A Calling and a Commitment: Empower Lebanon

Joe Khalil and I first crossed paths in 2019 at an event he orchestrated at the Embassy of Lebanon in Washington, DC. Seated adjacent to each other, we bonded over a shared interest in hiking, politics, and Lebanon, our mutual birthplace. 

Of all the people I met that evening, I knew Joe and I would keep in touch in a meaningful way. Yet, little did I imagine then that less than two years later Joe and I would be wrapping up a joint aid initiative in our motherland!

Members of Yahchouch Civil Defense Corps put on a demonstration using equipment provided by Empower Lebanon.

Months after our initial meeting, I invited Joe to a meeting back in Lebanon I had arranged between my friend Zeina Kassem, founder of the extraordinary NGO Roads for Life, and the Commander of the Civil Military Cooperation (CIMIC) Directorate. I thought Joe, ever eager to help, would benefit from a better understanding of how the Lebanese Army and civil society interacted and cooperated. I had no idea at the time what that run-of-the-mill engagement would eventually bring into being.

We discussed various ideas during the meeting, but the most compelling was a joint initiative between Roads for Life and the CIMIC Directorate to train security personnel on the proper application of a tourniquet, a simple yet life-saving procedure. Intrigued by how a small investment--a tourniquet coupled with basic instructions--could yield such an impact, Joe left the meeting determined to apply this idea elsewhere. At the time, I did not think too much of his burst of enthusiasm. People tend to get caught up in a moment of excitement and then lose steam shortly later, as the seemingly endless things that fill out our day-to-day lives leave room for little else. 

I was wrong about Joe. A few months went by, and then one evening he called. Virginia, his home state, had just approved the legal paperwork he had filed to launch a nonprofit organization he named Empower Lebanon. His enthusiasm had endured. However, by the end of our chat, Joe began to realize the immutable truth of running a nonprofit: it’s a lot of work, the bulk of which consists of mundane administrative tasks.

Joe asked me to join Empower Lebanon as a board member. I agreed. I did so for two reasons. First, I trust Joe. He is a decent man who has realized the blessings of the American dream, and rather than sit back and enjoy the fruits of his labors, he is eager to give back meaningfully. Secondly, Joe and I share a firm, unwavering commitment to helping the people of Lebanon, regardless of religious affiliation, lifestyle, ideology, or background. We were both on the same sheet of music. 

So, we got to work. Throughout the summer and fall of 2020, we organized a board of directors, drafted administrative policies and adopted them, recruited volunteers, established operational protocols, set up a website and a Facebook page, and crafted a general strategy for operations and fundraising. 

By late 2020, the systems were up. We were ready to roll. A lofty vision was now a reality. We launched three successive projects in the span of three months.

Joe and I in Yahchouch during a ceremony to formally transfer equipment provided by Empower Lebanon to the municipality.

On Saturday, April 10th, we celebrated the completion of Empower Lebanon’s first project in Yahchouch, a dreamy hamlet perched perilously, it seems, along the slope of a deep valley bisected by Nahir (“River”) Ibrahim. Just to its east stands Jabal (“Mount”) Moussa, a majestic peak that dominates much of Yahchouch’s skyline. But this epic setting comes at a cost. During the dry summer season, a menacing threat looms: wildfires. An all-volunteer group of firefighters, known as the Civil Defense Corps, labors miraculously to keep their mountain community safe from that threat. As is often the case in Lebanon, they were short on life-saving gear.

Through Empower Lebanon, we supplied the Civil Defense Corps with urgently needed equipment. It was an all-hands-on-deck affair that encompassed the local municipality, the Lebanese Army, US military advisors, and the US Embassy, which had kindly shipped the supplies to Lebanon. Every stakeholder contributed what they could. Together the sum was greater than its parts.

Joining Joe at the high school in Yahchouch for the formal ceremony to transfer the firefighting equipment to the municipality, I gushed with pride. All the work had culminated in this moment. Outside, the rain was falling, at times in heavy sheets. The sun was nowhere to be seen. The wind howled. The clouds and mist snaked their way up the valley, thinning over Jabal Moussa. In its authentic melancholy, the setting felt perfect to me. Inside, representatives of the various stakeholders serenaded each other with praise and celebrated what can be accomplished when people come together.

Through our collaborative approach, you could say we lived up to our name: Empower Lebanon. 

Zack Bazzi is the President of Empower Lebanon’s Board of Directors.