SMC - Ep. 1 - Lebanon - Interview with Imane Assaf of Ahla Fawda | Feb 16, 2026

An interview in Beirut with Imane Assaf, the co-founder and director of the grassroots Lebanese NGO Ahla Fawda.In this episode - we learned about Ahla Fawda's humanitarian response to the war, aid to displaced Lebanese, Syrians, and Palestinians, including children from Gaza, the critical role of Lebanese women in civil society, the humanitarian response to the Beirut port explosion, the fallout of USAID cuts, the beauty and strength of Lebanon, and much more. Ahla Fawda is an amazing team that is helping people every single day. To learn how to help, follow their activities and reach out on Instagram @ahlafawda or their website - https://ahlafawda.org/The mission of the Saint Martin's Cloak podcast is to shed light on humanitarian issues around the world in a way that will inform listeners of the ground truth, while always centering the human stories and voices of individuals and populations in focus.Our focus is on humans, not statistics. The purpose of knowledge is to inform action. At the end of each episode, we will always ask our participants to provide listeners with actionable steps they can take to help.We are already actively planning on episodes concerning Sudan, Gaza, Iran, Ukraine, and immigration in the United States among many others. If we haven’t covered a topic yet, it’s because we are searching for the right voice from that community to tell us their story. If you have any suggestions about topics to cover or people to talk to, please send us a DM on instagram @saintmartinscloak_pod, or email us at [email protected]