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MIKA in Lebanon with the UNHCR : DEC 2015


Kumazzz

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Thanks a million, Lu !!

 

:bow: Could anyone translate Corriere della Sera #87 if you have a time to do ?

 

Oh right! I forgot about that one, I have the file ready.

I'll send you the corrections tonight so you can update the translations

Edited by Lucrezia
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All the translations are done, sorry in advance if there are careless mistakes.

 

:thumb_yello: Grazie mille angelo Lucrezia!! :hug:  :wub: You really are an angel - doing so much translation work!!  :yes:  It's very touching,  to read MIKAs story,  from his days in the refugee camps in Lebanon - I'm so thankful to be able to read, and understand,  this!!  :)  You couldn't give me a better birthday gift - thank you!!!  :wub:  :wub:

 

Love, love

me    

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:thumb_yello: Grazie mille angelo Lucrezia!! :hug:  :wub: You really are an angel - doing so much translation work!!  :yes:  It's very touching,  to read MIKAs story,  from his days in the refugee camps in Lebanon - I'm so thankful to be able to read, and understand,  this!!  :)  You couldn't give me a better birthday gift - thank you!!!  :wub:  :wub:

 

Love, love

me    

 

You're very welcome :)  thanks for always being so kind with me :wub: 

And Happy Happy Happy Happy Birthday :hug: :hug:

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You're very welcome :)  thanks for always being so kind with me :wub:

And Happy Happy Happy Happy Birthday :hug: :hug:

 

Thank you sooo much!! :hug:  :wub:  You're the one who's kind - always there to serve us all :thumb_yello:  :yes:  I do hope I'll meet you one day, and be able to thank you properly!! :wub: 

 

Love, love

me   

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All the translations are done, sorry in advance if there are careless mistakes.

Thank you very much for the translations, Lu!!!  :huglove:

 

:thumb_yello: Grazie mille angelo Lucrezia!! :hug:  :wub: You really are an angel - doing so much translation work!!  :yes:  It's very touching,  to read MIKAs story,  from his days in the refugee camps in Lebanon - I'm so thankful to be able to read, and understand,  this!!  :)  You couldn't give me a better birthday gift - thank you!!!  :wub:  :wub:

 

Love, love

me    

And happy birthday to you, mamiam!  :hug:  :happybday:

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adding Google translation in English into [ Spoiler ]

 

1.L’incontro con Mustafa / The meeting with Mustafa

http://www.corriere.it/esteri/cards/mika-campi-profughi-libano-volti-storie-rifugiati-siriani/incontro-mustafa_principale.shtml

 

La mia prima visita con l’UNCHR è stata in un insediamento “informale” in una piantagione di banane al sud di Beirut. Mi ha accolto Mustafa, un ragazzino di 12 anni di Idlib che vive nella colonia da quattro anni. Per circa due ore lui mi ha accompagnato in giro e mi ha presentato delle famiglie che a loro volta hanno condiviso con me la propria storia. Mustafa è incredibilmente carismatico: mi ha raccontato come negli ultimi anni abbia vissuto tra gli alberi di banana giocando a pallone con gli altri ragazzi di questo piccolo insediamento di circa 8 famiglie. Quando gli ho domandato se fosse mai uscito da lì, mi ha risposto che per diversi motivi non gli era mai stato permesso. Quando gli ho chiesto se ci fossero cose delle quali sentiva la mancanza rispetto alla sua vita a casa, mi ha risposto che non se lo ricordava; sapeva che le cose avrebbero potuto e avrebbero dovuto essere diverse ma lui semplicemente non sapeva come. Gli ho chiesto quale fosse il suo desiderio più grande e mi ha risposto che avrebbe voluto tornare a scuola. Tuttavia non nella scuola pubblica dove aveva cercato di andare quando arrivò in Libano. Là era stato oggetto di atti di bullismo molto violenti: “Quella non era una scuola, non posso tornare là”, mi ha detto. Sogna di andare in una scuola privata, come la maggior parte degli studenti in Libano. (La traduzione dei testi in questa gallery è di Paolo Klun)

 

 

