You are currently browsing the monthly archive for September, 2006.
During this Holy month of Ramadan a benefactor offers an Iftar to 70 people at Ayadina premises. We call it “Mowa’id Al Rahman”. (An Iftar is the first meal Moslim believers take when they are fasting, when the suns sets: when you can not distinguish a white thread from a black one, around 6 30 PM) . As we are preparing the whole meal by ourselves this requires lots of preparations, but it is a pleasure to do it since the beneficiaries are people from the Nabaa’ area. Many of them hosted displaced families during the war and are now penniless. The Mowa’id Al Rahman are very well known in Egypt and perhaps in many other Arab countries. They consist of tables set ready for people to walk in an eat at the Iftar moment and then go, most of the people who assist are destitute.
When I born, I Black,
When I grow up, I Black,
When I go in Sun, I Black,
When I scared, I Black,
When I sick, I Black,
And when I die, I still black…
And
you White fellow,
When you born, you pink,
When you grow up, you White,
When you go in Sun, you Red,
When you cold, you blue,
When you scared, you yellow,
When you sick, you Green,
And when you die, you Gray…
And you call me colored???……… “
“This poem was voted the best children’s poem of 2005. It was written by an African kid.
I spent the weekend in Tanail at the Farm and Retreat house of the Jesuit Fathers, together with my friend Amal. We walked for hours and admired the beautiful lake with its fish and water snakes. A time of prayer and exchange.
When driving back I took 2 pictures of the destroyed Medeirej Bridge. It will take a lot of time to repair the bridge.
So when heading back to Beirut there was a huge traffic jam caused by an accident with a UN truck as you can see on the photo. It seems a French soldier was killed in this accident. This Daher El Baydar road is the highway connecting Lebanon and Syria and a very dangerous road. Foreigners, myself included, are not used to this very special way of Lebanese driving style!
Une saison libanaise
(L.B.)
Mis en ligne le 19/09/2006
- – - – - – - – - – -
La folie des hommes ne s’inscrit malheureusement pas seulement à la scène. A deux jours de l’ouverture du festival, on était toujours sans nouvelles du Théâtre libanais de Marionnettes qui devait venir présenter aux petits les «Mille et une Rose», sur fond de quatre saisons. Karim Dakroub est finalement arrivé.
A l’issue de la représentation, il nous raconte un été en enfer. «J’étais à Beyrouth, en train de développer des projets pour notre espace culturel. En un jour, tout a changé. On vivait normalement, on ne connaissait plus la guerre depuis quinze ans et soudain, on se souvient. Lors de la guerre précédente, j’étais plus jeune, je n’avais pas d’enfants. Ici, c’était différent. Tu te retrouves dans une situation où tu dois sauver ta vie et celle de tes enfants. J’ai quitté ma maison qui se trouvait à un carrefour dangereux et je les ai emmenés dans la montagne. Pendant la guerre, notre espace culturel s’est transformé en accueil pour ONG. Nous sommes laïcs, nous essayons d’ouvrir le dialogue mais aujourd’hui, le mot «paix» est devenu tabou et chacun se replie dans son camp.»
Les cinq derniers jours de la guerre, Karim Dakroub est parti jouer au Danemark. Il a traversé la Syrie en voiture au péril de sa vie, après être allé récupérer son matériel, heureusement sain et sauf, au sud Liban. Lorsqu’il a su qu’il pouvait venir en avion à Charleville, il a pris sa décision. «Dès que je rentre, je dois poursuivre mon travail, surtout auprès des enfants qui sont traumatisés et qui sont en danger à cause des bombes à fragmentation. Ils les ramassent, les confondent avec des objets de la vie quotidienne… Nous montons un projet de sensibilisation afin de les aider à reconnaître le danger à travers le théâtre. Et nous mettons des ateliers en place pour leur permettre de s’exprimer car ils sont tous traumatisés», nous explique encore un Karim transformé. «Je suis moi aussi traumatisé. J’ai peur du bruit des avions. Quelque chose de profond a changé en moi. Et je crois que la paix sera difficile car une nouvelle génération d’enfants, qui vient de connaître la guerre, n’accepte pas cette idée. Il y a deux mois à peine, j’aurais parlé autrement.»
© La Libre Belgique 2006
So there we were going to Sour (Tyr). For me this was the first time I went to the South after the July war. The 2 new (steel) bridges at Naeme and Damour are great. The only problem is that the residents of those villages are incapable of sleeping due to the terrible sound it makes when the cars and trucks pass these bridges at night.
