The pieces finally fit

So what do you do when you are born in a foreign country? And when you spend 20 years away from your own land? How can you still connect? Who do you become?
I wonder how the 8,584,000 Lebanese live in Latin America...Those who have left Lebanon decades ago...Do they have regular Lebanese Nights organized? Do they also enjoy a nice Fairuz song at night?

What about the 2,570,000 lebanese in North America?

Here is what I think:

At one point, you will face two main options;

- You can either draw a line on your past, and rediscover yourself in a new environment...since you never liked the words "aysh" w "laysh" anyway!

-Or you could live abroad the same way you would have been doing in Lebanon: hanging out each time with 10 other lebanese friends, all longing for one quick visit to Beirut, all smiling at the idea of Arak and Mezzé in Faytroun

I decided that I wanted a third option, I wanted to be all the countries I have been in: I am Kuwait, Lebanon and France.All three of them taught me to keep my head high. Kuwait with its soft cocoon, Lebanon and its solid ground, and France which showed me the true value of freedom of speech.

This helps me keep serenity hanging, it helps me belong. I thank them all.

How blurry is tomorrow?

Across the street I heard them.

I went to see.

Why, why does history always repeat itself?

From Paris to Gaza..Hang on.

Étourderies

Je n'aime pas avoir les ongles mal limés
Je n'aime pas mon ascenseur en panne et mes six étages à monter à pieds
Je n'aime pas le chauffage qui étouffe
Je n'aime pas les pigeons parisiens
Je n'aime pas le mascara qui coule
Je n'aime pas ces mots: "bébé" "poulette" "oui...mais bon" "échaffaudages" "quiche" (et pleins d'autres)
Je n'aime pas mes factures Bouygues Telecom
Je n'aime pas les mots de passe sur internet
Je n'aime pas les magazines de beauté
Je n'aime pas les lignes 5, 9, et 2 du métro

Je n'aime pas les mecs indiscrets

Mais...

J'aime la soupe au potiron

J'aime le beau temps apres la pluie

J'aime avoir les boucles des cheveux bien disciplinées

J'aime les céréales au petit dej

J'aime prendre le bus a Paris

J'aime les gens qui continuent a sourir malgré tout

J'aime me couvrir comme un cadavre sous les draps

J'aime une glace apres une journée à la plage (et j'aime l'odeur de l'écran solaire!)

J'aime faire l'etourdie devant ma soeur

J'aime faire rire ma soeur

J'aime rire jusqu'à pouvoir en mourir

J'aime mes cours de TD avec Frankie

J'aime la pelouse

J'aime les smoothies: Fraise & Banane & Orange

J'aime faire un exposé sans lire mes notes

J'aime les courbatures apres le sport

J'aime rencontrer des gens ordinaires avec des idées extraordinaires

J'aime beaucoup en ce moment: James Grant, Barack Obama, Muhammad Yunus, Bill Drayton

Change has come, Barack Obama.

Today, January 20th 2009, the whole world will commemorate the day Barack Obama takes office as the 44th President of the United States. Today we will put eight years of anxiety behind us. Eight years of misjudgement and ignorance. We had watched the news, heard the speeches and underwent all the disasters of the Bush Administration.

But, today, we witness change, and a new page in history is being written. Two million people are expected at the presidential Inauguration.In a couple of hours, under the eyes of the world, the White House will greet someone who has real faith in the future of the United-States, someone who has long believed in its values, and in its ability to reset an example.

Dear M. Barack Hussein Obama,

I wish to you a safe journey. It will surely not be easy but keep reminding us that yes we can still bring change. And that the 21st century will take a new turn because we, as nations, can cooperate and dialogue. I know that the USA can still represent Unity. And that the American dream is back in the hearts.

The Middle-East needs you, its morale has been shattered. Thousands of civilians have been killed, injured and displaced and we don’t know where to go from there anymore. Together, we can restore this land; we can negotiate a solution, and it is not a hopeless case.

Africa too is on the edge of breaking down, diseases have gotten out of control and poverty is striking hard; I ask you M. President to please not forget that beautiful continent the way many of your predecessors had unfortunately done.

And although the financial crisis is creating a lot of worry, we should remember that the West is not alone in it and that its widespread will create a bigger issue. This is our chance to reach out for each other, beyond religious distinctions or racial segregation.

Finally, I want to thank you, for being the incomparable dream Martin Luther King had once endorsed and died for.

R.

Beirut

I have never walked the streets of Beirut in day time. Neither have I sat in an ahwé (café) to order a mint tea there.
I don't know what it is like to breathe Beirut. I have no idea where Hamra street is. I don't know if Ashrafieh is in Beirut or not. I wouldn't know how to give you directions to go to Beirut or to come back from zwérib Beirut.
When I say "Beirut" I think of Majida El-Roumi's glorious song "Ya Beirut". And every time I listen to this song, my heart races because I feel like I have left my own child behind. I have left my Beirut behind without ever turning back. I simply woke up one day in Kuwait and decided that I would not think about this Capital. Why should I anyway? I had never lived there. I was never interested in visiting the tiny roads or the common dilapidated houses. And I know I am to blame, but I am not the only one. The truth of the matter is, we are nothing but little fragments of dust in this beautiful city and She does not need us anyway. Beirut was torn to pieces and rebuilt seven times. Never did She give up on herself. She stood up against all odds. She stood up in the face of people like you and me. She held her head high in front of all the wars, the hunger, the corruption and the violence.
And every time She did so, She looked a little brighter, She smiled and She forgave.

