Episode Details

Judy Saba: Judy Saba is a cross-cultural psychologist with an extensive career working with the New South Wales Police and currently operates within a charity focused on domestic violence. Her career was kick-started over 30 years ago as one of the co-founders of the Maronite Counseling Services, where she played a pivotal role in community mental health support and understanding cultural nuances in psychological practice.

George Boutros: George Boutros is a dedicated humanitarian and the co-founder of the Sydney to Lebanon Humanitarian Aid Appeal. His journey started with Friends with Hope in response to personal and community tragedies, leading to a career focused on addressing emergency needs in Lebanon by providing food, medicine, and essentials, driven by compassion and community responsibility.

Summary

George Boutros has turned two of the most painful experiences of his life into movements that have genuinely changed communities. Joining Debbie and cross-cultural psychologist Judy Saba, George opens up about losing his cousin to suicide, the nine months that shook his tight-knit Lebanese community to its core, and how that grief quietly built something none of them could have predicted. What started as a group of cousins and friends scrambling to make sense of unimaginable loss became Friends with Hope, a support network that broke taboos, filled church halls, and changed the way an entire community talks about mental health and suicide prevention.

Then life moved on. Until the Beirut explosion stopped George in his tracks. A half-question to a colleague at Qantas turned into 27 tonnes of humanitarian aid and an organisation that now supports 23 charitable entities across Lebanon. This is an honest, moving conversation about grief, purpose, dignity, and what it really looks like when a community decides to stop looking in and start looking out.

Key Takeaways:

• Turning personal tragedy into community hope can lead to impactful and sustainable support systems.
• Community-driven initiatives can shift cultural narratives around taboo topics such as mental health and suicide.
• The importance of providing dignified aid and support to preserve the self-respect of those in need.
• Leveraging personal and professional networks can greatly enhance the reach and impact of humanitarian efforts.
• Engaging with and utilising diverse skills within a community can build a robust support network for charitable causes.

Notable Quotes:

1. "We need to try and turn a negative into a positive. And we did." - George Boutros
2. "It wasn't because of what we did; it was because of what the community responded to." - Judy Saba
3. "You bring along people on the journey, people will come and go or they'll stay." - George Boutros
4. "It encapsulated hope for those that went before us." - Judy Saba
5. "We need all hands on deck. It's a call to arms." - George Boutros

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