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Lebanon: Temporary housing provides improved living conditions for Nahr el-Bared residents

By Fadi Tayyar

Joyfully cooking mojadarrah, the woman welcomed us into her shelter on plot 774 - next to Nahr el-Bared camp. She was smiling - as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders - and she was full of vitality, moving from one corner of the room to another, evidently very happy with her new home.

"I have 5 boys and 5 girls. We were all forced to flee Nahr el-Bared. On 25 May last year, bombs hit the neighboring houses and everyone rushed out to seek shelter in the nearby mosque," explained Rihab Ghuneim (Um Saleh). She went on to tell us that the following day, when there was a lull in the shooting, the family got in a taxi and went to Beddawi camp. The family took nothing with them other than the clothes they were wearing. In Beddawi they found shelter in an UNRWA school - like most of the families that had fled Nahr el-Bared.

'The schools in Beddawi were full of people. There wasn't enough space for everyone to sleep .Some slept in corridors, some outside. At first we lived in a room with two other families. Then we moved into a room that didn't have a door so we had to cover the doorway using a blanket," said Um Saleh.

Remembering the harsh winter conditions in the school, Um Saleh's face clearly expressed the difficulties they had had to face. "There was no bathroom so we had to go outside in the rain and in the cold. There was nowhere comfortable for my children to study. We lost all our privacy. There was chaos everywhere."

"Things are better now," she said with satisfaction. "We have privacy in these two units and in Nahr el-Bared we can wash dishes and have a bath. Water is available here all the time. Most importantly, the toilet is now inside unlike when we were at the school. I am able to close the door and manage my family affairs better. In the Beddawi school my children had nowhere to play apart from in the street, which was very unsafe. Now, they have a place to study and they can play in green areas."

Notwithstanding the improvement in her living conditions, Um Saleh insists she will return to her house in Nahr el-Bared. "The home here is only temporary. It doesn't replace my big house in the old camp," Um Saleh said with pride and confidence.