Lebanon Diary, Part II

Up to 50 Liberians are trapped in Beirut. Many sought refuge in Lebanon after fleeing civil war in their own country 12 years ago. Some are married to Lebanese. This narrative is based on a phone interview with 25-year-old Saide Chaar, a Liberian who is staying in a one-bedroom apartment with 22 other Liberians and Lebanese-Liberians in Beirut's southwestern suburb of Jnah. 26 July 2006 - The major bad news that confused all of us was the result from the meeting in Rome that there will be no ceasefire. We have no doubt that the conflict will erupt more than what it already is. We went out this morning to find the other Liberians that are trapped in several regions, but we were unable to reach them due to intensive fighting in their neighbouring areas. We went to some embassies like the Canadian, British, French, American and Greek. They have no intention of evacuating foreigners, except for their national citizens. I see thousands, hundreds of people sitting at embassies asking for help to be evacuated from the country. They are nationals of these embassies. I saw a lot of scary things because of where we are. The other guys, the Hizbullah, they are not wearing uniforms. They are holding weapons. You don’t know who is who. When they shout, I go away. I do not speak Arabic. If they are not satisfied with you they give you one or two slaps, especially if you don’t speak Arabic. That is why we just stay in the house. In the one bedroom house that we stay in with four families, it is very uncomfortable dealing with one bathroom for the whole bunch, and a tight kitchen. The house is located near waste areas, which have given us severe infestations from mosquitoes. There is extreme heat and bad odours. We have no access to get a fan, and even if we had it, electricity stays for a little time and goes out for hours, so for the whole day we get around only three hours of current. The water comes for two hours a day and because we are 23 it doesn’t last more than one hour. No one is taking a good shower at all. For food today we had some Lebanese bread with butter and tea. This is going to be our full day’s meal. The one year-old, he’s vomiting. He’s suffering from diarrhoea. He’s supposed to take his milk from the pharmacy but we can’t afford it. When the Israeli bombers pass, he will get up and cry all night. We have nowhere to turn to. As Liberians, we cannot think of any nation that is going to help us. We are in desperate need to leave Lebanon. Things are going worse. We are going through a catastrophe with all-night bombardments, fire-shots, haunted cries of people and children who are dying and getting wounded. The Liberians are having major trouble getting out. The Sudanese are refugees in Lebanon and the UN is taking care of them. The Liberian Consul General in Cyprus is trying his best. He is calling us, asking how we are doing. He is trying. His name is Kyriakos Tsangakides. But we don’t know how well it is going to work out. We are just praying. CS/CB