La situación en el Líbano se ha ido deteriorando poco a poco, llegando desde 2021 a unos niveles desconcertantes. Según Naciones Unidas, más del 80 % de los residentes del país no tienen acceso a derechos básicos relacionados con la salud, la educación, una vivienda adecuada, o la electricidad.

Farah Kilani es una joven libanesa de 17 años que se ha abierto a compartir algunas de sus vivencias que ha experimentado en primera persona o a través de sus amigos o familiares.

"Permítanme comenzar diciendo esto, debido a los problemas de electricidad, la comida en los supermercados y las casas se está echando a perder debido al constante cambio de temperatura. Se vende mucha comida, lácteos, etc, carne y pollo en restaurantes o supermercados que no han tenido una buena congelación debido a la electricidad, lo que está provocando que las personas se envenenen y vayan a los hospitales. Por otro lado, no todos los hospitales pueden permitirse, por ejemplo, energía solar o cualquier otro tipo que pueda dar electricidad si está apagado, y esto tiene muchas consecuencias en los pacientes".

Ella lo recuerda como un momento traumático para todos, un día que ninguna persona podrá olvidar, especialmente las personas que han perdido a sus hijos, padres, amigos e incluso hogares. "Todo fue como una película de terror cuando vimos la situación en la televisión. Yo personalmente estaba en Saida, que está a unos 30 minutos en coche desde Beirut pero lo sentí como un terremoto. Ni siquiera estábamos seguros de lo que estaba pasando y tardamos como una hora en saber qué pasó realmente, todo sucedió de repente. Teniendo en cuenta a las personas hasta el día de hoy todavía están perdidas, agreguemos todas las personas que resultaron heridas .. siempre habrá demasiadas cicatrices recordándoles este trauma, y se acordarán cómo su gobierno causó esto".

What is happening in Lebanon?: "Most of us are still standing, hoping for a better future." 

The situation in Lebanon has been deteriorating little by little, reaching disconcerting levels since 2021. According to the United Nations, more than 80% of the country's residents do not have access to basic rights related to health, education, adequate housing, or electricity.

Farah Kilani is a 17-year-old Lebanese girl who has opened up her heart to share some of the experiences she has experienced in first person or through her family or friends.

The World Bank has described the Lebanon crisis as a "deliberate depression", due to mismanagement by Lebanese leaders and a lack of effective policy measures, and ranked it among the three most serious global financial crises since the mid-19th century. "To be honest, all the money that our parents worked for all their lives and that was deposited in the banks is now gone. The banks no longer have money and every time you want to withdraw some of your money, they give it to you in Lebanese liras and not in dollars. As far as I know, today 1 dollar is worth 40,000 L.L (Lebanese liras) while in 2019 it was 1,500 L.L. The bank will not give you the amount of 40,000 in dollars... they can give you a maximum of 8,000. What I know is that it is much less than what should be given and in the end people are losing their money", she explained. "A real and current example is a woman whose sister was sick in the hospital and needed urgent treatment and an operation to survive. This woman, with a fake gun, robbed the bank and by scaring them obtained all the money for her sister's operation. This woman has our full support, she was within her rights to do so. But we know very well that, at the end of the day, not everyone can do this and that it is not a solution."

As a result of this issue, the Lebanese pound has lost 90% of its value since October 2019, eroding people's ability to access basic goods, including food, water, healthcare and education. Farah tells us that the problems of electricity, fuel, and medicine do not simply affect houses, but also schools, supermarkets, hospitals, etc. 

"Let me start by saying this, due to electricity problems, food in supermarkets and homes is spoiling due to the constant change in temperature. A lot of food, dairy, etc., meat and chicken is sold in restaurants or supermarkets that have not had a good freeze due to electricity, which is causing people to get poisoned and go to hospitals. On the other hand, not all hospitals can afford, for example, solar energy or any other type that can provide electricity if it is turned off, and this has many consequences for patients".

When it comes to schools and education, she explains that not all of them have enough money to even pay their teachers or even pay for electricity so that students "can literally see well," says Farah. "In public schools you cannot pay for all the necessary materials. In the private ones, they are trying to manage the situation a little better, but it is still not like before and it is exhausting for all the responsible people there".

The same can be extended to issues related to fuel or medication. "With the crisis it is impossible to pay due to high prices. The government also stopped supporting many measures directly related to medicines or even basic foods, which caused their prices to increase considerably. Also, right now there are not many drugs available throughout the country, which makes it much more difficult for patients. Many wealthy people help those who need it most. It is something really nice about the citizens here, whenever they know of a case of a person who needs surgery, a donation, medicine, or whatever, they will help without thinking about it", she highlights.

Farah lives in a town that she herself describes as one of the quietest in the country, even so, lately she has noticed different behaviors. "What has changed where I live is that there are groups of people who can no longer hold on. They would steal from each other in order to live, they would attack others to save themselves. We have heard of many incidents and accidents, some murdered children, some suicides, and many other things. The economic crisis has a lot to do with this since it ruins the psychology of people who no longer know what to do with themselves.

One of the last topics we wanted to talk about is the Beirut port explosion. To this day, no one has been held accountable for the catastrophic explosion in the port of Beirut on August 4, 2020, which killed at least 219 people and devastated half of the city. Many people responsible for the port and people from the government were requested by the judge to be arrested, but they refused. Tons of ammonium nitrates exploded in the port knowing that they had been there since around 2013 and the government had been informed about the risks, but the situation was not handled correctly due to their negligence.

She remembers it as a traumatic moment for everyone, a day that no one will be able to forget, especially people who have lost their children, parents, friends and even homes. "Everything was like a horror movie when we saw the situation on television. I personally was in Saida, which is about a 30-minute drive from Beirut, but it felt like an earthquake. We weren't even sure what was going on and it took like an hour to figure out what really happened, it all happened out of the blue. Keeping in mind that some people to this day are still missing, let's add all the people who were injured...there will always be too many scars reminding them of this trauma, and they will remember how their government caused this."

And what about women and their rights? Women face systemic discrimination and violence due to archaic nationality law and multiple personal status laws based on religion. Although Lebanon has criminalized sexual harassment, the law does not meet international standards. Some of the situations that continue to occur are, for example, that a woman does not have the right to give her nationality to her children, or that wives when they decide to divorce their husbands, according to the Ja`fari Court, cannot obtain the custody of their children. "The situation of women is as sad as in any other country.

And also, we add such widespread traditions and ways of thinking that they do not help at all. For example, not all families are there for their daughters after she gets married. They would simply act blindly if her husband rapes or abuses her", she exposes with these harsh words. "To this is added the number of people who look badly at women because of how they dress or how they act, and the words that are said to girls and women on the street... and it really is not a clothing problem, because even people wearing hijabs or long clothes that don't really show anything of their bodies also hear such comments.

Fortunately this is only a minority and there are still people who care. Most men, if a woman screams for help, they help her and are there for her," he adds.

6+9Despite all this, Farah wanted to shed some light on how broken and tired they feel as Lebanese citizens. "Most of us are still on our feet, hoping for a better future. Many left the country and traveled to see their future abroad, they succeeded and made Lebanon a big name. Others are still working here, we are living on hope. We are working hard to continue our education because for me, education is the only weapon for success in a country where arrogance is everywhere. We still manage to smile in those difficult times and see the positive in everything, and we will go forward because we must not forget that Lebanon is one of the most beautiful countries for tourism, whether we want to talk about its green, its mountains or its sea, It's just indescribable."