A Personal Story from Lebanon

Wars and armed conflicts damage the spirit of a people as well as the land. Ripples of despair begin to spread far and wide. Following the summer war of 2006, called the July War in Lebanon, one man began to realize the depth of devastation his family business had suffered.

The family’s banana plantation had taken serious hits. There was extensive damage caused by the shrapnel from the bombs that tore holes in the land and in his irrigation system. A third of the plants in the plantation had died due to lack of water during the bombardments, and another third needed lots of hard work and care to bring them back to life.
Living with his wife and two sons outside Tyre, our plantation owner stands out as a generous, hospitable man in a land that exudes hospitality. It’s impossible to visit his family home without having copious amounts of delicious southern Lebanese dishes and fruit (bananas of course!) spread out before you.

To help with the rebuilding of the plantation, he was offered a private business-recovery loan. Since the war, he has experienced several failed crops making repayment of the loan difficult. But as a man of integrity with an excellent reputation in his community, despite the difficulties we expect he will repay the loan early in 2010.
Another investment in the future of one man which sends ripples of hope out into the community.