In this life, you come across people and events that somehow contribute in shaping you into becoming another person. A couple of weeks ago, my sister thought of me when she heard about a book that was newly released in Lebanon. She simply said to me "Randa I feel like you might like this book" And Randa did.
Beirut, I love you is a memoir written by Zena El Khalil, in which this author describes her long story of love and hate to Beirut. She actually thinks of Beirut as a woman that has a constant power on us, that we occasionally try to defy, but most of the time we naturally succumb to her Beauty.
I am half way through this book, and I already miss Beirut, although, like I said, I have never truly been there. Of course I have been to Virgin Megastore, to Downtown Beirut, to Gemayzé, to the Mathaf (the museum) and the Corniche. But, still, I haven’t been there either.
Yet, I do miss its joy. I miss its Muslim, Christian and Druze community living together. I miss the tea and the smiles, the old buses and the kids playing in the streets. I love its lebanese man'oushé and the Bonjus Orange (even though it is slightly bitter but very refreshing).

If I fail, I will try again, and again...

Thank you Dad for sending me this video... Very inspiring:

http://www.maniacworld.com/are-you-going-to-finish-strong.html

And I miss you

How do you make sure?

After some of my friends have read my previous post about Kiva...I have been addressed with some curious questions that I thought were interesting to share on the blog. So I chose to display part of my conversation with Jay Ar on MSN Messenger.

Jay Ar:
How do you insure that your money goes to the right person, and how do you insure the person is not going to buy drugs with it, even if he repays u back?

Pink:
That’s a good question ... there is a team of people that works locally. Kiva is based in California and the money it gets online is transferred to local MFIs (Micro Financial Institutions) that are located in the entrepreneurs' countries; They are the "Field Partners".
Those field partners are transparent and have regular credit checks, they gather info about the borrowers, their projects and enter all the data in their files and this is how any default in repayment is obvious. If a borrower does not repay, he is not sued of course, but he is asked to leave the program.
Borrowers are not irresponsible, they know that this money is lent to them…And I kept asking them in Bangladesh: why do they repay? Aren’t they tempted to just take the money and do something else with it? And the truth is, they know that this is their only chance to make it right. A poor Bengali woman who works in craft can be exploited by a manufacturer who would lend her some money in the exchange of buying her work for peanuts.

However, if she goes through a bank like the Grameen one or any other field partner, she can then expand her business, and her profits and once she repays her first loan she can ask for another (to improve her house) and again another (to send her children to university) and so on .. The Grameen borrowers are also encouraged to deposit money (GB is self efficient, it does not even require donations or external lending) We met women who have been with the Grameen Bank for over 17 and 20 years. They love it as it has truly improved their living conditions... we saw their stronger housing construction, the clean environment around their house, the fact that they ate more chicken for supper.. Great stuff.

Jay Ar:
When was the Grameen Bank founded?

Pink:
In 1983. So yes, it took years to develop great blue prints that allowed the system to be duplicated worldwide. Professor Yunus never let go!

When you have such a strong outline that shows how your system should be implemented, you make sure that you are giving it a stronger push and a global widespread.
And this is exactly what he has done. Kiva is one of Grameen Bank offsprings.

Jay Ar ended up telling me that I had convinced him...But what about You? Have I convinced you?

A fistful of dollars

Giving: money, services, ideas, time...are all ways of helping, but how about a solution that could boost someone else's business...and how about a very small amount...that will come back to you after its repayment is done?
And now how about lending money to someone across the globe?

Micro credit has been soaring for years and its outcomes are fascinating: millions of poor people around the world have been having access to financial aid and expanding their self-employment and improving their living standards.
Alleviating poverty should begin by keeping the target you are aiming to help independant from your direct support. Giving a loan is not an act of pity, it is not free and most of all it is working!

You are now sitting behind your computer and these questions are beginning to trigger your attention and you wonder if there were anything you could do from where you are to help a Bengali fisherman or an African farmer, perhaps?

A year ago, I've lent 25 euros to a woman called Carmen Ortega in Paraguay; she needed the money to expand her grocery shop there. Depending on the country's currency and on the projects of the borrowers, your loan will either be the only loan needed for this specific person or it would be part of other loans given from other people you have never met. The point is, a micro loan, is by definition a small amount of money and you won't be lending amounts higher than 25 dollars approximately.

How did I do that? On http://www.kiva.org/
Kiva is an organization that helps lenders choose entrepreneurs online, they later give a loan to one or to a few of them and then get repaid...it is as simple as that

When I gave my first loan to Carmen I was a bit sceptical, but I thought that if this system did not work, then at least I would have tried; I really wanted to get a feel of what it was like to give a micro credit, and I definitely wanted to see if it worked. The money I lent is now back in my kiva account, and I can either withdraw those 25 euros or re-lend them to another entrepreneur, how's that for a change?

There is a video that explains how a fistful of dollars makes its way from London to Cambodia through Kiva; you can check it out here:

http://vimeo.com/2769845?utm_source=jg&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=jg%5FKiva+Newsletter%3A+Coolest%2E+Video%2E+Ever%2E+%28227739263%29&utm_content=randa%5Felchemali%40hotmail%2Ecom

The part where the Cambodian borrower repays the local Micro Finance Institution is similar to what I have witnessed in Bangladesh with the Grameen Bank.

Take a look at the video, it is very well done and then you can even lend some money to change some lives! Enjoy this experience.

Brightness

It's snowing in Paris and despite the cold, the wind, and the slippery ground, I am feeling happy and playful. This is surely due to my LONG stay in Kuwait where we barely had winters.
I feel like a little girl again : )