SOS Children’s Village – je suis un pamplemousse!

You couldn't really miss this one.

I can’t believe our trek is over and I’m really not ready to leave Lebanon yet.  I join everyone on the street level terrace for our final breakfast.  Karen and Lamisse are packed for an earlier departure, Joseph and Mustapha have already left, Gemma meeting us later;  just a week ago I was struggling to remember names now they all seem like old friends.  Everyone I’ve met through Gulf for Good has been the same; although different in outlook and interests, the common-denominator is that all have been motivated by doing something for the good of others – a cliché I know – but it means that there is a ‘niceness’ for want of a better word, about every individual; they are kind, warm people.

We loaded the bags on the bus for the last time and set off out of Beirut.  The streets were manic as ever with cars forming six lanes where there should be three then trying to barge into a two lane carriageway.  It was a long, slow journey mainly through small towns, which became less and less prosperous-looking the further we got from Beirut.  The scenery changed to a huge, flat plateau of green, the Bekaa valley – there were lots of brown signs pointing at side roads to ancient and holy sites.  It would have been pretty, but was trumped by the memory of yesterday’s incomparable views.  The election posters were prevalent in this area too and we passed one image that was hard to miss of a man with a tank.  Maybe Gordon Brown would have done better if he’d adopted this tactic.  There was a mix-up with the itinerary.  We arrived in Baalbek, visited the largest stone in the world (the Hajar el Hibla – the stone of the pregnant woman which is supposed to effect a woman’s fecundity if she touches it) and were given a coffee by Abdul Nabi Al-Afi whose life’s work has been to discover it, excavate it from a rubbish dump and save it from being re-engulfed by garbage, but then we were whisked back onto the bus to go to the SOS Children’s Village.

Some of the children from the kindergarten

Susie holding a new orphaned baby

One of the house mothers, and her adopted children, who welcomed us to her home

The bus was overheating so we limped through the increasingly poor-looking villages and then found the country lane leading to the charity.  Neat red-tiled rooves could be spotted behind immaculate green vineyards.  The SOS Children’s Village was possibly the neatest, cleanest and most finished place we had seen in Lebanon.  We entered an oasis of calm with a warm greeting from the staff and urged to enter the Kindergarten building a.s.a.p. as the children were waiting.  These tiny tots put on a little display in every classroom we entered.  The children in the French and English rooms wore a picture of a fruit on their heads and shouted out the name with great enthusiasm, “Je suis un pamplemousse!”  In the Arabic class there was another particularly confident little girl Zeinab who stood out (note – always a girl) and she went into the puppet theatre and delivered loud, precise instructions from it then led the class in actions.  One little boy had crashed out and was fast asleep – it had all been too much.  We were then welcomed into the garden where tables and chairs were laid out with pretty table-cloths and decorated with flowers.  Some more children emerged and did a little dance to Arabic music.  One girl was not very happy about doing it and after some gentle encouragement was scooped up into the arms of one of the ‘house mothers’.  The house mothers had also made the amazing spread that was laid out under a pagoda and we gratefully loaded our plates.  Sitting under the shade of the trees, with the children milling in and out, getting to know the people at the SOS Children’s Village while tasting some of the most delicious food we’d eaten was an immense pleasure.  SOS Children’s Villages are an Austrian concept and the founding principle is to give orphaned children a family environment.  Eight children live with a house mother in their own building.  Looking at these clean, well-fed, decently clothed children in this fantastic environment it’s easy to think all is well with the world.  Then you listen to the stories.  One happy, little boy was found when he was about 10 months old, living in the car of a street trader with a man who may or may not have been his father.  The child could only crawl with his arms as the muscles of his legs had not been able to develop.  The turbulent recent past that has affected Lebanon has resulted in orphaned children, but so too have economics and social mores.  A tiny baby (who rewarded Susie’s cuddles with a spew of milk down her top) was one of the many children abandoned by their mothers at birth, possibly for fear of violent reprisals if they are unmarried.  Children are brought up in the religion of their birth parents, “but what if you don’t know it?” we asked.  Then the area that they were found dictates it; the Christian and Muslim areas were quite apparent on our travels through Lebanon.

