Context
On 4 August 2020, a violent explosion ripped through the port of Beirut, killing more than 200 people, injuring more than 7,000 and leaving 300,000 homeless. In a show of solidarity, a citizens' collective is formed to help the victims and make up for the lack of government aid.
A petrol station in the heart of the disaster zone, in Geitawi, has become a meeting place for volunteers and activists working to serve the community, and has become a community space associated with this citizens' collective, taking the name Nation Station.
Nation Station's guiding principle is 'empowerment rather than charity'. So they quickly set about creating a networking platform to respond in real time to the needs of the community and promote sustainable solutions to the socio-economic crisis currently facing the country. By enabling activities, volunteers and members of the community to take concrete action in various fields (health, education, construction, food, etc.), Nation Station promotes solidarity and resilience among the people of Beirut.
The project
One of the founders of the movement is Hussein Kazoun, a 28-year-old organic farmer. Under his impetus, the Nation Station collective has developed a community kitchen and an 'urban garden', raising awareness of the benefits of green spaces in the city and fostering social connections by organising gardening workshops for children and local residents.
This feeds the community kitchen, which initially provided meals for the oldest members of the neighbourhood. It then opened its doors to the general public with the aim of becoming self-sufficient. Employing mainly older women from the Geitawi community, the kitchen processes fresh produce for resale (such as Lebanese mounehs in jars).
They have also set up a reconstruction support unit and a medical centre to provide first aid to disaster victims.
Finally, its matchmaking platform allows it to recruit volunteers to help with reconstruction and revitalise the neighbourhood, and to run training workshops with local residents.
The results
In August 2021, the Nation Station collective will have served :
- 41,000 hot meals distributed;
- 1900 essential kits distributed;
- Condition assessments for 1,300 homes;
- Monitored 350 patients with chronic diseases;
- Renovated 142 homes.
The collective's activities have allowed it to open the community kitchen to cater for the events it organises (solidarity lunches, giant aperitifs, film club, etc.) and to co-organise events with others, such as the Italian Embassy as part of a week dedicated to discovering Italian cuisine. It also organises a farmers' market every Tuesday.
Little extra
The Nation Station collective has been able to combine the use of technology (a networking and data management platform) with the organisation of events that bring local people together (themed evenings, solidarity lunches, etc.), raising awareness of its activities and recruiting more and more volunteers to help transform the district.
Source: https://nation-station.org
This initiative sheet was written in January 2023 by Gersende Gruget, a student at Bordeaux Sciences Agro (2022-2023).
Last modification : 18 Jan 2024.
Nation Station
The Nation Station collective set up in an abandoned petrol station in the heart of the area affected by the Beirut harbour explosion in 2020. The petrol station quickly became a hub for volunteers and activists to come together and gradually build a better system, earning it the name: Nation Station. Nation Station has 27 members and 6 co-founders.