Tripoli

We visited Tripoli , a predominantly muslim town in the northern seaside, which is famous for the souks and its self-made soaps. A souk is like a bazaar which sells anything to everything. It is like a labyrinth of shops fornormal clothes, shoes, things you need for everyday lifeand all the little streets where people sell corn and bread. 

The 24 Hours camp!

The 24 hours camp for the Grand-master

On the first weekend of november we participated in a 24 hours camp in Chabrouh which was organised by the lebanese youth commision to give the grand-master of the order of malter an impression of how our summer and winter camps are usually conducted. 

The boys  arrived on saturady morning. There were 20 of them from Deir el Salib and around 30 volunteers. We spent saturday celebrating a little halloween party and the birthday of one of the boys. As we don't know the date of their birthday in many cases we usually decide for birthday boy. For the chosen boy it is a big joy to be the center of attention and the others enjoy the dancing, singing and birthday cake as well....

On sunday morning the grand-master and his delegation arrived. Befor having a really beautiful mess with a mix of lebanese and english songs, we gave a tour through the house. This was a good occasion to tell our guests more about the camps, the boys and all we do with them. The grand-master who was so warm-hearted and interested in the boys and the volunteers gave every one of them a little pin to put on their shirts and took some time to speak to each of them. Afterwards we had a very nice lunch, then the delegation left and our friends went back to Deir el Salib. Even if such a short and intensive camp was very exhausting, it was a pleasure to see, that the guest of the order, coming from Germany, UK,France and Lebanon, had been having a good inside view of what it means for the boys and us to spend holidays together: a beautiful time of friendship, love and trust!

Outing to Roum with elderly people

On sunday (14 Nov) the lebanese youth of the order and us visited a center of the order of Malta in a village called Roum, it is  situated in the south of Lebanon. Together with 15 elderly, we left Beirut in the morning.The bus ride was a cheerful event as we danced and sang. In Roum, there was about 30 other elderly waiting for us. There, a happy mass was celebrated, lunch was provided and entertainment resumed again. The outing was a perfect opportunity to practice our Arabic and French. We think we've never mixed so many languages before but at least we could communicate with them. The elderly were full of life, they participated with so much joy, that even we had a lot of fun in dancing to arabic music. Before we left, we were given a tour of the centre. This center was restored by the order in 1987 after the war had brought thousands of refugees coming from the very south in 1984, into the area of Roum. At that time the order provided them with food, medicines and shelter. Since then they have regular activities organised as well as giving consultations and dispensing medications to them.  iIt was an awesome day in the beautiful south with so joyful and grateful people.

A little update!

During our first month in Lebanon, we had arabic lessons three times a week. Our teacher, Abla, came three hours to our apartment to teach us lebanese, which is different to the classical arabic.

Besides the letters, grammar and vocabulary, she also taught us nice simple songs which we use now to amuse not only the boys but also every other lebanese...

thanks to Abla, we are now equipped with the simple basics which are very useful to make at least some policeman, taxi driver, supermarket worker and barkeeper think we speak lebanese....

Since we are not allowed to take pictures of Deir el Salib, we can't show you  how the area looks. This picture shows the view the boys have from the inside. Deir el Salib is mentioned as a psychiatric Hospital. There are five floors for the the people, each floor ranging in severity. We work in St Dominic which is on the -5 floor because the hospital is built on a hill. There is also a house for women, an administrative office building, a courtyard with a little garden and a chapel with a museum displaying the life of Abuna Yacoub who was the founder of the Sisters of the Cross who devote their lives to the poor, handicapped, retired priests and the elderly.

From tuesday to thursday, after university, we go directly to Deir Salib, have lunch and then spend the afternoon with our handicapped friends of St Dominic.

During the week-end of the 18th to 19th october we went hiking in the famous Holy Valley. This is a beautiful valley where monks used to live in hermitages as well as in small communities. During the time where christians were persecuted, they seeked refuge in the caves of the mountains. We saw amazing remains of frescos, magnificent landscape, tasty fruits and little streams of rivers coming down the mountain and bringing water to the fertile area.

We were a group of 15 who left Beirut on saturday morning by bus to embark on a 5 hour long hike, with a lunch break in local tavern. It was a hot and sunny day, the landscape was lush and green, and our guide who walked really fast, opened our eyes and senses to the enchanting atmosphere which was  such a place full of natural beauty and historical events.

