Continuing heroism every day in order to save the lives of citizens in Lebanon without any sectarian discrimination and without waiting for any thanks or any gratitude from anyone

Nada Amine Awar

I experienced firsthand how the regiment affiliated with the Bachoura Center in the Beirut Fire Brigade stormed death to save my life last Saturday, on the fifteenth of this month, after a massive fire broke out in the building in which I live in Beirut.
What warmed my heart is that my country is still holding steadfast despite the horizontal and vertical corruption it has suffered since it gained its independence until this moment.
Here, I remember how a Lebanese politician admitted once in a media interview that he, too, was ravaged by corruption in dealing with matters in a way that suits his own interests. He said that if there had been accountability, he and the rest of the political crew would have been put on trial and expelled from governance.
In another interview, he considered that the current system of corruption has expanded, quantitatively and qualitatively, compared to the past. He continued, "We have begun to long for the old class of corrupt people, which was more sophisticated and less greedy, while it seems that the current models have an open appetite and do not know when to stop." He added, "How innocent does Salim Al-Khoury seem compared to the whales of corruption that devour everything in their path."
(Salim Al-Khoury was the brother of the first President of the Lebanese Republic. He was called "Sultan Salim" in the songs of popular artist Omar Al-Zaani, who was imprisoned more than once during that period).
The diseases of corruption and sectarianism that have plagued politicians in Lebanon since ancient times have affected a large number of citizens as well. Perhaps the best example I can present to you is the neighbors in the residential building I live in in Beirut.
These citizens belong to various Lebanese sects, and some of them are fanatic followers of the leaders who rule this country and often act as intermediaries with the courts and police, who should be defending the rights of all citizens, to absolve their own colleagues from all shameful acts committed to harm others.
As neighbors, we suffer from some people openly stealing electricity and water, for example, because they consider their ability to do so to be an unparalleled legal feat representing a victory over the other sects that were and are still living the nightmare of civil war in Lebanon.
The hatred of "divide and conquer" is what's currently ruling us in place of the love that united our ancestors, who used to cooperate in facilitating various matters of daily life for each other. The song "Ala Dalauna," for example, reminds us of the morality and humanity of Lebanese people in the past.
Here I must clarify that I belong to the group that supports my comrade and friend Ziad Abi Shaker, the environmental and industrial engineer and the political and social activist.
In the last parliamentary elections, he was among 39 candidates in the first Beirut district, receiving 3,142 votes and ranking sixth in the overall number of votes among all the candidates, surpassing a large number of long-term incumbents.
Ziad's supporters, myself included, contributed to a unique election campaign called "Momkin." Please refer to my articles in the "Articles" section on this page for further clarification:
- "Raed Al- Momkin," published on May 2, 2022
- "A Reading of the Results of the Parliamentary Elections in Lebanon," published on May 18, 2022
- "Questions about the future of the situation in Lebanon," published on June 25, 2022
- "Possible," published on June 28, 2022
- "Corruption in Arab Societies," published on November 10, 2022
Ziad also published a video through the "Momkin" podcast, after he was unable to obtain a parliamentary seat, in which he thanked all the voters of the Beirut First District who live in Dubai, Paris, London, and Montreal. He promised the Lebanese people that the "Momkin" podcast will continue to broadcast, because we still have a large number of issues to address by hosting a large number of important figures neglected by the media to reach viable solutions to ongoing problems.
Today, the country and people of Lebanon are suffering from great financial hardship, depriving all public sector employees from receiving sufficient wages to meet their daily needs. Despite this, our firefighters continue to carry out their full duties on a daily basis, risking their lives in the process.
Since I live on the seventh floor of the building that was exposed to the fire, I naturally have to use the stairs to reach my apartment due to Lebanon's perpetual electricity crisis. The elevator is usually available in an unplanned for only two hours a day, when the state-supplied electricity is available. We may receive this blessing either day or night, and we cannot guess the timing. Even being able to use the elevator comes as a pleasant surprise for us.
I woke up on the morning of the aforementioned Saturday, and felt strangely weak when I got to my feet to go to the bathroom. As soon as I got outside my bedroom door, I saw from the window of the next room a terrible fire reaching the sky.
I went back to my room, opened the window, then turned on the fan, directing it at my face and sitting on my bed opposite it.
I grabbed my mobile phone and called my brother, who was in the Netherlands at the time. He asked me if I was able to go down to the bottom of the building, and I told him no.