We all wanted to know more about the house mothers.  Obviously a long-continuity of care is ideal, but some do leave to get married or for other reasons.  However many stay for a long time as the pressure on brides to be perfect exclude many from entering the married state – a small deformity for instance, or even just getting past marriageable age.  It must be hard to bring up eight children but the camaraderie of the women, their gentleness, warmth and close relationship to the children and the almost idyllic village setting must make this a good choice for many.

A collage showing the names of all the children and their mothers

We visited the houses and the women were proud to welcome us as guests in their homes.  These children whose lives could have turned out so differently are truly blessed.  It would be easy to look at the pristine SOS Children’s Village and conclude that other charities need the money more.

Certainly it was miles away from the crumbling slums of the refugee camp in Beirut.  However, this charity is using the money so well to create a model that would be enviable in any country let alone one where the people (especially children) have seen so much conflict.  It deserves to be supported so it can extend this fantastic care to more children.  The charity looks after them through to adult hood, helping them with education and putting them together with sponsors to help them set up in business.  Often the children grow up and give back by joining the staff.  We visited the two new houses that our money would furnish and planted some trees. Ehab brought a tiny cedar sapling he had bought at The Cedars.  The school bus drew up and the older children got down carrying their school bags on their bags and all dispersed going into their individual homes – it was an everyday scene but the ordinariness of it was poignant.

Ehab planting his cedar sapling with audience

We chatted with some of the teachers for a while then it was time for us to go.  Charbel had taken the bus for a quick check at a local garage and it sounded much better as we drove back to Baalbek, through towns with signs solely in Arabic and pictures of Muslim clerics adorning the streets.  Many of the group were keen to get back home and felt that we had done what we had come to do by visiting the charities and successfully completing our trek.  I was pleased that we were able to squeeze in a quick visit to the Roman ruins as I’ve grown to love them since being in the Middle East and had been told many times that the ones at Baalbek were unmissable.  The catalyst for this interest was Jerash in Jordan which had me captivated by its scale and grandeur.  This inspired me to drive into the desert in Syria to the remote and beautiful Palmyra. A privileged visit to Libya in 2009 took in Sabratha (and the extraordinary museum of mosaics), Leptis Magna and Villa Celine (which is closed to the general public and we explored by torchlight).  Baalbek is the largest Roman site dedicated to religious worship originally founded by the Phoenecians in the 1st Millenium BC when they built a temple dedicated to the God Baal.

Views of Baalbek

As we arrived quite late in the afternoon the lowering sunlight on the stones was particularly beautiful and we were practically the only visitors.  There were lots of little stalls on the approach road and a man asked if we would like to buy a Hezbollah t-shirt or cap (how many tourists actually say yes?).  I think the beauty of the place and the unaccustomed inactivity of sitting down for most of the day had an effect on Susie and me and we went into overdrive eager to see as much as we could as quickly as possible, scaling the steps up into the central area as if we were following Chamoun up a slope.  It’s not a large site but the restoration seems well done and the assembled parts demonstrate very clearly the intricacies of the carvings and the elegance that was dedicated to praising pagan gods and then the Christian one – the Temple of Jupiter took over 120 years to complete.  As always when admiring the achievements of the Romans I reminded myself that it was all built with slave labour and the human cost of this beauty would have been in lives.  It was soon time to go and as we walked back to the bus a man approached us trying to sell worry beads.  When I politely refused he dug into his pocket and brought out a handful of real Roman coins.  I was quite taken backm “they should be in a museum”.  He looked at me wryly and shrugged, “no jobs madam.”  We walked on but it’s an awful dilemma.  Secretly I would love to have a Roman coin and the money would help support the man and his family.  We took the road back to Beirut and said goodbye to Chamoun when we reached his village.  He had helped us, through his unconventional approach and love of the countryside, to witness a really different perspective.  I felt we were honoured to have had him as our guide.

