Mediterranean Hope Newsletter: March 2016

Mediterranean Hope Newsletter: March 2016

Falak’s Arrival Through Humanitarian Corridors: Many Others Are to ComePaolo Naso – NEV

The good news is that Falak feels now better. Last Thursday she arrived in Italy from Beirut. She was immediately admitted to the Hospital Bambin Gesù in Rome to see whether her tumour, which had already damaged one of her eyes, has reached other parts of her body. First analysis were reassuring and the little seven year old girl has started a routine chemotherapy treatment.  Read more.

Stories from Beirut: The First Humanitarian Corridor Was Not a Foregone Conclusion: Francesco Piobbichi e Simone Scotta – NEV

Beirut, Lebanon (NEV), February 10th 2016 – There are days that quietly pass away, others, instead, seem never end. February 3rd was one of those never-ending days. It began well, we were in the centre of Beirut among car horns and smog. We were in a cafeteria waiting for the “OK” written in a WhatsApp message from Maria Quinto who had meeting with the Lebanese authorities.  Read more.

Refugees Arriving by Plane: The Pilot Project for Humanitarian Corridors: Andrea Scutella – La Repubblica

ROME – “I’m happy”. Yasmine’ smile said more than her words: she was more than happy, she was cheerful. Yasmine and her family entered the control doors of Fiumicino airport: her husband Suleyman, 34, and their son Hussein, holding a toy bunny and showing it to the reporter. But the star was Falak: the 6-year-old little girl that has lost one of her eyes due to a cancer but the other eye can be saved.  Read more.

We met the refugees who will arrive in Italy through the first ‘humanitarian corridor’ Sara Manisera – Vice

It almost seems like spring in Lebanon. The sky is clear and the sun is mild and warm, but not enough to warm the damp garage measuring about twenty square meters which is home to a young couple with two children, Hussein and Falak, aged six and seven years.  Read more.

Syrian family arrives in Italy in first humanitarian airlift: Nicole Winfield, Fadi Tawil and Maria Grazia Murru – Associated Press

A 7-year-old Syrian girl suffering from a rare form of eye cancer arrived in Italy on Thursday, the first of an estimated 1,000 refugees who are being brought here on humanitarian grounds in a pilot project aimed at dissuading people from embarking on deadly sea crossings.  Read more.

Falak and Her Family Are The First Ones Travelling to Rome with a Visa: Alessandra Coppola – Corriere della Sera

TRIPOLI (Lebanon) – After a month of on-line lessons that have been attended through a mobile phone, Yasmine, a young mother, has learned a lot of Italian words that now pronounces with amazing accuracy. “It is easy,” she said. Hussein is six years old and he knows how to count (he loses the thread around fifteen, but he learns quickly.) And when asked: what will you do when you are Rome? He has replied diligently: “I will study the language.”  Read more.