My first visit with UNHCR was in a settlement "informal" in a banana plantation in the south of Beirut. Mustafa welcomed me, a boy of 12 years of Idlib https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idlibliving in the colony for four years. For about two hours he took me around and introduced me to the families who in turn have shared with me their story. Mustafa is incredibly charismatic: he told me that in recent years has been living among the banana trees while playing football with the other kids in this small settlement of about 8 families. When I asked him if he ever came out from there, he said that for various reasons had never been allowed. When I asked if there were things that he missed compared to his life at home, he said he could not remember; He knew that things could and should have been different but he simply did not know how. I asked him what his greatest wish and he replied that he wanted to return to school. However not in the public school where he had tried to go when he arrived in Lebanon. There had been the subject of bullying very violent: "That was not a school, I can not go there," he said. Dreams of going to a private school, like most of the students in Lebanon. (The translation of the texts in this gallery is Paolo Klun)] My first visit with UNHCR it was in a settlement "informal" in a banana plantation in the south of Beirut. Mustafa welcomed me, a boy of 12 years of Idlib living in the colony for four years. For about two hours he took me around and introduced me to the families who in turn have shared with me their story. Mustafa is incredibly charismatic: he told me that in recent years has been living among the banana trees while playing football with the other kids in this small settlement of about 8 families. When I asked him if he ever came out from there, he said that for various reasons had never been allowed. When I asked if there were things that he missed compared to his life at home, he said he could not remember; He knew that things could and should have been different but he simply did not know how. I asked him what his greatest wish and he replied that he wanted to return to school. However not in the public school where he had tried to go when he arrived in Lebanon. There had been the subject of bullying very violent: "That was not a school, I can not go there," he said. Dreams of going to a private school, like most of the students in Lebanon. (The translation of the texts in this gallery is Paolo Klun)

 

 

23756849929_78eccf9260_o.jpg

 

2.La donna più anziana della colonia / The oldest woman in the colony

http://www.corriere.it/esteri/cards/mika/donna-piu-anziana-colonia.shtml

 

Mustafa mi ha presentato a uno dei membri più anziani della colonia. Questa donna mi ha afferrato la mano mentre mi parlava e non l’avrebbe più lasciata anche se Mustafa cercava di portarmi via. Lei ha dovuto abbandonare la sua vita e tutto ciò che si era costruita in Sirya. Aveva una casa che amava e con la sua famiglia vivevano tutti vicini. Ora sta invecchiando in un campo di banane ed è incapace di camminare. A quelli attorno a me ha chiesto una sedia a rotelle e a tutti noi di pregare per la pace. Chiede che ognuno preghi per la pace e che preghino per la pace anche tutti coloro che la vedranno in una fotografia o in un video.

 

 

Mustafa introduced me to one of the older members of the colony. This woman I grabbed her hand as she spoke to me and would never left though Mustafa was trying to take me away. She had to give up his life and all that he had built in Sirya. She had a house she loved and lived with her family all close. Now she is aging in a banana field and is unable to walk. To those around me asked for a wheelchair and all of us to pray for peace. She asks that everyone pray for peace and to pray for peace all those who will see it in a photograph or a video.

 

 

23496410964_4e7c9134c7_b.jpg

 

3.Khaled e la sua famiglia / Khaled and his family

http://www.corriere.it/esteri/cards/mika/khaled-sua-famiglia.shtml

 

Questa è la famiglia di Khaled ed è stata la prima volta che ho incontrato dei bambini che sono nati in una colonia di rifugiati, che sono nati in esilio. Quando la famiglia è arrivata in Libano hanno dormito nella piantagione sotto le foglie degli alberi di banana. Alla fine hanno montato delle tende che nel corso di quattro anni, grazie ai materiali forniti dall’UNCHR, sono diventate delle baracche impermeabili e con un pavimento in cemento. Ci siamo tolti le scarpe prima di entrare in ogni casa. La famiglia di Khaled è formata da otto persone che vivono in due stanze ognuna di non più di tre metri per tre. I miglioramenti che sono riusciti a fare alla loro baracca, soprattutto per l’inverno, sono una benedizione per la loro qualità di vita ma anche un nefasto segno che hanno pochissime speranze di tornare a casa molto presto.

 

 

This is the family of Khaled and it was the first time I met children who were born in a colony of refugees, who were born in exile. When the family arrived in Lebanon have slept in the plantation under the leaves of banana trees. Eventually mounted tents that over four years, thanks to the materials provided UNCHR, have become impervious shacks and a concrete floor. We removed their shoes before entering any home. Khaled's family consists of eight people living in two rooms, each of no more than three by three meters. The improvements that have managed to make their cabin, especially for the winter, are a blessing to their quality of life but also an ominous sign that they have little hope of returning home soon.

24098555756_16993b55e1_b.jpg
 

4.I rifugiati / Refugees

http://www.corriere.it/esteri/cards/mika/i-rifugiati.shtml

Non ci sono insediamenti ufficiali in Libano. I rifugiati devono trovarsi un luogo dove stare: in possedimenti privati o luoghi dove possano montare delle tende, oppure vivere in appartamenti o palazzine abbandonate. I rifugiati devono tutti pagare un affitto e questa cosa è spesso sottovalutata da noi che li osserviamo. E per I rifugiati che non hanno il permesso di lavorare, che hanno esaurito i risparmi, che non possiedono niente, l’affitto è una scadenza mensile che li paralizza.Per le famiglie estramente vulnerabili che beneficiano di un aiuto economico da UNHCR tramite un programma di assistenza in contanti alimentata da fondi scarsissimi, l’affitto si mangia la maggior parte della piccolo cifra che ricevono mensilmente da UNHCR. La media del tempo che un rifugiato rimane in esilio è di 18 anni. Incontrare queste famiglie e specialmente I bambini ha evidenziato questa statistica e me ne ha fatto percepire la drammatica realtà

