S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 The Lebanese first lady, Wafaa Sleiman, visited Associa\u00e7\u00e3o Cedro do L\u00edbano de Prote\u00e7\u00e3o \u00e0 Inf\u00e2ncia <\/i>(Cedar of Lebanon Association for Childhood Protection), in the city of S\u00e3o Paulo today (23rd). \u201cI am glad to know that the cedar of Lebanon remains alive as a symbol of the East, from where so many immigrants departed who now live in this friendly country (Brazil),\u201d she stated. The tree is the symbol of the Arab country. Wafaa is accompanying her husband, president Michel Sleiman, in an official visit to Brazil.<\/p>\n
The charity, established 63 years ago by Lebanese descendents, serves approximately 2,300 impoverished children and adolescents aged zero to 18. \u201cWhile in this esteemed association, I feel as if I have not left Lebanon. Here I found that same generous spirit that reflects the wealth and customs of our land. The great accomplishments of this association are an example to us," she said. "Our human and social concerns with poverty and inequality are one and the same. We work in similar ways to educate our children so they will grow up and build a better world,\u201d she claimed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have the same concerns about education, healthcare, sports and culture. There is no question that my visit displays an intention of establishing even closer ties between Brazil and Lebanon,\u201d said the first lady, who visited the main wards of the association, watched dance performances and even attempted a few words in Portuguese, such as \u201chello!\u201d and \u201chow do you do?\u201d as she hugged the children. A group of children from the association sang the Lebanese hymn, in Arabic, and the Brazilian national hymn, leaving those in attendance deeply moved.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were very pleased with the visit of the Lebanese first lady. This is the first time that this has happened in the 63 years of existence of our association,\u201d said the association\u2019s chairwoman, Marly Haddad Cury. \u201cWe are proud to be a reference in treating children in a metropolis such as S\u00e3o Paulo,\u201d she adds. Wafaa was accompanied by the first lady of the state of S\u00e3o Paulo, Deuza Goldman, and by the Lebanese consul\u2019s wife, Sana Sayah.<\/p>\n
The association was founded on September 5th, 1947. \u201cThe idea of protecting poor children came from a group of ladies who used to meet in order to do voluntary work for the least favoured people,\u201d said the chairwoman.<\/p>\n
Now, the children and adolescents served by the association receive five meals a day, at nine children education centres, two centres for children and adolescents, one centre for youths, and one computing course. The association also makes available a large recreational space, including a multi-purpose court, playgrounds, a toy area, a library, a theatre, a computer room, an infirmary, and mess halls.<\/p>\n
The association has 200 employees and 500 voluntary associates. It lives off of donations by companies and natural persons, revenues from bazaar sales, and a partnership with the Municipal Secretariat for Education.<\/p>\n
Schedule<\/b><\/p>\n
Tomorrow, the Lebanese first lady will visit the Syrian-Lebanese Hospital, in S\u00e3o Paulo, alongside her husband, and on Monday (26th) she will be in Rio de Janeiro, where she should pay a visit to the Santa Marta Residents Association, to make an official donation of five computers.<\/p>\n
Contact<\/b><\/p>\n
Associa\u00e7\u00e3o Cedro do L\u00edbano <\/i>
Site: www.cedrodolibano.org.br
E-mail: associa\u00e7\u00e3o@cedrodolibano.org.br
Telephone: (+55 11) 5891-1707<\/p>\n
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Wafaa Sleiman, president Michel Sleiman\u2019s wife, visited the Cedar of Lebanon Association for Childhood Protection in S\u00e3o Paulo today. The organization serves 2,300 impoverished children and adolescent<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2306,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[106],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-34422","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-foreign-affairs"},"wps_subtitle":"Wafaa Sleiman, president Michel Sleiman\u2019s wife, visited the Cedar of Lebanon Association for Childhood Protection in S\u00e3o Paulo today. The organization serves 2,300 impoverished children and adolescent","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2306"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34422\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}