my new job

Just a quick update of my life so far, especially that i'm getting real busy these days due to my new job with Oxfam, a NGO from UK, as Public Health Promotion project officer. I started working with them 2 weeks ago, and we've done a lot so far. Now we moved to the south since it became to work there, this is the reason why it's difficult for me to access the net especially that I'm spending the whole day in the field. But before going to the south, we worked in the Beirut area within the IDP's center, like distributing hygiene kits and supporting public health education and child to child activities. You can follow the link when I appear on the Oxfam Middle-East blog : http://www.oxfam.org.uk/applications/blogs/middleeast/2006/08/the_storm_before_the_calm.html

This is Lebanon

Hi again. I know it's been a long time. The fact is that I've been volunteering in Beirut, helping in the relief efforts for the displaced people and also working on independent projects, mainly a project pertaining to the mental health among the displaced people in Beirut during this war. I had many findings from visiting and meeting the displaced people. The war in general has changed my perspective to my country. Well, Lebanon is not only the Downtown Beirut. Lebanon is not only Hamra street with its coffeeshops, Monot with its nightclubs or Gemmayzeh with its pubs. Lebanon is also Qana with its 55 martyrs in 2006 and over 100 in 1996. Lebanon is Marwahine, Bint Jbeil, Maroun al Rass and even Bab Al Tabbaneh in Tripoli, maybe the poorest region in the Middle East. From the North to the South, we are all Lebanese, we are all humans and we should stick together to better face this unhuman war.

Pls change the legend

Hi
I allowed myself to copy and paste an interesting message from a colleague of mine:
"Dear friends,Like you, I receive from every part revolting photosof Israeli crimes on Lebanon. Like you I want to guessbehind every event a distinct direction from Iranian-American-Syrian-Israeli-European-Sinni-Shia-UNstrategies. Like you I wonder what position I should take. Like you I desperately look for a way to savethe economy, to cope with destruction, to escapehabitual corruption and …to find a school for my sonnext school year.Like you my mood is guided by my alternate hopes,mourns, wishes, dreams, disappointments, fears and …denying. Like you I call the miracle to end thisunthinkable nightmare.Like you, I feel devastated while waiting on TV thenews of more children dissected, more women hurt, moremen insulted and more villages emptied. Like you, I feel confused between the past I cannotremember, the future I cannot imagine and the presentI cannot bear.In result, I feel just helpless in front of thisabuse. Nothing helps; the illusion of helpingdisplaced, the admiration of efforts, the faith injustice. This is no more than a way to pretendexisting when dignity is so completely scattered. Then, why not to change the legend from reaction toaction? I cannot see the destination of thoselamentations, accusations, evaluations, argumentationsand justifications? Enough convincing each other of the rightness of thisor that! However we explain it, we ARE ALL RESPONSIBLEof what is happening to our homeland, and we are allresponsible of taking it out of this tunnel (before itgets bombed) and to give to it the essence and theshape of our love to the land we belong to, before andabove any other belonging. We owe it to ourselves.Someday it shall end, this day will be ours. Underthose hills of destroyed homes the land is ours; it issaturated with our people's sweat. Behind thosemountains of smoke, the sky is ours; it is inhabitedby hundreds of our martyrs' souls. Thus I ask you to accompany your FW with your visionsof future. We have to neutralize theIranian-American-Syrian-Israeli-European and even UNprojects, and replace it by our Lebanese project. Andto reach this, we need everybody to be mobilized.Without concrete, comprehensive and feasibleintentions this will stay theory… the same we hear onTV all the time then…brainstorm should be concretized in a willing.Like example or point of departure, we need analternative to the displaced populations. Like it goesnow, when the war ends, we will stay under the mercyof alien lusts. We will be passively waiting for Parties, Organizations, Countries, Deputies, andMinisters representing this or that "influence" torebuild our villages and organize our return and weagain will be accepting conditions at the advantage ofour unity, solidarity and … interests. Again, thiswill be paid in fact by us, and again we will have toapplaud the WELFARE for giving to us no more than apart of our basic rights.An idea has been thrown: organize camps in nativevillages, welcoming displaced families before thereconstruction of vital basic needs to permit theinitiation of life there as soon as possible and alsowelcoming volunteers from all Lebanese regions whowill help in rebuilding and organizing reconstruction.By supervising and participating people will feelresponsible of their homeland, then maybe they willfind a better strategy to protect and cherish it. Bysharing practically life between all Lebanesecommunities, maybe a real national project will takebirth. This idea for example still needs to betranslated in a concrete project. By yourcontribution, it shall happen.I volunteer to gather and organize all your ideasabout the cited subject or another. Please, stopblaming this or that, and let us coordinate efforts toavoid in future a similar situation. Thank you for your patience. "