There are no official settlements in Lebanon. Refugees must find a place to stay: in private possessions or areas where they would mount tents or live in apartments or abandoned buildings. Refugees must all pay rent and this thing is often overlooked by us who observe them. And for refugees who do not have permission to work, who have exhausted their savings, who do not have anything, the rent is a monthly them paralizza.Per extr vulnerable families receiving financial assistance from UNHCR through a program assistance in cash fed funds scarce, the rent will eat most of the small number who receive monthly by UNHCR. The average time that a refugee remains in exile is 18 years old. Meet these families and especially children revealed this statistic and I did feel the dramatic reality.

23496410354_941e62be0d_b.jpg

 

5.Ahmad e la sua famiglia / Ahmed and his family

http://www.corriere.it/esteri/cards/mika/ahmad-sua-famiglia.shtml

 

Questa è la casa di Ahmad, di sua madre Ayouch, di sua sorella e della sua giovane moglie. Dal momento in cui sono entrato ho potuto percepire che erano una casa e una famiglia felice. Ripensando a tutto ciò che ho provato durante la visita, la sensazione che mi si è ripresentata più spesso è la loro capacità di ripresa, di recupero: la resilienza. Il rifiuto di smettere di vivere e di amare. La mancanza di libertà è proprio la cosa dalla quale stavano fuggendo.

 

 

This is the home of Ahmad, his mother Ayouch, his sister and his young wife. From the moment I entered, I could sense that they were a house and a happy family. Looking back on all that I felt during the visit, the feeling that I recurred more often is their resilience, recovery: resilience. The refusal to stop living and loving. The lack of freedom is the very thing from which they were fleeing.

23496410044_3ab2ed5e04_o.jpg

 

6.La loro vita / Their life

http://www.corriere.it/esteri/cards/mika/loro-vita.shtml

 

Ahmad e sua moglie hanno appena avuto una bambina e me l’hanno presentata ; ha due mesi e gli occhi sono contornati da kajal. Ahmad ha 22 anni e nonostante il suo contegno calmo e il sorriso, è incredibilmente frustrato. Gli chiesto se fosse in grado di trovare un lavoro e lui mi ha spiegato che vive come in una gabbia invisibile. È impossibilitato a trovare uno sponsor libanese o il denaro necessario per il permesso di lavoro: in quanto non residente, non gli permesso di lavorare ufficialmente. L’insediamento “informale” è vicino a Beirut e i posti di blocco istituiti per fermare I rifugiati non residenti che si muovono verso la città, sono molto rigorosi. Ahmad non può lasciare la colonia dove vive, non può progredire nella vita oppure guadagnare denaro per mantenere la sua famiglia. Si sente umiliato e incapace di essere l’uomo che vorrebbe essere. Ciò che mi ha davvero colpito è il sostegno che la sua famiglia gli offre. La comune cultura del machismo è stata messa da parte. Si tengono uniti sostenendosi straordinariamente l’un l’altro senza giudicarsi. Non è difficile capire come la depressione sia un problema cosi evidente negli uomini tra i rifugiati.

 

 

Ahmed and his wife just had a baby and I have made; has two months and eyes are surrounded by kohl. Ahmad is 22 years old and despite his calm demeanor and smile, is incredibly frustrated. Asked him if he was able to find a job and he told me that as he lives in an invisible cage. It is unable to find a sponsor Lebanese or the money needed for the work permit: as non-resident, not allowed to work officially. The settlement "informal" is near Beirut and checkpoints set up to stop refugees non-residents who move to the city, are very strict. Ahmad can not leave the colony, where he lives, can not progress in life or earn money to support his family. He feels humiliated and unable to be the man who would like to be. What really impressed me is the support that his family offered him. The common culture of machismo has been put aside. They are held together remarkably sustaining each other without judging. It is not difficult to understand how depression is a problem so evident in men among the refugees.

24016533692_56114dbfbf_b.jpg

 

7.La storia di Samir / The story of Samir

http://www.corriere.it/esteri/cards/mika/storia-samir.shtml

 

A ora di pranzo siamo tornati nel centro di Beirut, dove un rifugiato chiamato Samir (abbiamo cambiato il suo nome per ragioni di sicurezza) ha acconsentito di raccontarci la sua storia e mi ha invitato a mangiare nel suo appartamento. Siamo entrati in un palazzo degli anni ’30 disabitato. Sporco e lasciato in malora, il palazzo mostra segni di un passato splendore coi suoi corridoi, l’ampio ingresso e gli appartamenti con i terrazzi ora distrutti. Al piano terra su una grande porta di legno, un’ insegna al neon rotta indica un cocktail bar da tempo abbandonato.