The roads are safe and are being cleaned up from all the debris and war damage.
When arriving in Saida (Sidon) the view of the damaged bridge is terrible, but also there they will only need about 6 months to rebuild it.
Before arriving in Sour we start seeing the UNIFIL troops, neatly stationed at the highway side or patrolling in the city.
Sour shows much more activity than it usually does, the market is crowded, foreigners sit on terraces, UNIFIL soldiers buy falafel sandwiches, and we finally arrive at our hotel Al Fanar. The hotel is located at the seaside and next to the Greek Melkite Bishopric. It has 12 rooms and where the owner Mr. Raymond was rather pessimistic during the war he now smiles broadly. UNHCR rented a floor for its operational office. NRC (Norwegian Refugee Council) also goes to this hotel so Mr Raymond has nothing to complain about, because he is well paid. In fact nobody complains, from the groceries over Abu Deeb’s falafel place to the pharmacist…their clients are mostly UN soldiers or other foreigners who make up for this bad season.
Of course I hadn’t come to Sour to admire the mercantile activity or to do nothing, so we started the meetings with the municipality and some NGO’s. We were stunned when we found out that the workshop had to be postponed for many reasons…certain NGO’s are pulling out at the end of the month, others had too short notice in order to provide participants…As Ramadan is starting on Sunday Sept 24, we decided to wait until the end of October and then try again. It is so important that (I)NGOs and Governmental Organizations learn to coordinate and work together…in order to reach out to the most needy and work as efficient as they can. All by all it was a shocking but very rich experience. It so much reflects what is going on below the surface.
For those who do not remember Zaynab: She is a mother of 3 disabled young boys. She fled to Nabaa during the July war and returned immediately after. She used to come and as she has children with special needs, we tried to intervene and help her out. Well, we became friends and especially with Mhamad. Since she went back she calls now and then just to check on me, to ask if I’m doing ok. Yesterday she called and said she wants to bring me some sage (Salvia officinalis = za3tar in Arabic) she prepares herself. This friendship touches me; it’s free, a gift from God who puts certain people together in certain circumstances…she being a Muslim, me a Christian…I look at this as a start for التعايش or “living together, co-habitation”. I don’t really know the word in English. My point is: sometimes we only need goodwill and friendly relations in order to make a better world.
A friend of mine mailed me this text and I want to share it with you all:
Have a wonderful day!!!!!!!
by George Carlin
Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we’re kids? If you’re less than 10 years old, you’re so excited about aging that you think in fractions.
“How old are you?” “I’m four and a half!” You’re never thirty-six and a half. You’re four and a half, going on five! That’s the key.
You get into your teens, now they can’t hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.
“How old are you?” “I’m gonna be 16!” You could be 13, but hey, you’re gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life . . . You become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . . YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!
But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There’s no fun now, you’re Just a sour-dumpling. What’s wrong? What’s changed?
You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you’re PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it’s all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50
And your dreams are gone.
But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn’t think you would!
So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.
You’ve built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it’s a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!
You get into your 80’s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn’t end there. Into the 90’s, you start going backwards; “I Was JUST 92.”
Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. “I’m 100 and a half!”
May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!
HOW TO STAY YOUNG
1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay “them!”
2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.
3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.” And the devil’s name is Alzheimer’s.
4. Enjoy the simple things.
5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.
6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.
7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it’s family, friends, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.
8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.
9 Don’t take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.
10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
Last weekend I was contacted from the Norwegian Refugee council, they asked me to join them in Sour where we will be giving a training and having a needs assessment for the relief workers and responsibles of municipality and NGO’s. I really look forward to going there and hope that we will be of help (inshallah)… We will leave early Wednesday morning and come back Friday night.
Today is the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. A very nice feast given the circumstances we live in. Yesterday night we celebrated Mass together, shared about the Gospel and had adoration…in this chaotic political after-war (hopefully it lies behind us!) it is relaxing to meditate (whatever your religion might be…) and see:
What happened? Where is all this bringing me? Am I caught up in hatred or resentment or am I eager to forget and want to move on? When reflecting the priest commented on some of the issues we might think of when looking at the Cross:
- Love
- Sacrifice
- Forgiveness
- Humility
- Transparency
- Reaching out to “all”
In fact this is what society and co-habitation of different cultures is all about. No matter what religion you are or try to practice.
Recent Comments