Never judge the unknown - a trip to the North

On Monday this week I had the chance and pleasure of joining an NGO called International Humanitarian Relief (IHR) for a distribution of shoes and clothes coming from Norway to Syrian families in the Akaar Region, North of Lebanon. In fact, most the refugees live outside of Beirut and closer to the Syrian border, whether North or East. Hence, the majority of projects which aim at assisting and supporting the refugees are mainly in the Beqaa Valley - Zahle on the East, and in the Akkar region, North of Lebanon. That’s why I wanted to get out of Beirut, to explore unknown landscapes, to meet new people, exchange smiles and be helpful to the people who need it the most. 

It was with curiosity and an open mind that I joined IHR staff on this field visit to Halba, just 20 km away from the Northern Syrian border. 
 

The day started very early, at 6:30 am. I got picked up by the local staff with a Mitsubishi 4x4 at 7:15ish; the journey was very pleasant and it took approximately two hours. We stopped twice, first to pick up a colleague in Tripoli and second to have breakfast, of course. I had a bite of "lahme b'ajin" with some pomegranate juice  and "knefe", both incredibly tasty.

We reached the IHR Al-Amal Vocational Center on the outskirt of Halba around 10ish. The day was beautiful, sunny and warm. 

Al-Amal Vocational Center IHR

The first thing we did after meeting and chatting with the staff of the center, it was to organize and to carry out the distribution. To my surprise everything was brand new: the shoes looked very nice and stylish, for all ranges, women, men and teenagers. All the boxes were piled in a neat and precise way, exactly like the way you would see them in a shop. Same for the clothes which were very pretty and of good quality like cotton, wool and silk.

Distribution of clothes and shoes from Norway - Photography [Courtesy of IHR]

Donated new shoes 

One by one the beneficiaries arrived; they were holding a ticket which meant they were entitled to receive the aid. Each person could take one pair of shoes and a piece of clothing, usually a jacket or two sweaters. As far as I understood, most of these people were the Syrian refugees students who are currently participating at the professional courses at the center, plus other families living in the Halba area who were identified as particularly vulnerable. 

Project Syria

The good thing was that they got to choose themselves among a variety of clothes and shoes according to their need and taste. I mainly helped with find the right piece of clothing.  Their eyes were looking at me, many with curiosity other with indifference.  I was able to talk to them by using survival words and sentences that I have learnt in Arabic class, and with a little help from the English speaking staff I managed to communicate.  Most of the girls wanted a jacket that was “tawhill” - long. I was struggling to find jackets below the knee, but most of the girls were satisfied with what we found. They walked away with huge smiles and proud of their new piece of clothing. Many wanted a jacket for themselves or for their baba. 

The best part of the day was to visit the vocational center. I didn’t expect it to be so organized and efficient, but yes it was. The Director of the shelter really wanted me to go around as he said “visitors bring motivation to our students”. Everyone was so kind and extremely helpful.

The aim of the project in this center is to train the Syrian refugees of the area for six months in one of the following courses: electrical, electronics and mechanics, sewing, cooking, make-up and hairdressing. Such classes last six months and allow them to learn a job and gain an income from it. Not just humanitarianism, but development.  

So one by one we visited each room on the first floor of the center. I was received with happiness and joy. There was a genuine interest among people to show their piece of work and their products, both from the student and the teacher side.

They were so excited about the class! You could tell they were really enjoying coming to the center. Some of the young women were saying they were traveling for more than one hour by bus to reach the center just to participate at the course.

Sewing class - Photography [Courtesy of IHR]

Life is sweeter with a cake - Photography [Courtesy of IHR]

Sewing trials - Photography [Courtesy of IHR]

Young ladies attending the class

One of the sewing machine

 

Loving the freshly baked cheesecake - Photography [Courtesy of IHR]

Bakery class - Photography [Courtesy of IHR]

Photography [Courtesy of IHR]

“I teach them a word of French, English and German everyday, everyday”, said the Director of the center - “I want them to learn other languages, it is so important!” he added. In fact one of the problem Syrians face when arriving in Lebanon is the language; even though Arabic is one of the national official languages, ordinary people speak perfect French and English as well, and most of the time classes in public school are taught in these languages.

The Director also proudly shown me the kitchen of the center, which he has converted into a small playground for the kids whose mum participate at the class. In this way they don’t skip it “just” because they have to look after their kids. 