 

 

At lunch time we got back in the center of Beirut, where a refugee named Samir (we changed his name for security reasons) agreed to tell his story and invited me to eat at his apartment. We entered a building of the 30 uninhabited. Dirt and left down the drain, the building shows signs of past splendor with its corridors, the large hall and apartments with terraces now destroyed. On the ground floor of a large wooden door, a 'neon sign route indicates a cocktail bar long abandoned.

23828970810_096e7884b0_o.jpg

 

8.La casa e il racconto / The house and the story

http://www.corriere.it/esteri/cards/mika/casa-racconto.shtml

 

Al primo piano ho conosciuto Samir. Un uomo alto, magro ed elegante sulla quarantina. Con un gesto mi ha invitato a entrare in casa. L’appartamento è grande, di circa 200mq; il pavimento in piastrelle è sporco e polveroso, le pareti sono umide e ammuffite. In fondo all’appartamento c’è una stanzetta che si distingue dal resto: pulita e ridipinta da poco con le pareti decorare con dei pois ritagliati a mano. Mi sono tolto le scarpe e l’ho seguito nella camera. Quella è l’unica stanza (a parte una piccola cucina) che gli è permesso di abitare in tutta la casa e l’affitto gli costa circa 300dollari al mese. Samir ha preparato un piatto di carne farcita di verdure e riso. Il team di UNHCR e io abbiamo mangiato stando in piedi in cucina, passandoci l’un l’altro le posate. Samir ci ha detto che recentemente aveva lavorato come cuoco a Beirut ma una volta saputo della sua omosessualità, l’hanno obbligato a lasciare il lavoro. Ci ha parlato dell’amicizia con sua moglie, di quanto parlino spesso insieme e di quanto ami i suoi bambini e la sua famiglia. Tuttavia Samir sa di non avere molta scelta; il suo sogno è di fuggire e in qualche modo portare via la propria famiglia dalla Siria, passando dalla Turchia.

 

 

On the first floor I met Samir. A tall, slender and elegant in his forties. With a gesture he invited me into the house. The apartment is large, about 200 square meters; The tiled floor is dirty and dusty, the walls are damp and moldy. In back of the apartment there is a small room that stands out from the rest: clean and freshly painted the walls decorate with polka dots trimmed yourself. I took off my shoes and I followed him into the room. That is the only room (except for a small kitchen) that he is allowed to live in the house and the rental cost about 300dollari month. Samir made a dish of meat stuffed with vegetables and rice. The team of UNHCR and I ate while standing in the kitchen, passing each other cutlery. Samir told us that recently he had worked as a cook in Beirut but once learned of his homosexuality, forced to leave work. He spoke of his friendship with his wife, than they talk together often and how much you love her children and her family. However Samir knows he does not have much choice; his dream is to run away and somehow take away his family from Syria, via Turkey.

23497835783_4f379a2a96_b.jpg

 

9.Gli omosessuali e Daesh / Homosexuals and Daesh

http://www.corriere.it/esteri/cards/mika/gli-omosessuali-daesh.shtml

 

Ci siamo seduti sul pavimento e l’odore di salsa di pomodoro fatta in casa si è diffusa in tutte le stanze vuote. Samir mi ha detto di sapere chi sono e che, considerando la mia storia e al mio orientamento sessuale, sperava che sarei stato in grado di ascoltare la sua storia e poi raccontarla con la mente e il cuore aperti. Samir è fuggito dalla Syria due anni fa. È laureato in management alberghiero e ha lavorato come chef in uno dei migliori boutique hotel della sua città. È stato obbligato ad andar via perchè il segreto che lui ha conservato per tutta la vita poteva diventare troppo pericoloso nella mani del Daesh. Da giovane, la sua famiglia lo ha obbligato a sposarsi quindi ha una moglie e tre bambini, tuttavia Samir era anche un membro conosciuto della comunità LGBT. La sua omosessualità non è nota alla moglie e ai figli (famiglia che lui adora) neppure adesso. Con l’arrivo del Daesh la comunità gay è stata presa di mira e Samir, riuscito a mantenere segreta la sua doppia vita per anni, è stato testimone delle esecuzioni pubbliche di alcuni suoi amici, in certi casi buttati giù dalla cima di un palazzo. Quando il Daesh ha iniziato a recrutare e convertire molti dei suoi amici gay, Samir ha temuto che qualcuno all’interno della stessa comunità gay potesse tradirlo. Samir aveva paura ogni giorno di essere scoperto e sapeva che nel monento in cui sarebbe successo, le sue uniche opzioni restando in Syria sarebbero state due: entrare a far parte del Daesh e tradire lui stesso gli altri per sopravvivere, o essere ucciso a sua volta. Non potendone sopportare l’idea, Samir ha lasciato la Syria per il Libano senza preavviso, lasciando alle spalle la sua famiglia e la sua vita.

