In the early morning hours in the eastern Beirut neighborhood of Gemmayze, hit hard by the mammoth explosion that rocked the Lebanese capital a week ago, hundreds of volunteers are already on the streets with food parcels and brooms flung over their shoulders.

When reports surfaced that several protesters had lost their eyesight after they were shot at close range with rubber bullets, Dr. Samer Kahil knew he had to help.

In a late-night appeal on social media, Dr. Kahil, the Head of the Lebanese-Swiss Center for Artificial Eyes, offered to perform surgeries for the victims who lost their eyesight –free of charge.