ABBASSIEH: There are very few places that can make the elderly feel safe and at home when their family is no longer beside them.
Even fewer places are ready to welcome senior citizens in the south of Lebanon where homes for the elderly houses are rare and often poorly equipped.
The Dar al-Aman center for the elderly in the southern town of Abbasieh, near Tyre, is the first care center for senior citizens in the south to offer its residents full medical care and the sense of safety and belonging.
“Here I don’t feel like I’ve been abandoned. Here I feel safe and respected,” says Hajj Abu Ahmad, a 75-year-old resident of the center. The Dar al-Aman center – Aman is Arabic for safety – is a place where elder citizens can benefit from health care and company, and just as its name indicates, it’s a place where they can feel respected and safe.
The center is part of the Al-Zahraa Medical and Social Center that belongs to Al-Mabarat Association, a Muslim charitable association supervised by senior Shiite cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah.
Dar al-Aman offers its residents the comfort of 40 beds distributed on eight floors and divided into two sections: one for men and another for women, in accordance with Muslim customs. Its 3,000 square-meters space includes a medical department, a physiotherapy department, a laboratory, a medical x-ray center, a garden, a beauty center for women and several other entertainment facilities. About 16 doctors provide the medical care and continuously check up on all the residents.
“We currently have 40 beds to offer but we hope that we will be able to multiply this number soon,” says the director of the center Nabih Noureddine, noting that the Social Affairs Ministry donates LL4,000 to the center on a daily basis for every resident. “The expenses for each resident however exceed by far this amount,” he adds.
Noureddine explains that Dar al-Aman center welcomes elder citizens above the age of 50 from all religions and sects. “Charity knows no religion,” he says. The center cares for all those suffering from chronic diseases and all those who no longer have anyone to turn to. “The center doesn’t ask for any fees but if the resident has a family that can help, then it is preferred that they offer their aid,” he adds.
As for the residents at the center, they unanimously express their joy and relief that they now have a place they can consider a safe haven. “I have been here for eight months and I turned to Dar al-Aman after I lost my husband and had no children to help me,” says 76-year-old Maryam Hijazi.
Nabila al-Baabaa is one of the survivors of the Qana massacre in 1996 when Israeli artillery hit a United Nations compound near the southern village. Baabaa is one of the civilians who had taken refuge in the compound. “I still suffer from the injuries caused by the massacre and I have chosen to receive care at the Dar al-Aman center after my brother travelled to the United States and I was left without anyone to look after me,” says Baabaa.
“There is nothing more beautiful that to ease the suffering of an elderly person,” says Rana Dakhel a nurse working at the center. “I feel so happy to be able to help the residents. They are now as close to me as my own family,” she adds. [rc]
Copyright © 2009, The Daily Star
October 22, 2009
LEBANON: Dar al-Aman offers safe and dignified home to senior citizens in south
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BEIRUT, Lebabon / The Daily Star / Lebanon News / October 22, 2009
By Mohammed Zaatari, Daily Star staff
ABBASSIEH: There are very few places that can make the elderly feel safe and at home when their family is no longer beside them.
Even fewer places are ready to welcome senior citizens in the south of Lebanon where homes for the elderly houses are rare and often poorly equipped.
The Dar al-Aman center for the elderly in the southern town of Abbasieh, near Tyre, is the first care center for senior citizens in the south to offer its residents full medical care and the sense of safety and belonging.
“Here I don’t feel like I’ve been abandoned. Here I feel safe and respected,” says Hajj Abu Ahmad, a 75-year-old resident of the center. The Dar al-Aman center – Aman is Arabic for safety – is a place where elder citizens can benefit from health care and company, and just as its name indicates, it’s a place where they can feel respected and safe.
The center is part of the Al-Zahraa Medical and Social Center that belongs to Al-Mabarat Association, a Muslim charitable association supervised by senior Shiite cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah.
Dar al-Aman offers its residents the comfort of 40 beds distributed on eight floors and divided into two sections: one for men and another for women, in accordance with Muslim customs. Its 3,000 square-meters space includes a medical department, a physiotherapy department, a laboratory, a medical x-ray center, a garden, a beauty center for women and several other entertainment facilities. About 16 doctors provide the medical care and continuously check up on all the residents.