 

 

We sat on the floor and the smell of homemade tomato sauce has spread to all the empty rooms. Samir told me to know who I am and that, considering my history and my sexual orientation, he hoped that I would be able to hear his story and then tell it with the mind and heart open. Samir fled from Syria two years ago. He holds a degree in hotel management and has worked as a chef in one of the best boutique hotel in this city. He was forced to leave because the secret that he has kept all his life could be too dangerous in the hands of Daesh. As a young man, his family forced him to marry so he has a wife and three children, but Samir was a known member of the LGBT community. His homosexuality is unknown to his wife and children (family he adores) even now. With the arrival of Daesh the gay community has been targeted and Samir, managed to keep his secret double life for years, he has witnessed public executions of some of his friends, in some cases thrown down from the top of a building. When the Daesh started to recruit and convert many of his gay friends, Samir feared that someone within the gay community itself could betray him. Samir was afraid of being discovered every day and knew that it would happen in the monent, its only options remaining in Syria would be two: to be part of Daesh betray himself and others to survive, or be killed in turn . Not being able to bear the thought, Samir has left Syria for Lebanon without notice, leaving behind his family and his life.

23828970620_22c13bca15_o.jpg

 

24042037101_562056eee0_b.jpg

 

10.Un gruppo di supporto per i rifugiati Lgbt / A support group for the LGBT refugees

http://www.corriere.it/esteri/cards/mika/gruppo-supporto-rifugiati-lgbt.shtml

 

Dopo pranzo, Samir ci ha accompagnati in una vicina comunità per incontrare un gruppo di supporto per i rifugiati LGBT. Ho conosciuto 15 giovani tra i 18 e iI 24 anni durante quello che si sarebbe rivelato uno dei più incredibili incontri di tutta la mia vita ad oggi. Per cominciare mi hanno mostrato un filmato realizzato da loro stessi, in cui raccontano le loro storie e i motivi per cui hanno lasciato le proprie case. Non ho mai incontrato persone più sole in tutta la mia vita. Questi ragazzi sono sì dei rifugiati ma anche dei giovani cacciati dale loro case, famiglie e comunità. Sono stati perseguitati dalla società e persino dalla legge e tutto per qualcosa che non hanno nemmeno scelto.

 

 

After lunch, Samir has accompanied us in a near community to meet a group of support for the refugees LGBT. I met 15 young people between 18 and 24 years during what would prove to be one of the most incredible encounters of my life to date. To begin with I was shown a video made by them, in which they tell their stories and the reasons why they left their homes. I have never met people more alone in my entire life. These guys are so refugees but also of young people hunted dale their homes, families and communities. They were persecuted by society and even by law and all for something they have not even chosen.

24098553966_791721d8de_o.jpg

11.Le storie / The stories

http://www.corriere.it/esteri/cards/mika/storie.shtml

 

Ho ascoltato la storia di una ragazza ermafrodita sbattuta fuori di casa e è che è finita a prostituirsi. Far ricorso al sesso, per sopravvivere non è una novità per i ragazzi di questo gruppo. Quando veniva aggredita dalle bande di strada, temeva per la sua stessa vita in quanto l’assassinio era considerato “halal”, lecito. Un altro ragazzo, nato donna, era in attesa di una nuova sistemazione in quanto la sua famiglia voleva ucciderlo e aveva ingaggiato delle persone per trovarlo.

 

 

I heard the story of a hermaphrodite girl kicked out of the house and has it's over prostitution. Have recourse to sex for survival is nothing new for the boys in this group. When it was attacked by street gangs, he feared for his own life as the murder was considered "halal", lawful. Another boy, born as a woman, was waiting for a new place because he wanted to kill him and his family had hired people to find it.

23756846939_271ba66614_o.jpg

 

12.I sorrisi / The smiles

http://www.corriere.it/esteri/cards/mika/i-sorrisi.shtml

 

Non ho mai visto persone con meno opportunità e più ostacoli. Non ho mai incontrato persone con più motivi per essere tristi. E nonostante tutto, non ho mai incontrato un gruppo di persone più stimolante di loro. Dopo la nostra discussione, un gruppo di rifugiati musicisti provenienti da un’altra comunità supportata da UNHCR si è unita a noi. La musica era ciò di cui avevamo bisogno. Alle prime note il gruppo LGBT ha messo da parte il dolore, le loro storie e ha iniziato a cantare e a ballare con un contagioso senso di gioia e liberazione. Chiunque avesse idee intolleranti in materia di sessualità dovrebbe incontrare questi individui e nel giro di pochi minuti vedrebbe i propri pregiudizi sgretolarsi. Tra la gioventù araba sono i più emarginati Eppure sono il più grande e stimolante esempio della resistenza dello spirito umano. Loro splendono mentre altri si nascondono. Battono le strade e ne parlano senza pudori. Amano, piangono, combattono, ballano. Sono la Vita in tutte le sue forme. Non accoglierli a braccia aperte è mancare di rispetto alla vita stessa.

