Dusty Wyndow Blog

I had always wondered what the Baddawi Camp for Palestinian Refugees looked like. Although it was only 10 minutes away from my residence in Tripoli, I've never been there before. We Love Tripoli ’s event Shoot as you walk was my opportunity to have been there for the first time in my life, and to my good luck, holding my camera, fully loaded and focused on taking pictures. Waylon and Reine were invited to come along and spend the morning with us in the camp, to have a better outlook on the situation Palestinian refugees are living in. Eight-thirty that morning was our time to ride the bus heading to the camp. I was, as most of the people there, concerned about the security measures and of course, whether a permit was taken in order to take photographs inside the camp. The organizers, and especially Taha Naji, have already taken this into consideration and obviously got the permit and an additional entourage throughout the camp. Our first stop was around an old dysfunctional ...

What happened with me this morning was another proof to me personally that the renowned Orthodox Electoral Law was nothing but an obvious manifestation of the local mentality most of the Lebanese are still holding on to, unknowingly, especially the previous generation, the ones that were my age during civil war. In the course of looking for a housing in Beirut, I came across an online advertisement for a small apartment in Ashrafiyeh with two bedrooms, which is generally my preference since that would cheapen the rent and of course I'd enjoy the company. That phone call left me traumatized for a while after I hung up: the weight of the shock was actually insurmountable, especially after all the reforms people I know are trying to make, and of course after all the positive energy me myself and other activists are trying to spread. I just couldn't stand that someone, that naive, would actually ask me such a question. I leave you with the discussion: "Me: Hello, I just f...

This post is to talk about Lebanese humans, nothing more, nothing less. And for your information, Humanity STILL exists in my country, whether you've seen it or not, whether you agree or you don't. A few minutes after 2:30PM yesterday Friday OCT 19th 2012, a huge explosion shook the building I work at and of course, the whole area, to the point that I thought glass was going to break all over. It was easy to see from my window people in the street looking towards one direction, that is of the nearby Ashrafiyyeh. My colleague thought it was the nearby gas station that exploded, but going to the building's roof, it was more than clear. Sassine was on fire. I had so many friends over there, Reine worked in the Hotel Dieu Hospital, Maryam lives there, Navia and Riwa also live/work there, Chris also, and they were all one minute away from the explosion. Lines were down, both fixed and mobile, congestion prevented anyone from calling any person that was there. I mana...

I never begged my whole life, only this one time: I beg you people, do whatever you can, whatever prayer you know of. Keep on wishing for hope and peace. Ask your god to have mercy on those little, those screaming women over the bodies of their murdered martyrs. Pray to your Buddha, your Christ, your Star your Idol, let's all gather prayers around the world for the sake of my old town, my dearest Tripoli... I still cannot believe the streets I once had some juice in and bumped into people, the streets that were always bugging my ears with their loud noise, those streets where all Tripolitans go for a walk, are now filled with the dreadful sound of tanks and bullets :"(