The teacher of the sewing class (picture below) was of Syrian nationality. He wanted to share his story, one similar to many, perhaps… He proudly said he had many years of experience in this sector: he had a successful business in Homs with around sixty employees. However, because of the war he was forced to flee and he had to leave everything behind. “The government took everything from me, everything…” 
But it seemed to me that what it didn’t take was his passion and will to teach others anything he knew about sewing and making clothes. What a spirit!  

The visit finished with an amazing late lunch, Lebanese style, in a local restaurant. And what’s a Lebanese meal without Arghile and coffee? Not a Lebanese meal! 

Lebanese meal with the crew of IHR

 

The three vices in Lebanon: arghile, coffee and cigarette.

It was a real pleasure meeting such wonderful people. Keep strong!

Much love,

Michi :)

World Peace Day "Indifference is the biggest obstacle"

Now that I'm back home in Italy and I'm spending some precious time with my family I cannot stop reminding myself of how fortunate I am to be able to do so, and to be surrounded by kind and supportive souls.

On this special occasion my thoughts go to the lovely people I met in Lebanon, girls and kids who live in the shelters where I work in Beirut and surroundings.

Dbayeh Palestinian Refugee camp, UNRWA

Even if I wish they all managed to go back to their countries, even if I wish everyone obtained their refugees visa, I know I cannot be naïve. Many of them are still there in those shelters. The majority is still waiting for their papers to be issued, waiting for their file to move forward, waiting for their case to be successful in court.. The word that resonates in their mind is WAITING...

"Waiting...It feels like being in prison"

And you, what are you waiting for? Is it something of this magnitude? Are you perhaps waiting to return to your beloved country? Or for a deadly war to cease?
If you are reading this post then the answer is most likely no. You are probably thinking of some new year resolutions that are from a different world, a completely different reality. Lose weight? Quit smoking? Join the gym? Save money? Better job?
Hey, I'm not blaming you for these, of course no.. I'm writing about such inconsistency just to make us reflect about it all. This is the world we live in, a world full of contradictions. However, we cannot be still, pretending what's happing outside of our box doesn't exist, that what you see on social media ceases when you turn off the tv. We need to talk about it. It's up to us to become a connector between very different worlds, very different realities. This is what I'm trying to do now: to bring testimony of the experience I live daily in Lebanon so that you can remind yourself to smile at the life you have, instead of worrying about superfluous things. And more importantly that those less fortunate need some proper consideration!

Before leaving Beirut to come to Milan I had a special day with the girls of one of the shelter. My colleagues and I organised a fun day of activities and games, a Christmas party. The ladies were very excited, some of them put make up on, they wore the best dresses they had; everything was done in order to forget for a day where they live, to put on stand by their problems and to just cherish for the time being.
In this one big room where everything happens we organised the party. We moved the chairs and we reshuffled them so to recreate a stage. A Christmas tree and the nativity scene were remembering the ladies that even though they think time has stopped in that one shelter, the world around them keeps moving fast, with the seasons changing and the festivities coming.

Girls from Kenya and Togo performing a typical dance

As soon as the music started Sarah, Mary, Ridjet, Akoss, Maribel etc..put their beutiful smile on their joyful faces. We played a variety of games, some girls told a few Christmas poems, other set up the live nativity scene, and we all danced, yes we danced.
The food that the director of the shelter prepared was once again amazingly tasty; her way of mixing and balancing species to create a unique taste is impressive.

A well deserved lunch

It was a simple day but it is often the simplest things that bear the purest, honest joy. Seeing these young girls that happy made me feel like what I'm doing, even thought of a simple nature, it is not in vain.

Customs and traditions- Ethiopia

"Learning english is useful for my future and makes me feel like time is running faster"

As Pope Francis said in the Angelus today INDIFFERENCE is the biggest obstacle to peace; it makes us only thing about ourselves and therefore it creates barriers, fears and closures of mind and heart. We should try to awaken to the injustices and suffering of our brothers and sisters, starting from those living in our cities, next door. We need to overcome a "globalisation of indifference" to dream of a more peaceful world.

This post is for those less fortunate who spent Xmas away from their beloved ones, for those who find it hard  to celebrate and those who had to flee their warm homes because of conflicts... On a similar note this post is dedicated to those suffering from the many injustices our world is facing today.

May peace prevail in the year ahead, may human kind stop hurting our Mother Earth.

Not everyone is lucky enough to smile today.
So keep smiling and keep reminding yourself how beautiful life is.
Be grateful for it, at every breath you take.

Happy new year!
Michi :)

On the way to south

Beautiful day in Tyre (Sur) today.