 

 

I've never seen people with fewer opportunities and more obstacles. I have never met people with more reasons to be sad. And yet, I have never met a group of people more stimulating them. After our discussion, a group of refugee musicians from another community supported by UNHCR has joined us. Music was what we needed. At the first notes the LGBT group has put aside the pain, their stories and began to sing and dance with a contagious sense of joy and liberation. Anyone intolerant views on sexuality should meet these individuals and in a few minutes would see their prejudices crumble. Among Arab youth are the most marginalized Yet they are the largest and inspiring example of the strength of the human spirit. They shine while others are hiding. They beat the streets and talk about it without shame. Love, cry, fight, dance. I am the Life in all its forms. Do not welcome them with open arms is disrespect for life itself.

24016532412_48fc3393cb_o.jpg

 

13.E Mika / And Mika

http://www.corriere.it/esteri/cards/mika/mika.shtml

 

23828969940_caa84cd602_o.jpg

 

1. The meeting with Mustafa

 

My first visit was with UNHCR in a settlement "informal" in a banana plantation in the south of Beirut. Mustafa welcomed me, a boy of 12 years of Idlib living in the colony for four years. For about two hours he took me around and introduced me to the families who in turn have shared with me their story. Mustafa is incredibly charismatic: he told me that in recent years has been living among the banana trees while playing football with the other kids in this small settlement of about 8 families. When I asked him if he ever came out from there, he said that, for various reasons, had never been allowed. When I asked if there were things that he missed compared to his life at home, he said he could not remember; He knew that things could and should have been different but he simply did not know how. I asked him what was his greatest wish and he replied that he wanted to go back to school. However not in the public school where he had tried to go when he arrived in Lebanon. There he was subjected to acts of bullying very violent: "That was not a school, I can not go there," he said. He dreams of going to a private school, like most of the students in Lebanon.

 

2. The oldest woman in the colony

 

Mustafa introduced me to one of the older members of the colony. This woman grabbed my hand while she was speaking to me and she would never left it even if Mustafa was trying to take me away. She had to give up his life and all that she had built in Sirya. She had a house that she loved and she lived there with her family all close. Now she is becoming old in a banana field and she is unable to walk. To those around me she asked for a wheelchair and to all of us to pray for peace. She asks that everyone pray for peace and to pray for peace even all those who will see her in a photograph or in a video.

 

3. Khaled and his family

 

This is the family of Khaled and it was the first time I met children who were born in a colony of refugees, who were born in exile. When the family arrived in Lebanon they slept in the plantation under the leaves of banana trees. At the end they mounted tents that over four years, thanks to the materials provided UNCHR, they have become waterproof shacks and with a concrete floor. We removed our shoes before entering in every home. Khaled's family consists of eight people living in two rooms, each of no more than three by three meters. The improvements that they have managed to make to their cabin, especially for the winter, are a blessing to their quality of life but also an ominous sign that they have little hope of returning home soon.

 

4.  Refugees

 

There are no official settlements in Lebanon. Refugees must find a place to stay: in private possessions or areas where they can mount tents, or live in apartments or abandoned buildings. Refugees must pay the rent and this thing is often overlooked by us who observe them. And for the refugees who don’t have permission to work, who have exhausted their savings, who don’t have anything, the rent is a monthly deadline that paralyzes them. For extremely vulnerable families who benefit of financial assistance from UNHCR through a program of cash assistance fueled by not so many funds, the rent will eat most of the small number that they receive monthly by UNHCR. The average time that a refugee remains in exile is 18 years old. Meet these families and especially children revealed this statistic and I felt the dramatic reality.

 

5. Ahmed and his family

This is the home of Ahmad, his mother Ayouch, his sister and his young wife. From the moment I entered, I could feel that they were a house and a happy family. Looking back on all that I felt during the visit, the feeling that I recurred more often is their resumption, recovery: resilience. The refusal to stop living and love. The lack of freedom is just the thing from which they were fleeing.

 

6. Their life

 

Ahmed and his wife just had a baby and they presented her to me; she has two months and the eyes are surrounded by kajal. Ahmad is 22 years old and despite his calm demeanor and smile, he is incredibly frustrated.  I asked him if he was able to find a job and he told me that he lives like in an invisible cage. He is unable to find a sponsor Lebanese or the money that he needs for the work permit: since he’s non-resident, he isn’t allowed to work officially. The "informal" settlement is near Beirut and the checkpoints setted up to stop non-residents refugees who move to the city, are very strict. Ahmad can not leave the colony, where he lives, can not progress in life or earn money to support his family. He feels humiliated and unable to be the man he would like to be. What really impressed me is the support that his family offers to him. The common culture of machismo has been put aside. They are held together sustaining each other without judging. It is not difficult to understand how the depression is a problem so evident in men among the refugees.

