Starting this coming week the implementation of constructing 100 meters of concrete water channels that will enable for 40 Syrian refugees and vulnerable Lebanese families to use the water to improve agricultural farming, which will indirectly benefit thousands of families with abundant fruits and vegetables.
“Something like this should have happened a long time ago, its upsetting how the right thing to do is so hard to do these days, we as a community need to help each other to live right,” said Mayor Shamas and what is life without water.
Mayor Shamas hopes the next project will be to irrigate all the farming land and to have a reservoir for potable water since most of the water in the area is subsurface.
Resident of Buday Ali Alaw, ecstatic about the irrigation system, said, “I used to have to spend 50,000 LL per week on a water tank for domestic needs and with this new water channel that passes by my house, it is an opportunity to access water without having to pay that hefty sum. This money I will be saving will go directly back to my kids.”
This project is part of LOST’s Youth Led Initiatives Project funded by UNICEF. Buday has had a rough couple of years due to a decrease in the water supply. There are about 2,500 Lebanese households in the municipality that now have additional homes for the Syrian Refugees. There is not an exact number of Syrian refugees residing in Buday but based on studies and surveys, there is close to 1,000 households. Out of this population, 90 percent of the residents in the town live off the land, the majority of them are farmers. LOST responded to problem of a shortage of water supply and found a solution to help these vulnerable families to build capacity for income and provide for their children. In addition to increasing income, this project aids in the social cohesion between Syrian Refugee and the Lebanese farmer.
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