“We recognize our friends when they stand by our side in difficult times. The Order of Malta is more than a partner, it’s a loyal friend. Our relationship is not new, it started years ago, has grown and has been strengthened through numerous joint actions, both with the Saint Joseph University and with Hôtel-Dieu de France hospital (HDF). I hope it will last a long time”.
It is in these heartfelt words that Father Salim Daccache s.j., HDF President of the Board of Directors and USJ Rector, thanked the Lebanese Association of the Knights of Malta (LAKM) for its gift to the hospital: a batch of medical equipments consisting of 4 ventilators and 1,000 rapid screening tests, all part of the association’s campaign to help support healthcare staff in the fight against Covid-19 and withhold its spread.
Father Daccache, alongside the General Manager of the hospital Martine Orio and a team of doctors, received the LAKM delegation formed by its president Marwan Sehnaoui, its Vice-President Patrick Jabre, its Hospitaller Paul Saghbini and its Medical Director Dr. Issa Farkh, who all came to deliver the donation to Hôtel-Dieu de France.
In his address, the Rector highlighted the active role of HDF, which was the first university hospital to join the fight against the pandemic since the end of February. All of the hospital’s human, material and financial resources were put to use to save lives and alleviate the suffering of people fighting the virus.
This is how the two institutions are linked by the same message of humanity and the same voaction: the service to the sick. “Because ultimately, this donation benefits the patient, not the hospital”, said Father Daccache. “And the Order of Malta has accustomed us to this notion of giving, which is inherent to its mission.”
“The human being at the heart of our work”
President Sehnaoui confirms it: “The Order of Malta always places the human, creation of God, at the center of its action. If existential decisions are made without taking man into consideration, they will lead the world to its demise. This is the reason our commitment to the poor and sick has never stopped, despite the many obstacles we face daily. It continues all over the Lebanese territory, through our Community Health Centers and our Mobile Medical Units. This perseverance in our efforts and the excellence of our services force our credibility with our local and international benefactors. Perhaps I should mention that our association lives only through the financial donations it receives, and we chose to draw on some of it to benefit HDF”.
Therefore, in the context of the severe health and economic crisis that the country is facing, the LAKM has chosen to draw on the financial donations granted to it to benefit the institutions that play a key role in the fight against the coronavirus: the Lebanese Army Forces, Hôtel-Dieu de France hospital and the Lebanese Red Cross, by equipping them with treatment and screening equipment for the Covid-19 (10 ventilators, an automated extraction device for PCR with its accessories and more than 3,000 rapid screening tests and PCR tests).
“It is our duty to stand by these 3 trusted institutions during this troubled period, and so we did. We have a responsibility to stand with each suffering person, and we will continue to do so”, said the president of the LAKM.
“Supporting HDF means supporting all of us as well as supporting our country, because your action is courageous and essential, both in terms of health and education that you provide to our young people through the courses of the USJ”, continues Mr. Sehnaoui. “With the Lord’s help, we will maintain the hope of a better tomorrow, despite the difficult circumstances we are going through, and we will continue to defend the dignity of all human beings, respecting their differences, in this Holy Land of Lebanon.”