We spent the night in St. Anthony, which is now the only inhabited monastery in the Holy Valley and dates from the 6th century. The church of St. Anthony, where we had a Maronite mass on sunday morning, is a natural grotto sculptured in the rocks. Afterwards we continued our hike through a autumn like slopes and arrived after six hours happy about all the beautiful impressions but really exhausted in our final destination.

Some of us went back home, others went to see the famous cedars of Lebanon in the very north of the country.

Die ersten Karawanistas

Nach dem vierwöchigen Sommercamp sind wir 7 Caravanistas nun in unserem Appartement in Beirut angekommen. Das Camp in den Bergen mit unseren Schützlingen war eine wunderschöne, tolle Zeit, in der wir die Jungs, mit denen wir uns die kommenden Monate beschäftigen werden, außerhalb des Heims kennen und lieben lernen durften. Während dem Monat haben wir dreimal jeweils fünf Tage behinderten Gästen aus umliegenden Heimen Ferien in den wunderschönen Bergen von Faraya ermöglicht. Ferien bedeutet für unsere Schützlinge einmal im Jahr aus ihren Heimen herauszukommen, Natur zu erleben, ihren Tagesablauf selbst gestalten zu können, und vor allem einen Freund zu haben, der den ganzen Tag nur für sie da ist. Zwischen Anziehen, Wickeln, Essen, „yalla abuna“ (ab zum Priester) und Schlafanzugszeit, gibt es vieles zu erledigen: durch die Gegend rennen, sich die Rampe rauf und runter schieben lassen, in der Hängematte liegen, Dinge vom Boden sammeln, die man sich in Mund und Nase stecken kann. Außerdem entstehen durch Gruppenaktivitäten wie yalla Pepsi, Rasiersessions, Dosenwerfen, einem Ausflug zum Strand, Olympiade, Fashionshow, Geburtstagspartys viel Freude und Lärm. Andere Schützlinge nutzen die traute Zweisamkeit, um den Betreuer über alte Autos, Kickstarts, verstorbene Bekannte, Fahrten zum Mond, oder ähnliches auf arabisch aufzuklären. Hat der Tag nicht gereicht um seine Mission zu erfüllen, bleibt dem Gast die Nacht, um die Nachtwache nicht einschlafen zu lassen. Solche die sich nicht lautstark über das Schnarchen ihres Nachbarn beschweren, nutzen die Zeit, um ein T-shirt fein säuberlich in Streifen zu reißen, die benötigte Wasserflasche zu organisieren, und jeden Streifen einzeln emsig hineinzustopfen. Nach verrichteter Arbeit wirft man einen Rollstuhl auf die Nachtwache und legt sich zufrieden auf die nächste schon belegte Matratze. Da wir mit dieser Beschreibung einem Großteil der Jungs Unrecht täten, wollen wir nicht vergessen zu sagen, dass ein anderer Teil friedlich schlummernd in den Betten liegt und sich auf den nächsten Tag freut, der bei unseren Freunden meistens schon um 4 beginnt...

Wie sehr die Jungs von diesen Tagen zehren und die Erfahrung von Freundschaft Treue und Liebe in ihren Herzen bewahren, durften wir bei einem gemeinsamen Ausflug mit dem Team in das Heim Deir Salib erleben. Das Strahlen in den Gesichtern, das stolze Präsentieren der im Camp erlernten Lieder, eine nicht enden wollende Umarmung oder gar der unerwartete Händedruck eines Autisten, haben uns alle tief bewegt. Umso mehr freuen wir uns nun darauf, unsere neuen Freunde ab nächster Woche regelmäßig zu besuchen und ihnen Licht und persönliche Zuwendung in ihren farblosen Alltag zu bringen.

Nach einer freien Woche der Erholung und Eingewöhnungszeit (dank der libanesischen Jugendlichen, mit denen wir uns im Camp angefreundet haben, kann von Erholung eigentlich nicht die Rede sein, dafür aber von intensiver Eingewöhnung) beginnt diese Woche unser libanesisch Kurs und die ersten Stunden im Heim erwarten uns.

Viele Grüße von 7 Caravanistas, die glücklich sind, hier sein zu dürfen!