Mennonite
Central
Committee

MCC monitoring situation in Lebanon, workers safe

July 14, 2006

MCC is monitoring the situation in southern Lebanon after Israel launched raids in the region aimed at rescuing two kidnapped Israeli soldiers.

All MCC workers are reported safe. "We are doing fine at this point," says Ken Seitz who coordinates MCC programs in Lebanon along with his wife Kathryn. The Seitz' live in Beirut and are from Harrisonburg, Virginia and Reedley, California.

Ken reports displaced people are now visible in Beirut, as people flee from the bombing. Some are moving in with friends or relatives; some have camped out in a park.

Ken and Kathryn are in regular contact with Bassam Chamoun, MCC's program director, who is with his family in southern Lebanon.

Currently there is no way in or out of the country. Many roads within the country have been bombed. The airport has been attacked several times. All of the MCC staff are in phone contact with partner organizations about possible relief responses. However, it is too soon to say what is needed or when MCC's help might be requested.

In Lebanon, MCC works in refugee assistance with churches of the Sudanese refugee community in Beirut and a vocational school for Palestinian refugees in Sidon. MCC also supports workshops on peacemaking and conflict resolution, and supports schools for disabled and homeless children.