyone of the local specialized institutes. They are already outnumbered and unable to absorb all the Lebanese cases. Moreover, they require payment and if the Ministry of Social Affairs of Lebanon covers the cost for its citizens, refugee parents cannot afford the school fees of these structures. In addition, UNHCR favors the integration of these children in the mainstream school system, not the creation of institutions devoted to them. It is therefore to be feared that in the absence of quick fix, these children are condemned to remain stranded for an indefinite period.
In terms of health, needs remain huge. Many Lebanese do not benefit from health insurance, the local health system is therefore unable to meet the needs of Syrians. Medical consultations, if they are insured, pose a transport problem, for refugees who do not have the means to move. Needs in medical imaging (ultrasound, x-ray) and in dental care are considerable. As for pregnant women, childbirth is supported by the Lebanese Ministry of Health, but monitoring for their pregnancy is nonexistent. Medication needs are far from being met, all the more so since refugees have difficulty accepting generic drugs distributed in dispensaries. Childhood vaccinations are covered by the Ministry of Health in free clinics for cases such as tuberculosis, plague, but ordinary vaccines are not supported.
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[1] Enuresis, or bedwetting, is a condition characterized by the occurrence during sleep of unconscious involuntary urination in children over five years old and adults. It is due to a too deep sleep, a lack of maturity of the micturition reflex or a psychological disorder.
