Stories from the field: Hajjeh Fattoum from Tebbeneh

I have been working in the development sector for the past two years. And each person who works in the field understands exactly what I am about to say. It is a job like any other, but mixed with a bunch of different feelings which can keep you awake for nights. You meet all kinds of people, the ones that you don’t usually meet in downtown Beirut, Gemmayze, Verdun or Hamra… You meet forgotten people, isolated, scared to live and waiting to die. I have tried for so long to keep all what I have seen and still seeing to myself without sharing, avoiding to be seen as someone who gets the attention by showing the pain of others. But when I have started seeing that our society has lost its humanity, its compassion and is constantly looking for better appearances; when discussions during happy hour are mean and focused on shopping, events, gossips, etc., I was pushed towards writing those real stories (even though words can describe briefly the difficult reality)., hoping that maybe hearts can be filled with more and more kindness and compassion because sometimes a person in need wants to hear a kind word more than having some brief financial assistance…

This is the dear hajjeh Fattoum from Tebbeneh… or apparently this was (I was informed yesterday that she passed away)… Hajjeh Fattoum was a lady in her late 80s if not more, who was less than 40 kilos, who lived on her own, who did not even have a toilet in her house, who was sitting on the ground hugging herself and screamed when she saw us entering her house (or whatever you can call this room) and started shaking.