MEET EDWARD

My name is Edward. I am 83 years old, and I live with my wife who is 75 years old. We are Lebanese and unfortunately, we did not have any children, and we have no one left in our family to help us. When I was younger, I used to work in a pharmacy, helping with logistics. We are now too old to work. We have no income, and we do not have any money aside anymore… We lost everything we had in the bank because of the crisis. Nothing is left.

Because of that, we are not able to make ends meet. It is very difficult to see what has been happening in our country. I feel quite hopeless about it. Even during the Lebanese civil war, things were much easier. There was conflict – and snipers – but I used to go to work every day. Sometimes I used to wait in line to get bread, but eventually I would always get bread.

Now, life has become too expensive: food prices are out of this world, and we pay a lot for the generator subscription, on top of the public electricity bill. But the most expensive is all the medication we must take because of our health conditions. My wife is diabetic, and has issues with blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglyceride. I also have blood pressure, and diabetes too. My wife must check her sugar level three times a day and she needs to take insulin. It is expensive. Each box costs $19 and we need at least two every month. She needs another medicine that costs around $10. On my end, I take two medications for diabetes, in addition to another one for blood pressure.

Thank God, we have been able to get some of the medication for free here. For example, they give us the medication we need for blood pressure, or some other often needed ones like Panadol, or Magnesium B6. We also come to see the doctors here whenever we need it.

We live here in the neighborhood. We have known about the clinic since they first opened, shortly after the Beirut port explosion. At the time, our house sustained a lot of damage. There was broken glass, windows frames were broken. Thank God, a church later fixed our home for free back then.

Without the clinic, we wouldn’t be able to afford the medication. And without the medication, our blood pressure and sugar levels would go dangerously high, and we would risk severe heart complications. We are very thankful for the people here, who treat us well and do their best to help us. They never turn us down. May God bless them and everyone helping!