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Al Mustaqbal daily newspaper portrayed in its edition of Monday, the sweet story of a seventy-year old woman called Saadiyah Hariri, and her life experience with the distillation of the famed Lebanese orange blossom water. Um Mhamad, from Saida, boasted that she has been extracting the essence of orange blossom for decades from the confinement of a small room annexed to the family house. She said she spends the whole months of March and April of each year at her private “laboratory”, and described to the reporter the different phases of the ‘making of’. After picking, collecting and sifting the blossoms, she empties them in the traditional copper jar (alembic), the ‘karake’ leaving them to simmer under the burning firewood. A tube permeates a water filled barrel built inside the karake to cool down the vapor of the blossoms passing through it announcing the birth of the product which she proudly pours in special glass bottle.  Um Mhamad expounds on how she brought up her children and provided for them from this very specialized and strenuous job. Her extremely dry but rose-pink hands have been marinated with “the aroma of the southern city’s orchards,” she finally said. (Al Mustaqbal, April 4, 2016)

 

The Hospitality Services of the Levant inaugurated yesterday their annual forum in the tourism and food industries, HORECA Lebanon 2016, at the Biel Exhibition Center, Beirut. The event was held under the auspices of tourism minister, Michel Pharaon and in the presence of a number of ambassadors, heads of syndicates and professional associations concerned. The exhibition which has gained a reputation on the map of big regional events, is expected to last until April 8. This year, the expo is hosting some 385 participants, 15 events, 87 competitions and hands on workshops, in addition to high-profile chefs, from Lebanon and the world. The opening ceremony hosted the Beirut Beats, which is an urban culinary experience highlighting the distinct tastes of Lebanon that are well-known to the world. It should be noted that the organizers of the event have pledged to support the Resto Du Coeur charitable initiative by allocating a part of the proceeds from the entrance tickets to the organization. The latter has also received a bulk of supplies endowed by some exhibitors. (An Nahar, As Safir, April 6 2016)

 

 

Despite local and national criticism of the “kafala system”, the Minister of Labor perserveres with his attempts to maintain this contemporary trend to enslave migrant women domestic workers.  Within this framework, the meeting yesterday of the ‘National Facilitation Committee’ headed by labor minister Sajaan Azzi on conditions of migrant women domestic workers (MWDW) in Lebanon did not bring any new developments. The only outcome was the announcement by the minister to continue with the newly initiated system to regulate the work of MWDW employment agencies, which, as he claimed, is fair to the employer, the worker and the agency owner. “It aims at rationalizing and stabilizing the profession while giving it an appealing image!” Azzi said, noting that “reform starts with closing down all the illegal or inactive offices and granting permits only to full-fledged establishments and not to one person.” The minister reiterated the main role of his ministry in the protection of MWDWs in accordance with relevant laws in effect. “If the government has repeatedly failed to address broader national issues affecting people, at least it should be there for their everyday grievances,” Azzi maintained.

Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, April 6, 2016

 

Kafa ‘enough violence and exploitation’ organization held a seminar last Friday at the Beirut Bar Association to discuss important updates on activating the implementation of Law No. 293 of the year 2014 related to the protection of women and other family members against domestic violence after two years from its approval. During the meeting, the results of the first national report on the awareness of the Lebanese people, their knowledge and attitudes vis-à-vis domestic violence were also launched. Kafa’s Listening and Counselling Center team presented the main data they collected, with special focus on the remarkable rise in the number of women who took refuge in the organization, particularly after the approval of the above law, (from 292 new cases in 2013 to 624 cases in 2014 and up to 772 cases last year, on top of hundreds of old cases). On the negative side, some 16 women were reported to have been killed by members of their families, mostly by husbands, and this after the endorsement of the protection law. According to the report, only one third of respondents said they heard about the law, of whom 97% followed the news of murder through the various media channels. This, the report maintained, represents a significant and positive change in the attitude of people towards the issue. The report also showed, that in general, there was an inclination (49%) to advise battered women to file complaints, while one third of respondents, within the Druze and Shiite communities in particular, and in the South and Beqaa areas (49%),, said that resorting to the family is the best decision in such cases, against a small percentage (13%) who advised the victim to remain silent and put up with the abuse indefinitely. Moreover, some 68% of respondents said they will intervene to help the domestically battered woman, against 32% who said they will abstain because the matter is “personal and does not concern them.” On the other hand, the confidence of the Lebanese people in the competent religious and civil courts, especially in cases of domestic violence, is still weak. Nearly 42% of respondents said they did not trust religious courts for reasons related to corruption and the male dominant mentality of clergymen, besides the unfairness of confessional laws. The percentage, however, dropped to 38% when asked about the role of civil courts in this matter. (As Safir, Al Akhbar, Al Mustaqbal, April 2, 2016)

 

In cooperation with the ‘No Garlic No Onions’ food blog, the Rotary Club of Saida, inaugurated last Sunday the ‘Souk El Akl’ at the traditional Khan el Franj market in the Old City. Unprecedented in this part of the country, the event’s proceeds will go to the Lebanese Red Cross. More than 2500 visitors from the southern capital and its environs flocked to the souk on the first day to taste the varieties of offered foods, juices and sweets. Different catering businesses based in Beirut and Saida displayed their products in the inner courtyard of the Khan and set tables for the guests, while not forgetting to entertain the kids who accompanied their parents on this outing. On the occasion, Rotaract Club-Saida president, Samira Assi, hailed the large number of participating businesses who competed to offer a wide range of mouthwatering cookeries on the beat of music in the fantastic archeological location of Khan el Franj.” (Al Mustaqbal, April 4, 2016)

 

For the eighth consecutive year, the Lebanon mountain trail kicked off last Sunday starting from Marjeyoon in the south and moving towards the town of Andkit in Akkar, in the north. The trail will overlap with another opposite march by some 25 Lebanese and foreign environmental activists starting from Andkit to Marjeyoon. This year’s one-month walk falls under the banner, ‘Together we salute and revive the traditional cuisine of our ancestors’ and brings together about 170 trekkers from 12 nationalities. Participants are expected to traverse some 27 villages and towns and to appreciate the local food heritage and popular dishes, as well as the traditional customs of rural areas of Lebanon. The event is planned to include various activities that will introduce the trekkers to the countryside. 

(Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, April 4, 2016)

 

On the occasion of Women’s Day, L’Orient Le Jour daily has been devoting a special section every Tuesday of the month of March to publish the stories of Lebanese women who struggle singlehandedly to provide for themselves. The story of Salpie Degeremijain, a 37-year old woman with special needs, had its turn on March 29. Salpie recalled her sad experience since she was diagnosed with her disease when she was still 21. Salpie has a degree in English Literature from the state-run Lebanese University and has an experience in journalism and in teaching at two schools in the Beirut suburb of Bourj Hammoud. Besides, she is skilled in the preparation of financial and technical reports for the Lebanese Physically Handicapped Union (LPHU). But, despite this, Salpie voiced her disappointment in the system which prevents her from getting any job because of her special condition. She bitterly admitted to L’Orient Le Jour reporter the difference in treatment of the disabled persons between her country and the UK which she visited with a delegation of the LPHU. There, she boasted, “we moved freely and received special attention from the people.” Salpie counted the numerous financial difficulties she constantly puts up with, especially that the card given to the disabled persons only exempts her from the municipal taxes and hospitalization expenses, but she still has to bear the heavy financial burden of consultation visits to doctors and the price of medications, noting that she is largely dependent on the financial assistance of Arc En Ciel association. )L’Orient Le Jour, March 29, 2016)