At the Lebanese Red Cross headquarters in Beirut, I met Ayad Monzer, the National Society's director of communications. We drink Turkish coffee and talk about my mission to photograph volunteer activities.

"I'll introduce you to everyone so they know who you are and then you can best choose which activist is best for you," he says. Soon I find myself at the Lebanese Red Cross dispensary interviewing people and taking photos.

Every day, up to 400 patients visit the dispensary. I can believe it given those already there. All the patients are internally displaced people and all medical services are free.

"Most cases right now consist of acute respiratory infections, gastro intestinal diseases as well as chronic diseases such as hypertension, asthma and diabetes as well as various skin diseases," says Dr Hasan Fayad.

Wounded people brought in from combat zones by Lebanese Red Cross first aid workers are transported directly to hospitals.

When I am finished I meet Darine El Sabeh, the youth and volunteers advisor. Darine returned to her native Lebanon from her posting in Jordan so she could help out. She is assisting me as an interpreter. We decide to cover a group of Lebanese Red Cross youth distributing aid to the displaced and head out for the Mount Lebanon district close to Beirut where we join volunteers travelling in a separate Lebanese Red Cross minivan.

Our first stop is a village called Beit Chabab where several displaced people are sheltering in a local civil defence centre. The volunteers distribute hygiene kits that include soap, shampoo and detergent. It's a small but important measure to prevent disease.

"We are working with a couple of local organizations dividing up the tasks," says Red Cross volunteer, Eliane Boy Ghosh, ""We distribute the hygiene kits and they provide food and onsite medical visits if required."

In the civil defence building we meet an elderly lady named Fatima Khatun who comes from Tyre in the south. Surrounded by her grandchildren she tells us her story.

"We stayed there for eleven days under fire until it just became too dangerous to remain," she explains, "We went from living in prosperity to this. Now we have nothing." On the floor are a few mattresses and little else.

In the next village we meet Hassan Mohammed Abadi and his family who are staying in a church school. He tells a similar story.

"We had to leave everything and run for our lives. I don't know what has become of my house," he says, "We have lost everything and must now depend on the goodwill of others to survive. I feel we have even lost our dignity".

Lebanese Red Cross volunteers also collect information on displaced people living with friends and family.

"Displaced people staying in schools and other public buildings have better access to assistance then people living in private homes," says Eliane.

"We are trying to find these people during our visits to communities and make sure they get the help they need."

During the rest of the afternoon we find several such families. In one village we meet two families made up of 21 people living in a two-room house, which they are renting for $100 a month.

Later we meet with another group of youth volunteers responsible for providing assistance to 85 displaced families being housed in a public school.

Lebanese Red Cross volunteers organize entertainment activities for the children – teaching basic hygiene information at the same time. It's so successful that a few of the adults begin to join in, raising a laugh for the first time in days.