He asked me if the firefighters had arrived and I told him I didn't know, so he hung up and called his wife, who was in Beirut, asking her to rush to my rescue. And so, my sister-in-law arrived quickly to inform the firefighters that I was alone on the seventh floor.
Before her arrival, a terrible darkness had covered my apartment due to carbon monoxide smoke. My eyes had begun to burn horribly, and my body suffered increasingly debilitating weakness and fatigue.
Wearing oxygen masks, the firefighters broke down the door to my apartment and started calling, "Where are you?" In a weak voice, I answered them, "I am here." They reached me while I was on my last breath, placed an oxygen mask on my head, and instructed me in how to breathe through it.
After that, one of them inspected the balcony and found that outside the wind was blowing and the air did not show clear signs of pollution.
He returned to my room to carry me in his arms like a mother carries her child, and my screams rose because the pain in my body multiplied when he carried me.
His colleague brought me a chair that they sat me on, and I began to regain some of my health and awareness little by little. I noticed that there were a large number of young people around me, and everyone was very interested in helping me.
My sister-in-law was still waiting at the bottom of the building to take me with her. She called my phone, but I was not able to answer clearly, which worried her a lot. One of the young men took the phone from my hand and reassured her that they were by my side and would not leave me alone no matter how much time passed.
When I heard him, I was able to take a deep breath and ask him to return the phone to me so I could talk to her. One sentence came out of my mouth: "My children are by my side. Rest assured."
A little time passed and when one of my sons asked me about my name and age, I was able to answer. He then asked me for my mobile phone number, but my gaze wandered and I was unable to utter a word.
One of the other sons dialed his phone number from my personal phone to register my number, and told me "Please call me if you experience any complications. I have to return to the sixth floor, which is burning with a very high temperature, so I can help cool it down."
The sons kept moving me from one place to another on the balcony, according to the fluctuations in the air flow and the movement of the shade.
They did not leave me alone until the house was clear of carbon monoxide and I was able to talk to them and walk on my own.
I regained my strength after showering more than once to clean my nose and the rest of my body of the black soot that was covering me.
My nose and skin were able to breathe again, and I could perform the spiritual exercises I have practiced for decades, such as meditation, yoga, Reiki, and others.... My condition was good enough to eat and drink water, coffee, and natural juice.
That afternoon, my eldest brother, who is a surgeon, came to take me to our village, Quarnaeil, so that I could spend time in a clean environment and my body could get rid of all the remaining pollutants.
I managed to pack some of my things and carry them down the stairs. I am still in the mountain, and my nose is still in the process of removing the "black materials and clotted blood in the lungs." However, I feel positive energy quickly returning to my body.
One day after arriving in Quarnaeil, I remembered that there was a phone number for a young man whose name I did not know saved on my phone. I saved the number, giving him the name "my beloved son," and left him a voice message on WhatsApp, assuring him that I would never be able to return the favor to him and his friends, no matter what I did.
I asked him about his name and the names of his companions because I wanted to write an article about them on my Internet page. https://kenanaonline.com/Nadamine
In a happy voice, he assured me that he and his companions were only doing their moral, religious, and humanitarian duty. He added that their work intended to prevent harm from all human beings, especially if when their lives are threatened. They are fully prepared to sacrifice their own lives to save the lives of others.
He then told me that his name was Sergeant Musa Haider, head of the fire brigade that arrived quickly to extinguish the fire and treat the injured. The names of his team members are Mustafa Mansour, Mohamed Diab, Nabih Qablan, and Charbel Maqsoud. What warmed my heart was that he assured me of his sincere feeling that I was truly a mother to him and his companions.
After Sergeant Moussa shared my voice messages with his comrades on WhatsApp, Captain Fadi Mazboudi, head of the Bachoura Center in the Beirut Fire Brigade, heard them and called me. He congratulated me on my safety and assured me that what they had done was the least of their duty because the fire brigade in Lebanon was created to serve the citizens. During the complete darkness covering the country at this time, their only wish is that they could shine a small ray of light.
He thanked me for my humanitarian gesture, which made the young men feel the importance of what they do at a time when only a few people appreciate it.
To learn more about the work of the firefighters and the price they have to pay due to the deterioration of the political, economic, social, service, and moral conditions in Lebanon, a new interview with a specialist should be conducted soon.
Moumken Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjwjwCUzxvHQ9bpRs-5-vF8L7ZxZb0s07