At the edge of the Palestinian camp near the airport

We passed another Palestinian refugee camp of appalling decrepitude near the airport.  I looked into the tiny alleyways and imagined all the lives being played out there.  We found a nice restaurant in the airport and I had an excellent roast beef sandwich – the food in Lebanon had been fresh and delicious but none of us wanted to eat humous for a while!  Meeting up at the departure gate Ehab and Iman showed us their purchases of fruit and vegetables from Goodies in duty-free.  Where else in the world could you buy cherries inside the airport?  Joseph, who is an expert shopper, had found some interesting books and I doubled back to by a copy of a Million Steps by Hana El-Hieri which documents her exploration of the entire Lebanon Mountain Trail. It has some beautiful photography of the trail (to supplement over 900 photographs that I had taken during the week) and one of the guides featured in the book is our own Chamoun (he’s also in pictures of the book signing on their Facebook page).  Joseph and Mustapha are planning to follow in their footsteps.  The book is a great momento of a rewarding, educational, eye-opening, challenging  and life-enhancing trip.

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PS A great article published in Emirates Business where Ehab, Naghma and Mustapha express their feelings about visiting the charities.

Gold became good

‘I don’t believe it” (said in the best Victor Meldrew tones).  I’ve just returned from the Gold & Diamond Park, Dubai and I feel like a magician or someone in Aladdin, “new lamps for old”.  As followers of this blog will know, I’ve been asking friends, family and acquaintances to look in the back of their drawers, jewellery boxes and the pot on the mantelpiece (or equivalent – this IS sweltering Dubai after all) and donate any little bits of unwanted gold to support this challenge.  I had an open house last week as a last opportunity for people to give their bits of gold to me and, today, put it all in a plastic bag to take to the buyer.

My stash in a small plastic bag.

I had a copy of my passport with me (a legal requirement to stop thieves selling their booty I presume) and after wandering around a bit, I eventually found Kanz Jewels.  The friendly men at Kanz spread the gold out and started examining each tiny piece – I was going to be here for a while.  I worked out that there were three piles and they kept conferring with each other in a language I didn’t understand.  One pile was definitely the better gold and I was silently rooting for it to get bigger.  Eventually, they weighed two of the piles – it really didn’t look very much at all.  One pile was given back to me as silver and non-gold items, one lot was 10 carat and the other 18 carat.

Examining the gold.

I was absolutely astonished when they offered..well I’m not sure I should say here on this blog how much, but here it is (equivalent to half my original target):

Cash for children in need.

To the men in Kanz (sorry I’ve forgotten your names in my excitement) thank you.  To everyone who has given their little pieces of gold, thank you. To any Gulf for Good challengers, I recommend this as a way that people can support a good cause by donating something that would have little value on its own but can be converted into an amount that will really make a difference.  And as a reminder of those causes:

I’m off to do some more training, with a massive spring in my step and joy in my heart.  Thank you.

I found a fortune

The fortune

I was having a clear out of my study this week and found a bag of assorted bank notes and coins that we’ve collected from over 15 years of travelling.  I usually come back from a trip brimming with enthusiasm and shove the left over money into a drawer thinking I must go back to that country one day.  I have never been to Lebanon but my husband has travelled there and amongst this bag of booty were 2 beautiful bank notes from Lebanon.  I got very excited about this as they added up to 101000 livres – enough for spending money for a week plus some left over for a small holiday home in the Bekaa valley?  A quick visit to a currency convertor site soon punctured my day dream and revealed its worth as 247 aed ( about 44 GBP or 67 USD).  I’ll  need a bit more than this so will visit the bank this week.

I’ve banked with Emirates NBD for over 8 years and they have always given excellent service.  Recently, I have more reasons to thank them as they are supporting this challenge and have given a generous donation for the PCRF and SOS Children’s Villages which I am sincerely grateful for.I know from past experience how much Emirates NBD do to support initiatives in our local community, often in a very discreet way, that makes a big difference.  Thank you Emirates NBD.

I’m in real awe of P from Gulf for Good this week as she came to a bash at my house to support my challenge.  As it was a private do I can’t say too much, but it was very lively, very late, and gave a big boost to my fund-raising.  Country Hill International donated the most enormous and delicious piece of beef (Stockyard grain-fed Aberdeen Angus) I have ever tasted, Greenhouse gave magnificent cheese and Lindt added luxurious sweet treats.  The team from MMI and Le Clos ensured the evening was brilliantly entertaining.   P sent me a text early the next morning as I was putting on my rubber gloves to wash up about 200 glasses (no joke) to say that she’d just completed the Marriot stair climb twice – such is her dedication.  I was struggling to walk up my own stairs having been on my feet all night.  With less than 3 weeks to go I need to follow P’s example and be really dedicated to one last push of fitness training.  Less of the ‘hands that do dishes’ and more of the ‘feet that do treadmills’. And for those of you have been following this blog, my toe is a lot better thank you!

