Just a few months ago, they were living ordinary lives. They worried about meals, bills, their children and work on the farm. They had their own homes, gardens and small farms. They were not wealthy, but they lived with dignity.

Today, many of them have literally nothing.

They are internally displaced people in Lebanon who, after the outbreak of war and the beginning of shelling, lost everything almost overnight. Today, they live in tents. Their entire belongings may amount to little more than a mattress, and even that was given to them by strangers. Some families have found shelter in long-abandoned buildings without kitchens, toilets or even the most basic living conditions. In one such place, rats literally fall through holes in the ceiling. Children sleep below.

People took only what they could carry while fleeing the bombardment. Sometimes just their documents. Sometimes a single bag. Sometimes nothing at all. Everything else they now have comes from relatives, neighbours and humanitarian organisations.

At the height of the current crisis, more than one million people were forced to leave their homes.

In these conditions, preparing an ordinary meal is no longer an ordinary task. There is no refrigerator, no cooker, no running water and no money for regular grocery shopping. That is why, through the SAFE project, the HumanDoc Foundation is providing 70,000 nutritious meals to internally displaced people and residents particularly affected by the war and Lebanon’s economic crisis. The support is directed primarily to families with children, older people, people who are ill and people with disabilities.

The meals are prepared and delivered regularly. This means that several hundred people receive consistent, practical support: nutritious, protein-rich food that is tasty and served with dignity. For families living without a kitchen, running water or the means to shop regularly, this removes at least one daily worry. They do not have to wonder every day where the next meal for themselves and their children will come from.

On the ground, we work with a small Lebanese organisation rooted in local communities and operating in one of the areas most exposed to armed violence. Its team is made up of people who have themselves suffered losses: they have lost loved ones, homes in southern Lebanon or their sources of income. They know where displaced families are staying, who has been left without support and which places are the hardest to reach.

That closeness to the community is crucial. The situation changes from one day to the next. People move again after further attacks, shelters fill up or empty, and assistance must be directed to where it is most urgently needed at that particular moment