Racism is still with us!
Away from the capital Beirut, 31 kilometers exactly and after getting to know and visiting the beautiful Jounieh shore take a right make a stop at Our lady of Lebanon in Harissa and get to Ashqout, one of the biggest towns and municipalities of the kesserwan district in the mount Lebanon governorate with an altitude that varies from 800 to 1200 meters above the sea and area of 850 hectares. This area is surrounded by mountains from the north, east and south. As for its west, it’s overlooking the sea and the city of Beirut. From the east, the Al hosen feytroun mountain shrinks and narrows until it gets to the village Sahl Kanaan which is also known as Bekaata Ashqout.
Ashqout was named based on its tough and uneven land which is translated from the Syriac Aramaic language.
With a population around 11000 which are currently predominant with the Maronite Catholic Christians, Ashqout was previously known for its abundance and groups of clergymen and genuine citizens.
The Monuments and facilities are spread all across the town. Flashback to 1893 to commemorate his father, late Mansour Hanna Moussa, built the church so that residents wouldn’t need to walk a long way to bury his father. The tombs of the sons of the Moussa’s family are found in the church. In 1898, the church of the Lady of Salvation was built then enlarged in the mid-sixties when the population grew. This church gathers its people to celebrate the birth of mother Mary every September 8 with festivals. Fast forward to 1971 the St. John the Baptist Cathedral (Mar Youhanna Cathedral) is located in the heart of a mountain with an area of 800 m² that’s topped with a huge five-meter cross that was placed back in 1984 and an Italian mosaic of Saint Youhanna is found inside. One year later, 1985, the St Rita church was built with the breaking sweat of believers, large number of healings were- still are- registered in the church’s record from believers all around the world.
The Kersey Al Katin rock summit of Ashqout enables you to have clear view of Cyprus through its telescopes because of its 1250 meters above the sea level. Another monument that would make you feel alive and refreshed when visiting is The Phoenician Ashqout structure that is now the Mar Sarkis and Bakhous church, it’s characterized by its black volcanic dirt rich with rocks and caves and its fruitful trees.
Lastly estimated in 2008, Ashqout has three schools with a total of 740 students; and one hospital The El-Hajj Hospital.
Ashqout has been an active environment for festivities, celebrations and partnerships for meetings and workshops. Last year, 2018, in November The Lebanese Oil and Gas Initiative (LOGI) in collaboration with the Municipality of Ashqout and the Iskandar Rizk Foundation along with the partnership of the Norwegians Aid Society in Lebanon and the Charitable Society for Research and Studies organized a dialogue meeting entitled: "Jobs in the oil and gas sector: what is considered to be professional and technical education” . The discussion, attended by mayors and council members of Ashqout and neighbouring villages as well as students and teachers and some community influencers, revolved around the importance of the oil and gas resources for the economy as well as how it would help with the job opportunities. The town won’t miss the Christmas fun when it celebrated its last Christmas where it held a public party in the St. John the Baptist Cathedral (Mar Youhanna Cathedral) with performances, drinks and gift distributing to the towns’ children.
Jina Al Dar, one of ABAAD’s projects to raise awareness towards health, gender equality, non-violence and social cohesion made its way towards the beautiful town of Ashqout in 24 and 25 June 2019. As the touring bus arrived at the destination which was the Center of Development Services, you cannot but feel revived and refreshed due to the beautiful green landscapes and the Beirut city view. As the team and volunteers were welcomed by an all-women team from the center, the feelings of strength and motivation would kick in. The center now reached its 15th year of establishment and it is an old house that is endorsed from the Ashqout municipality, it’s the main branch of the center as there are braches in Faraya and Baqaata that are mainly health wise directed. The main center has a nursery center for kids ages from a couple of months until the age of three years, with about 10 kids from the town with the chief, Maya Chediac, of the center confirming the ability to take in up to 20 kids saying that during hard conditions of weather, especially winter, the numbers go down due to the rough snow. Two caregivers are ready to give all sorts of fun educational activities in Arabic and French as well as the presence of a daily visiting nurse. You can see a picture collage that saluts you as you enter the center which shows the sparks of happiness the kids express during the activities and festivities in the center.
The center tends to help Syrian refugees as well as the people of the town. They give health and social help; when it comes to the health aspect they have a regular attending pediatrician, general health doctor and a gynecologist as well as for the regular health awareness sessions and workshops which were all given according to the ministry of health calendar when it comes to viruses and common diseases for women and kids in the center as well as schools. Vaccines are also yearly provided for the kids in need were at some point the center provided the polio vaccine for about 1000 Syrian child as well as medicine and other services are also provided for women such as echography and pap test. Socially, the center provided the Syrian refugees with all the help they needed as they would even go to nearby towns to get them their emergency needs.
The center faced a lot of criticism and hardships when dealing with the Syrian refugees from the town’s people as well as the district. Miss Maya Chediac of the center emphasized that “The center helps everyone from every religion and sector. We deal with them all as humans” but with the surrounding society of ignoring the Syrian refugee problem, everything was a nudge harder. The center worked with the Syrian refugees from the health, social and psychological aspects through workshops and sessions and when the center presented the project with an organization to the municipality “we were surprised by the response that we are encouraging the Syrian entity and sectarianism and that the center was exclusively for Lebanese citizens…the mayor was understanding but the board was completely against it” said the chief Maya Chediac “we tried our best to explain that as a center of developmental services we are not obliged to help the refugees but our job consists of helping this circle of people which is pretty big and pretty effective on our society” as she gave the example of providing vaccines to the kids and the workshops that talked about violence. The chief Maya Chediac implied that at some point the center gave up after several interventions that even came from the ministry of interior and the project with the organization was denied.
The center now works with special and small workshops from NGOs that go on for about two to three days maximum just like Jina Al Dar, stating that this is the second time they work with ABAAD. As they constantly work with “The Parents and Children’s Board” for workshops about violence, threats of technology, health awareness…As they also do a lot of activities outside the center in parks and compounds. As they also did some workshops in collaboration with Caritas for women about craft and handwork for women as well as dealing with computers. The center’s chief also mentioned the collaboration with the Italian embassy in the mosaic project which tends to remake an eligible municipality with its members and board but with teenager of ages 12 to 16 year olds.
The center’s chief also concluded her interview saying “Ministry of social affairs is really one of the most important ministries…we have the right help with all sorts of problems with all ages.”
The kids with the sparks of happiness and enjoyment colored, sang, shared gender equality activities as their mothers, along with several other participating females from the ages 18 and above were all indulged with the talk about gender equality, sexual harassment, rape and underage marriage. The attendees throughout the two days were encouraged and asked all sorts of questions the team members were ready to answer.
A mother with her three kids was one of the main spirits of the two days round. The kids were one of the most engaging siblings the team had with their laughs and talks and participation. As for the mother, her interest and curiosity about knowing more and more about her rights as a woman of this society were encouraging. The mother found the workshops and the act at the end of the round very interesting and helpful, “Now is different.” Said the mother in an interview Jina Al Dar got with her “Then the female would grow up, no education and as soon as she can she gets married…I really wish parents would be more conscious when it comes to their girls because it’s all wrong” she said with a heartbreak “Education is the most important aspect of a child’s life”. The mother thanked Jina Al Dar and is now considering volunteering with the team in their tour.
The team with sadness and a bit more hope that they made a change said goodbye to the center, women and kids as they got more energy and inspiration for their next rounds throughout Lebanon.