The wonderful cheeses

The washing up

The delicious beef

P.S. Remember this is the last week to give me your gold – drop in for a cup of tea on Wednesday.  The work these charities do is really worthwhile so I appreciate anything you can give, however small.  Contact me for details.

No pain, no gain (regrettably)

My view.

A lot has happened in the month since I was last on the beach contemplating circuit training.  I feel much fitter due to regular visits to the gym under the expert guidance of kind Ann Harrington who has even lured me to climb more stairs.   The seemingly sweet-natured Candice and Polly decided to inflict the exercise equivalent of thumb-screws and the rack this time though and there were many more audible groans and gasps from everyone.   The compensations include sharing the pain (and the gain) with a really lovely group of people and the surroundings (this pic was my view when doing sit-ups). I must also thank my 11 year old daughter for abandoning her precious Friday lie-in to come with me.

Brian Wilkie, who is the Chairman of the Board of Govenors for Gulf for Good is leading the trek in Lebanon and is going there this month to visit the charities that benefit (the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund and SOS Childrens Villages) and check out some of the route.  Brian is a bit of a legend in Dubai and has contributed an enormous amount to our local community including driving the concept, the fund-raising and the implementation of DUCTAC at Mall of the Emirates.  He agreed to be filmed last time we were on the beach so he could publicise Gulf for Good – but it ended up about how nice it is to live in Dubai! Watch the video to see a bit of us in action (thankfully my exertions are off-camera)!

Another legend was Antoine Choueiri the Lebanese media mogul who died last week and could easily be described as the Rupert Murdoch of the Middle East.  MBC/Choueiri Group has pledged to support this trek most generously and I would like to convey my sincere gratitude for this as well as offering my condolences to Antoine Choueiri’s family and colleagues.  He’s left a huge legacy and the support of these causes is one small but vital part of this.

Thanks to everyone who has slipped a little bit of gold into my hand this week.  The small amounts will soon grow into something more substantial.  I’m going to host an open-house morning sometime in April so anyone who would like to bring their gold can drop it off.  I’ll decide on a date soon – let me know if you are interested in receiving more information.  And it’ll come as no surprise to anyone who knows me, there will be cake!

Why an old, crumpled piece of paper motivates me

It was my birthday this week and my sister emailed some photos and certificates that she knew I wanted as I’ve been researching our family tree.  The most precious of all was a picture of a tattered, brown piece of paper which shows the purchase of a piece of land.  It records that my Grandfather bought a farm near Lwow in Poland which became the family home.  But in 1939 the Ukraine, with backing from the Stalin-led Russians, annexed this bit of Poland and evicted the residents who were immediately deported to Russian labour camps in Siberia.  My Grandfather died there and eventually my Grandmother and 4 of her 5 children including my Father were given refuge in the UK (via refugee camps in East Africa).  Looking into my Father’s past has made me think a lot about what the family went through and how much I take for granted.  Even though I’ve lived as an expat for nearly 15 years, I feel rooted to England – it’s part of my identity, my security, it’s about who I am and where I belong and where I can return at any time.  I’m lucky.  The number of people forcibly uprooted by conflict and persecution worldwide is over 42 million (UNHCR’s “Global Trends” report 2009)   Host countries, however welcoming, often lack the resources to cope with the influx of people often in desperate need of support and medical treatment.  The number of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon is estimated at over 422,000, around 10 per cent of the population of Lebanon.  The first post I wrote told of how much this challenge resonated with me.  Being able, through this challenge, to provide tangible support for young refugees and children orphaned often as the result of conflict, motivates me at a very personal level.  Thanks to everyone for your help so far – with your donations, gold and support we can directly help these displaced children and while we are not able to give them back their land or parents, we can make sure they receive decent conditions to help make a good start to their small lives.  Have a great weekend – and please wave if you see some sweaty people in hiking boots on the beach in Dubai on Saturday morning.

The funds raised by this trek will provide dental x-ray equipment for refugee camps through the Palestine Children's Relief Fund and furnish 2 houses for orphaned children and their 'house mothers' through the Lebanese Association of SOS Children’s Villages