People Polluting

Like I have explained  before , pollution is a major problem for the Lebanese and they seem not to understand the consequence of their careless attitude when they throw garbage over their shoulders.  I know that the past decades of conflict has generated   a “live in the now” attitude, but I think that they have added the sentence “and don’t care about the future”, like so many other careless people and politicians  in the world. 

Wastewater and Garbage being dumbed at the ocean coast in Beirut

Baalbeck

Less that 2 hours away from Beirut is the city of Baalbeck, situated in the heart of the bekaa valley. The first time I was in Lebanon I visited the ancient ruin city. It literary blew me away with its beauty, history and mysticism. I had never before seen anything like it, it is one of the biggest and most preserved monuments of the roman Roman empire and I could almost smell the food, hear the people and fell the life in these ancient ruins.

This time I went to Baalbeck for other reasons than as a tourist of discovery and I as got a totally other view of the ruins that tourist never will see. 

Together with my friend from the National Democratic Institute we went there in order for them to make a informational documentary of the social work NDI is doing in the area. 

The NDI is facilitating the local municipalities to push the government into moving the massive garbage mountain to a treatment facility. 

In front of a  untreated garbage mountain they shoot the info docu.

I went on my own while the crew were taking their shoots.  Just behind the mountain of rubbish,  I found a house in a small gorge next to the smoking garbage. I noticed that some clothes were hanging on the roof and I was shaking my head thinking, no nobody could live here:

As I was about to go to the house and actually see if somebody lived there, a man came from behind. He was not happy to see me or rather surprised. I greeted him friendly stretching my hand out to shake his.  I  asked if he lived in the house. His family came out to great me just as I asked him.

They were not happy to see me, a foreigner with a camera, in fact they did not like that I took photos of their house. I instantly understood why. This poor family were not really proud of showing their poor status.. I talked to the man and he convinced me that they lived right next the dump, which I at first did not believe.  

He did not speak English but the sign language were unmistakable as I took my hand to my lungs and made coughing sounds. He took his little  son in his arms and laid his hand on his chest and coughed while explaining the little english the he could "very bad, veeery bad!"

The man took my hand, he got my point that I was there with sympathy and meant no harm to them. "Ta'ala" ( come with me) he said anxiously as he took my by the shoulder and  lead me to the top of the house. I saw the horizont and slowly took my camera as I looked at the man,  who gave me his approval by pointing out the scene:

I got this photo as my first stand alone in The Daily Star the next morning:

"Despoiled Ruins: smoking heaps of trash mar

 the view of Baalbek's acient roman tempel.."

The wind blew away from the city, the sun was high in the sky and boiling all the garbage.  I was shocked seeing goats on the top and also to realise how close it was to the city. I asked the man if we could go to the top where the goats where, he started walking and I followed him as I began breathing with my mouth, trying to avoid the abrasive smells as we walked passed animal carcases with spilling intestens.

It was a surreal sight on the top, approximately fifty goat where eating from the trash and a shepherd were herding them as on a field of gras. I almost gaged while breathing with my nose, so I was really careful with my mouth breathing technique. The shepherd were raking the trash as it was leaves and the sheep were eating from it as it was grass.

The man went back, without saying goodbye. I went around on the plateau of trash, tried to get some contact with the shepherd. But he just shouted to me to go away, which court the attetion of another guy which I did not notice in the beginning since he was standing futher down on a cliff praying.

He almost ran towards me in a aggressive way of walking, long steps and swinging his arms in front of his stomach and his hand bent into a fist. Few meters away from me he started to shout and to point at my camera. He stopped talking and stood in front of me, really close. He was tall and had a big black beard that almost touched my head since he leaned over me in a accusing way. I was shocked by his hostile reaction and started talking to him and making gestures that I was an environmental photographer. I fumbled with my arms and it was quite complex sign language I tried to give him. I actually gave him the peace sign twice as well. It did not help, he started shouting at me again and pushing me with his finger that went into my throat

Now the situation became pretty intense and I showed him that I had not clue or understood his his agressive insinuations. He stepped back and looked at me as I was stupid. Then he pulled up his shirt, which made me a little nervous, believing he had a gun. But he wanted to show me his wounds which was the wounds from a gun. I leaned forward and pointed at the wound and looked him in the eye and said "Afwan" ( im sorry ) while I had my right hand to my chest. He showed me his left leg with big shattered scars, I pulled the camera on my back, bent down and took a closer look, they looked like wounds from grenade splinters. I said to him " im sorry for you pain" while giving him a genuine expression of empathy. He calmed down, shook his head and pointed at my camera and asked if I was a journalist, "Yes" I said and made a smelly gesture while indicating we were having this conversation on a mountain of dead flesh, slow deteriorating plasic and everything else that has been in the hands of humans. My sign language was a little wild because of my nervous state, I showed him some of my photos on the lcd screen. His first smile came to his face and them he looked at me and nooded his head, gave me an evelvator look and without saying anything he went back.

Since Baalbeck is Hezbollah controlled and alot have fought in the civil war and against the Israelis, I guess he wanted to make a statement from his past. Naturally I did not know exactly what had happend to this guy, but he was clearly angry at me since I triggered memories from his past with my green/blue eyes. I felt sorry for the guy, a polluted mind on the mountain of pollution.

He went back to the place where he was exercising his prayer before, he sat down peacefully and it looked like he was talking to a goat about me. I would have liked to have a portrait of him, but of course this was out of the question, instead I sneaked behind and got this peaceful photo: