As part of their farewell world tour, members of the Buena Vista Social Club band have visited a children''s cancer center in Lebanon. In their most altruistic visit of the tour, the musicians improvised and sang songs with the children who played along on percussion instruments. Laughter, tears of happiness and, delight was reflected in the faces of the children.

The band, founded in Cuba in the 1990s, also performed at the Beirut International Exhibition and Leisure Center, where they offered a tribute to their deceased legendary founders. The audience danced and applauded without stopping.

The Buena Vista Social Club arrived in Beirut from Japan, as part of a tour that will last 45 days.

Neither the cold night nor language barriers prevented the audience from succumbing to the melodic voice of the lead singer, Omara Portuondo, or to the musical gems Barbarito Torres played on his lute or to the vibrant trumpet of Guajiro Mirabal

They performed'Besame Mucho', 'Quizas', '20 años', 'El Cuarto de Tula', 'Lagrimas Negras', 'Chan Chan' and many other songs whose immortality has defined the band world wide.

The images of the founders of the group were projected on a large screen one by one, each received a standing ovation. Manuel "Puntillita" Licea, Francisco Repilado, (known as Compay Segundo), Ibrahim Ferrer, Ruben Gonzalez and Pio Leyva, who all died between 2000 and 2006, were evoked at the end of the concert when their former colleagues and the audience sang the song 'Guantanamera' and shouted Cuba, Cuba!