Changing the Agenda on the Fly

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The last thing Lebanon needs is 400 000 Palestinians refugees. For as long anyone can remember the country has been at war with itself or its neighbours. Sometimes both at the same time. Now the country is at peace but the cost of conflict has been high.

The country is broke and deeply in debt. The currency has been devalued a thousandfold. The infrastructure is slowly returning but even in Beirut the supply of water is interrupted and electricity is turned off for six hours every day.

Construction is everywhere. But so are piles of rubble. Buildings with spectacular views stand next to ones that look like a bomb destroyed it. Because that is what happened. Beirut has fallen a long way since being the "Paris of the Middle East".

There is hope that Lebanon will re emerge. The soil is fertile , rain and nearby mountains provide fresh water and it is right on the Mediterranean. The civil war is over and, for now at least , it is at peace with Israel its neighbor to the South. With the beautiful beaches it could become the Mecca for tourists it once was.

But there are many problems to overcome. Surely one of the most intractable is the Palestinian issue. We had planned to spend most of the day at Ain-el-Helwaeh, one of the most crowded of the 12 Lebanon camps ,today but a tragedy changed our plans. Last night someone threw a bomb into a crowded marketplace there. Rumors are that about a dozen were injured including a very young child. One has died or is on the critical list. Although tragic it is to be expected when 65 000 people are crowded into one square kilometer, an area the size of North Rosedale.

So instead we went to the Camp at Meih-Wa-Meih.Perhaps. Because of last night's bomb, the Lebanese General took an hour before letting our four car convoy through the heavily armed checkpoint. One hundred yards later ,the AK-47 armed Palestinian smiled at us and waved us through. I guess he missed the email that weapons are not permitted in the camp.

Ironically the Camp's location high on the hills overlooking the Sea give it a spectacular view to the West. At the entrance and throughout the camp are photos and paintings of their hero, Yasser Arafat. The Palestinian flag flies proudly, although the UN recognizes no such country. The views inside the camp do not match those to the outside. The UN sanctioned building constraints produce the same results as we saw yesterday in Jordan.

The children's program we watched focused on teaching the concept of time. The teacher told everyone that at four o'clock a wolf was coming. Slowly she called off the hours and nobody moved. When four came everyone screamed and ran in circles to get away . It occurred to me that this game might cause nightmares until I realized that these children have for more pressing worries than an imaginary wolf. After that we all joined in and played a variation of musical chairs. Again I was stuck that the RTP hour must be the highlight of the week.


After lunch at the office we visited the homes of two young woman who were graduates of the RTP program and had become Young Coaches. One lived inside a Camp , another just outside. In both cases they sat next to very proud mothers and explained how the programs had changed ,and given meaning to their lives.


Tonight I will put on the suit I dragged all the way from Toronto and meet the Norwegian Ambassador and a senior UN Relief Agency official.

Tomorrow we will cross an Israeli checkpoint and travel into the West Bank. As they say in these parts "God Willing".

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