 

7. The story of Samir

 

At lunch time we got back in the center of Beirut, where a refugee named Samir (we changed his name for security reasons) agreed to tell his story and invited me to eat at his apartment. We entered in an uninhabited building of the 30’s. Dirt and left down the drain, the building shows signs of a beautiful past with its corridors, the large hall and the apartments with terraces now destroyed. On the ground floor in a large wooden door, a broken neon sign indicates a cocktail bar abandoned long time ago.

 

8. The house and the story

 

On the first floor I met Samir. A tall, slender and elegant in his forties. With a gesture he invited me into the house. The apartment is large, about 200mq; the tiled floor is dirty and dusty, the walls are damp and moldy. In the back of the apartment there is a small room that stands out from the rest: clean and freshly painted with walls decorated with polka dots, hand-carveddots . I took off my shoes and I followed him into the room. That is the only room (except for a small kitchen) that he is allowed to live in the house and the rental costs him about 300$ per month. Samir made a dish of stuffed meat with vegetables and rice. The team of UNHCR and I ate while standing in the kitchen, passing each other the cutlery. Samir told us that recently he had worked as a cook in Beirut but once they knew about his homosexuality, they forced to leave the work. He spoke about his friendship with his wife,  they talk together often and how much he loves his children and his family. However Samir knows he does not have much choice; his dream is to run away and somehow take away his family from Syria, passing from Turkey.

 

9. Homosexuals and Daesh

 

We sat on the floor and the smell of homemade tomato sauce has spread to all the empty rooms. Samir told me to know who I am and that, considering my history and my sexual orientation, he hoped that I would be able to hear his story and then tell it with mind and heart open. Samir fled from Syria two years ago. He has a degree in hotel management and he has worked as a chef in one of the best boutique hotel of his city. He was forced to leave because the secret that he has kept all his life could be too dangerous in the hands of Daesh. As a young man, his family forced him to marry so he has a wife and three children, but Samir was a known member of the LGBT community. His homosexuality is unknown to his wife and children (family that he adores) even now. With the arrival of Daesh, the gay community has been targeted and Samir, managed to keep secret his double life for years, he has witnessed of public executions of some of his friends, in some cases thrown down from the top of a building. When the Daesh started to recruit and convert many of his gay friends, Samir feared that someone within the gay community itself could betray him. Samir was afraid of being discovered every day and he knew that in the monent it would happen, his only options remaining in Syria would be two: to be part of Daesh and betray himself and others to survive, or be killed. Not being able to bear the thought, Samir has left Syria for Lebanon without notice, leaving behind his family and his life.

 

10.  A support group for the LGBT refugees

 

After lunch, Samir has accompanied us in a near community to meet a group of support for the refugees LGBT. I met 15 young people between 18 and 24 years during what would turn out to be one of the most incredible encounters of my life until today. To begin with they shown me a video made by them, in which they tell their stories and the reasons why they left their homes. I have never met people more alone in my entire life. These guys are yes refugees but also young people kicked off from their homes, families and communities. They were persecuted by society and even by law and all for something that they have not even chosen.

 

11. The stories

 

I heard the story of a hermaphrodite girl kicked out of the house and now she is a prostitute. Have recourse to sex for survival is nothing new for the boys in this group. When she was attacked by street gangs, she feared for her own life as the murder was considered "halal", lawful. Another boy, born as a woman, was waiting for a new place because his family wanted to kill him and they had hired people to find it.

 

12. The smiles

 

I've never seen people with fewer opportunities and more obstacles. I have never met people with more reasons to be sad. And yet, I have never met a group of people more stimulating than them. After our discussion, a group of refugee musicians from another community supported by UNHCR has joined us. Music was what we needed. At the first notes the LGBT group has put aside the pain, their stories and they began to sing and dance with a contagious sense of joy and liberation. Anyone with intolerant views on sexuality should meet these individuals and in a few minutes they would see their prejudices crumble. Among Arab youth are the most marginalized yet they are the largest and inspiring example of the strength of the human spirit. They shine while others are hiding. They beat the streets and talk about it without shame. They love, cry, fight, dance. They are the Life in all its forms. Don’t welcome them with open arms is disrespect for life itself.

 

13. And Mika

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:) Thanks a million, once again, Lucrezia, for this new translation!! :hug:  :wub: I can't say how thankful I am, to get these detailed reports from MIKA translated! :thumb_yello: It must have been so special for him to visit these refugees families - just outside his own hometown Beirut.  He's a really good reporter, mixing well the facts,  with his own feelings.  :wub:   I think it's fantastic that this Italian mag. gives it such a huge space, thinking about how Italy had to deal with the thousands of refugees last year, both alive and dead :(  And I hope these reports of MIKA will be well reveived by the readers.  I also wonder if similar reports were given in any of the UK mags and papers?  After all, it was the BBC News who followed him and the UNHCR on this trip. And the old lady, sitting on the floor, grabbing MIKAs hand, really has understood the value of their visit, of it all, when she asks everybody to pray for peace, everybody who now got the chance to watch them, because of the proff reporter team. Let's all hope and pray that this war, and madness,  will end in 2016... :doh: 

 

Love,love

me     

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Tomorrow 11/01 at 18.30 on the French radio RTL, Mika will talk of his recent action in Lebanon with UNHCR!

