Vincent Gelot, a poet facing the war in the East

He has lost weight in recent months. Throughout the crises, Vincent Gelot has lost his appetite: the war in Lebanon, the despair of the Syrians, the hemorrhage of Christians, the birth of his fourth child under Israeli drones and now the fall of Bashar el-Assad have emaciated his face. Responsible for a thousand projects in the region on behalf of the Œuvre d’Orient, an apolitical association linked to the Church of France, he constantly oscillates between action and fervor. Each year, it distributes nearly 18 million euros in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, to keep hospitals, schools, dispensaries, refugee reception centers, support groups, nurseries afloat. students.

Faced with the immensity of the task, despair sometimes overcomes him but without settling: “ I see the endurance, the courage, the dignity on the faces of my field partners and it perks me up every time. It’s my driving force, my passion. I…