Rosa MenesesSpecial envoy Beirut

Special Envoy Beirut

Updated Wednesday, January 24, 2024-19:57

The

explosion in the port of Beirut

, on August 4, 2020,

changed their lives

but they are resigned to stop dreaming about their future.

"We are Science students and

we want to be in contact with technology

. Maybe it would be good to have a computer science teacher so we don't have to face computers from scratch at the University."

Aya, a senior high school student, sends a message from

the Karantina modular school

, one of the

Beirut neighborhoods most affected

by the destruction caused by the detonation.

The teaching center is made of prefabricated containers painted colorfully on the outside.

Inside, no one notices that they are modules:

the study atmosphere permeates everything

.

Concentrated students, dedicated teachers... "We would like to reincorporate Art classes into our curriculum," ventures George, another student.

"It's hard to see that our potential is not fulfilled and that we cannot express our talent," he adds, gathering support from the rest of the class.

Tragedy struck the Lebanese capital three and a half years ago.

Two explosions in a warehouse where

2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate

were stored for six years and without any safety measures,

destroyed a large part of the neighborhoods surrounding the port.

Almost

200 people died

and the

injured

, many with lifelong consequences, exceeded

6,000

.

More than 300,000 people lost their homes

.

Schools, hospitals and other vital infrastructure were damaged.

Spanish cooperation was launched to, among other projects, install a modular school in Karantina in order to try to restore the daily lives of the students.

1.9 million euros were invested

.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs,

José Manuel Albares

, visited the educational center this Wednesday and after listening to students and teachers, he announced that the Government

is going to "quadruple" aid to Lebanon in the next three years

.

This year the budget had already been doubled, up to 7 million.

But more efforts will be transferred to the 'country of cedars'.

"We are going to quadruple the budget of the Spanish Cooperation Agency (AECID) in Lebanon until it reaches 30 million euros," he stated in a press conference shortly before concluding his visit to the Mediterranean State.

Lebanon, the minister announced, becomes a "

priority country within the

Spanish cooperation

master plan

."

Since 2019, the Lebanese republic has been immersed in a serious economic crisis in which the local currency - the pound - has lost 95% of its value.

Everything got worse after the Beirut port explosion in 2020, in the middle of the pandemic.

Added to this is the current context of regional conflict, in the heat of the war in Gaza, which has already spilled over the Lebanese border and has caused almost 100,000 displaced people due to the continuous clashes between the Shiite Hezbollah militia and Israel.

The situation in Lebanon has already been difficult in recent years.

It welcomes almost two million Syrian refugees

who arrived fleeing the civil war that broke out in 2011 and continues to this day.

Added to this is that it is home to

470,000 Palestinian refugees

who arrived in waves between 1948 and 1967.

All of this means that Lebanon's fragility has increased.

The country also lives

in a political limbo

, due to the lack of agreement in Parliament to appoint

a president

, whose mandate expired in 2022 and with

an acting prime minister

.

Albares has stressed that Lebanon is a key country for regional stability and in his visit to Beirut - which concludes this Wednesday afternoon - he has reiterated Spain's commitment to supporting peace in the Middle East.

Development aid is a fundamental element, the minister implied when announcing that "Spanish cooperation is going to have a permanent structure in Beirut."

In the Karantina modular school that outstretched hand has been felt.

"With the help of Spain we have been able to improve the situation of the students," says its director, Joseph Naim.

The educational center that stands on what was previously an open field is the seed of the future for its

75 students

.