The Covid and its Delta variant hit Tunisia very hard. According to the WHO, today it is the country with the highest death rate of the entire African continent and the entire Arab world. The Tunisian government is appealing for help. In the Lyon region, the community is getting organized.
Tunisians in the Lyon region are mobilizing and organizing to come to the aid of Tunisia, particularly affected by the Delta variant. Doctors Abdelmalik Khebbeb and Nejib Ayari, respectively head of the department at the Porte du Sud polyclinic and general practitioner in Vénissieux, in the metropolis of Lyon, are at the initiative.
The two Franco-Tunisians have set up a chain of solidarity to help their Tunisian colleagues, for example by sending oxygen extractors, a material which is sorely lacking in Tunisian hospitals. The objective is to relieve overwhelmed hospitals. ” We are trying to find a positive and interesting way so that patients in Tunisia can stay at home and be treated by general practitioners in the country, in order to avoid overcrowding hospitals, ” explains Dr. Abdelmalik Khebbeb.
” I launched this operation because it was important. So we created a support platform for Tunisia, and this has already enabled us to buy around a hundred breathing apparatus that we were able to send to our colleagues ” tells Dr. Nejib Ayari, who also works with the national association “Tunisians of the two shores.”
Mobilization is also done via social networks and associative community radios, such as Radio Salem which is on the bridge! ” We are a relay for associations working in the field ” explains radio journalist Wafa Dhaman ” we echo these fundraisers by guaranteeing our listeners that this money will indeed reach Tunisian hospitals.”
The feast of Eid El-Kébir is also a great occasion for the Imam of the mosque of Villeurbanne, Azzedine Gaci to launch an appeal to all potential donors ” it is an emergency situation! And today it is about ‘hui to save lives! As an Imam, it is my duty to be in solidarity.” The message is clear for the Imam of Villeurbanne “if I have to put 200 or 300 euros to sacrifice a sheep on the occasion of the festival of Eid El-Kébir, I prefer to give them to save lives in Tunisia.”
The Rhône Mosque Council has launched a fundraising operation to send 100 oxygen concentrators to Tunisia, which is facing an alarming upsurge in Covid-19 cases. The collections take place these next two Fridays, July 16 and 23 in the mosques of the Rhône.