“We currently have 40 beds to offer but we hope that we will be able to multiply this number soon,” says the director of the center Nabih Noureddine, noting that the Social Affairs Ministry donates LL4,000 to the center on a daily basis for every resident. “The expenses for each resident however exceed by far this amount,” he adds.
Noureddine explains that Dar al-Aman center welcomes elder citizens above the age of 50 from all religions and sects. “Charity knows no religion,” he says. The center cares for all those suffering from chronic diseases and all those who no longer have anyone to turn to. “The center doesn’t ask for any fees but if the resident has a family that can help, then it is preferred that they offer their aid,” he adds.
As for the residents at the center, they unanimously express their joy and relief that they now have a place they can consider a safe haven. “I have been here for eight months and I turned to Dar al-Aman after I lost my husband and had no children to help me,” says 76-year-old Maryam Hijazi.
Nabila al-Baabaa is one of the survivors of the Qana massacre in 1996 when Israeli artillery hit a United Nations compound near the southern village. Baabaa is one of the civilians who had taken refuge in the compound. “I still suffer from the injuries caused by the massacre and I have chosen to receive care at the Dar al-Aman center after my brother travelled to the United States and I was left without anyone to look after me,” says Baabaa.
“There is nothing more beautiful that to ease the suffering of an elderly person,” says Rana Dakhel a nurse working at the center. “I feel so happy to be able to help the residents. They are now as close to me as my own family,” she adds. [rc]
Copyright © 2009, The Daily Star
ABBASSIEH: There are very few places that can make the elderly feel safe and at home when their family is no longer beside them.
Even fewer places are ready to welcome senior citizens in the south of Lebanon where homes for the elderly houses are rare and often poorly equipped.
The Dar al-Aman center for the elderly in the southern town of Abbasieh, near Tyre, is the first care center for senior citizens in the south to offer its residents full medical care and the sense of safety and belonging.
“Here I don’t feel like I’ve been abandoned. Here I feel safe and respected,” says Hajj Abu Ahmad, a 75-year-old resident of the center. The Dar al-Aman center – Aman is Arabic for safety – is a place where elder citizens can benefit from health care and company, and just as its name indicates, it’s a place where they can feel respected and safe.
The center is part of the Al-Zahraa Medical and Social Center that belongs to Al-Mabarat Association, a Muslim charitable association supervised by senior Shiite cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah.
Dar al-Aman offers its residents the comfort of 40 beds distributed on eight floors and divided into two sections: one for men and another for women, in accordance with Muslim customs. Its 3,000 square-meters space includes a medical department, a physiotherapy department, a laboratory, a medical x-ray center, a garden, a beauty center for women and several other entertainment facilities. About 16 doctors provide the medical care and continuously check up on all the residents.
“We currently have 40 beds to offer but we hope that we will be able to multiply this number soon,” says the director of the center Nabih Noureddine, noting that the Social Affairs Ministry donates LL4,000 to the center on a daily basis for every resident. “The expenses for each resident however exceed by far this amount,” he adds.
Noureddine explains that Dar al-Aman center welcomes elder citizens above the age of 50 from all religions and sects. “Charity knows no religion,” he says. The center cares for all those suffering from chronic diseases and all those who no longer have anyone to turn to. “The center doesn’t ask for any fees but if the resident has a family that can help, then it is preferred that they offer their aid,” he adds.
As for the residents at the center, they unanimously express their joy and relief that they now have a place they can consider a safe haven. “I have been here for eight months and I turned to Dar al-Aman after I lost my husband and had no children to help me,” says 76-year-old Maryam Hijazi.
Nabila al-Baabaa is one of the survivors of the Qana massacre in 1996 when Israeli artillery hit a United Nations compound near the southern village. Baabaa is one of the civilians who had taken refuge in the compound. “I still suffer from the injuries caused by the massacre and I have chosen to receive care at the Dar al-Aman center after my brother travelled to the United States and I was left without anyone to look after me,” says Baabaa.
“There is nothing more beautiful that to ease the suffering of an elderly person,” says Rana Dakhel a nurse working at the center. “I feel so happy to be able to help the residents. They are now as close to me as my own family,” she adds. [rc]
Copyright © 2009, The Daily Star