Despite the terrible events of Thursday evening last week in South Beirut, an area where Hezbollah enjoys wide support, my friend Megan had the brilliant idea to go on a trip to a city where the "Party of God" is equally as popular as the area affected by the bombings. No, it's not a joke. We casually decided to go.

And now that I'm home I can say I'm glad we did it. It turned out to be a fascinating and somehow interesting city to visit. The scars of the 2006 war against Israel and the memories of the civil war are still printed in people's mind and vivid in their words.

We got a van from Cola and together with 5 man, two soldiers of the army (one damn young, it was not even in his twenty), a woman with her hijab, the driver and us two, we started the journey to Tyre. Surprisingly, it only took us one hour and a half to reach the destination. After all Lebanon is a tiny country. It only takes about two hours to reach both its most southern and northern point.

This city is still one of the few places outside of Beirut labelled as "safe", so an area where I can finally go. Despite this apparent safety it wasn't hard to spot the military, their guns, tanks and so on..

 The thingsthat you notice the most when entering the city are two flags, yellow and green.

The former is the one of Hezbollah composed of the green logo (which incorporates several objects, namely a globe, a book, a sword, and a seven-leafed branch) of the Shia political military organisation upon a yellow background; the latter corresponds to the symbol of the Amal Movement, which is now the largest Shia political party in parliament whose militia has taken part in the Lebanese Civil War. Amal is also an Arabic noun, meaning "hope."

The entire city is marked by these flags; pictures of martyrs were at every light stand, same with those of the politicians. There is also a cemetery by the sea, calm and peaceful.

On top of this, Sur is also the UNIFIL zone.The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon was established in 1978 to:

• "Confirm the withdrawal of Israeli forces from souther n Lebanon.
• Restore international peace and security.
• Assist the Government of Lebanon in ensuring the return of its effective authority in
  the area"

After the 2006 war against Israel UNIFIL was also asked to (among other things)  monitor the cessation of hostilities and to help ensure humanitarian access to civilian populations and the voluntary and safe return of displaced persons. Its troops remain present till these days; that means more three decades of peacekeeping troops on the Lebanese soil... You can see the UNIFIL boundary marked by the light blue line in the map below.

I have probably seen no less than ten UN tanks moving on the road of Tyre today.
Such issue is an indicator of how delicate, complex and extremely volatile the situation is in this country.

Standing from the beach and looking at the horizon you can spot the Palestinian refugee camp Rashidieh on the left hand side (which hosts more around 30.000 people) and moving along the way to the center of the pic you can even see Palestine (or for some Israel)...

If you are interested in reading about the 12 official Palestinian camps across Lebeanon take a lot to this article from Al-Monitor. It's from 2012 but most of the information remains relevant to these days.

Till next time. Another busy week is knocking at the door.

Michi

‘’You are not a humanitarian if you don’t go to the field’’

That's right, me and my (ex)classmates have heard this various times during our MA in International Humanitarian Action: ''you are not a humanitarian if you don't gain field experience" ..

MA Graduation 2015, Groningen Holland

I have embarked in a journey which requires individuals to take certain risks (is it?), or is it more a way to challenge oneself, to see what the world is really about? It definitely depends on the point of you.

After my BA in Politics and IR from Royal Holloway University of London I have decided to deepen my studies in the humanitarian sector, with a special look on peace and conflict studies.

It took a few months of excitement, when I happily handed in my MA thesis on New Year's Eve last December (how evil would a professor be to put the deadline on NYE?!) frustration, while seeing that the job market could only offer me volunteering positions, and joy when I managed to gain some office experience at Amnesty  international secretariat in London last summer.

But patience and perseverance have paid off, I'm now heading to the field. Ta-daaaaa!

Which field? I'm going to Lebanon! I mean Lebanon Lebanon, not Libya... You can have a look at this map if you are not a master in Geography:

I'm going with  Caritas Ambrosiana (Milan) in partnership with Caritas Lebanon. It couldn't have been any better as first experience, for the location, the regional context, beneficiaries, working experience and the projects I will be involved with. More details to follow.

I'm also very excited about the team I'm going with, it’s me and three other girls from Italy. I see a lot of potential in us and I'm very curious to see it blossom. 

Egypt 2014

So let's go! The luggage is ready. Ready for the next adventure, ready to embrace a new life. Life is calling.

I will see you on the other side, Beirut! Yalla!

[Il Libano sará casa e non vedo l’ora di farlo diventare tale]