To listen the radio: http://www.rtl.fr/direct

 

Here, we can listen the replay (if I understood correctly) http://www.rtl.fr/emission/rtl-soir

 

Confirmed by Marc-Olivier Fogiel on Twitter

https://twitter.com/FogielMarcO/status/686215859413630976

 

Thanks to Isa and Corinne for the news

Edited by Lucrezia
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Tomorrow 11/01 at 18.30 on the French radio RTL, Mika will talk of his recent action in Lebanon with UNHCR!

To listen the radio: http://www.rtl.fr/direct

 

Here, we can listen the replay (if I understood correctly) http://www.rtl.fr/emission/rtl-soir

 

Confirmed by Marc-Olivier Fogiel on Twitter

https://twitter.com/FogielMarcO/status/686215859413630976

 

Thanks to Isa and Corinne for the news

Following Bowie's death, the interview will be aired tomorrow

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Tomorrow 11/01 at 18.30 on the French radio RTL, Mika will talk of his recent action in Lebanon with UNHCR!

To listen the radio: http://www.rtl.fr/direct

 

Here, we can listen the replay (if I understood correctly) http://www.rtl.fr/emission/rtl-soir

 

Confirmed by Marc-Olivier Fogiel on Twitter

https://twitter.com/FogielMarcO/status/686215859413630976

 

Thanks to Isa and Corinne for the news

 

Here you can listen the interview http://www.rtl.fr/actu/societe-faits-divers/rtl-soir-du-12-janv-2016-7781308298

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:thumb_yello: Grazie mille Lu - I'll listen to it later, even I don't understand so much of it :wink2: I  trust that MIKA managed to reach out with this important message, and stories, in his own, great way... :wub:  

 

Love, love

me

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2016.01.12 RTL soir by Marc-Olivier Fogiel

http://www.rtl.fr/actu/societe-faits-divers/rtl-soir-du-12-janv-2016-7781308298

 

SoundCloud

Une star qui s'engage ! Mika a choisi RTL pour raconter son séjour aux côtés des réfugiés au LIBAN.

 

Tomorrow 11/01 at 18.30 on the French radio RTL, Mika will talk of his recent action in Lebanon with UNHCR!

To listen the radio: http://www.rtl.fr/direct

 

Here, we can listen the replay (if I understood correctly) http://www.rtl.fr/emission/rtl-soir

 

Confirmed by Marc-Olivier Fogiel on Twitter

https://twitter.com/FogielMarcO/status/686215859413630976

 

Thanks to Isa and Corinne for the news

 

 

edited and uploaded

2016.01.12 Soir Mika Interview

 

Listen https://clyp.it/sazoxn4m.mp3

Download https://clyp.it/sazoxn4m.mp3?download=1

Edited by Kumazzz
adding the SoundCloud url.
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Corriere della Sera

VIDEO

Mika: «Ritorno in Libano per ascoltare le storie di questa guerra»
Il cantante nei campi profughi con UNHCR - di Mika /CorriereTV

http://video.corriere.it/mika-ritorno-libano-ascoltare-storie-questa-guerra/deab612a-afa3-11e5-98da-4d17ea8642a3

 

 

YouTube user 

Marco Garofanello shards the same video

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Thanks a lot for sharing video links Lu.

Italian TV Show 'DOMENICA IN - L'ARENA'

 

http://vk.com/video251318454_171770537

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxtyZuo401xabFFKMjFYSk14ZkU/view?usp=sharing

 

@ 31:25

Massimo Giletti and Mika mentioned Sylian refugees in Lebanon.

 

 

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Thanks a lot for sharing video links Lu.

Italian TV Show 'DOMENICA IN - L'ARENA'

 

http://vk.com/video251318454_171770537

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxtyZuo401xabFFKMjFYSk14ZkU/view?usp=sharing

 

@ 31:25

Massimo Giletti and Mika mentioned Sylian refugees in Lebanon.

 

 

:)   Thanks Eriko - for posting this interview, also here! :thumb_yello: I was very pleased that they gave him "talktime" about the refugees in Lebanon!  :yes:   The audience was listening very carefully,  and with serious faces.  I love when both radio and tv programs show as many sides of our MIKA as possible, and this's a very important one! :wub: Great TV interview! The Italiens are so lucky! I can only fantasize about what it would be like, if such programs were sent here... :dunno:

 

Love, love

me    

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