Igumen Arseny (Sokolov), Russian Patriarchal representative to the Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, recently delivered wheelchairs and gifts from Russia to the students of the Amal school for disabled children in the Syrian capital of Damascus, reports the site of the Russian Orthodox Church.
This is the second time such aid has been delivered to the school. Fr. Arseny also delivered wheelchairs to the school last month, with the help of the Combat Brotherhood Russian veterans’ organization.
The school, located in the Bab Msalla district of Damascus, helps 165 students.
T. A. Bokov, the secretary of the Russian Embassy in Syria and the Combat Brotherhood group visited the school together with Fr. Arseny. The children put on a small concert for the guests and showed them the facilities.
The headmaster of the school thanked all those who helped the children, saying: “When we hear the word ‘Russia,’ we know it means kindness and help.”
In turn, Fr. Arseny stressed that they plan to continue offering humanitarian assistance to the children.
In October 2017, the Combat Brotherhood delivered toys and school supplies to 2,500 Syrian Sunday School students. The following March, the organization offered a large donation to St. Thekla’s Monastery in Maaloula, which suffered under the control of terrorists for more than a year in 2014-2015.