Fairouz's blog

Fairouz: "I used to be frightened, but after the first two weeks of war, I was not scared anymore. I was careless. I don’t think that there will be a solution for this situation. I am trying to leave the country.

"It had a great impact on the lives of children. The first words that babies say are 'bombing' and 'Israelis'."

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Fairouz: "Life is back to normal. People go out, shops are open. People are somewhat optimistic. I went out yesterday and today. I called Mercy Corps office to check if they were working the next day. I also spoke with the leaders of Global Youth Connectivity and we met at the office.

"Psychologically I am affected by what happened. We lost people, many houses were destroyed. No one knows how the school year will continue, let alone the fear of another war. We are also left without water or electricity, so we have to adjust to a new lifestyle with many things missing."

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Fairouz: "The situation is much better. We are still staying with another family. We are worried about our home though. My parents went to our home today and found out that there is some minor damage. The telephone lines and cellular network are not working properly, so I could not reach my friends. Yesterday, I knew that a girl from my university died along with her mother and three sisters and the father was injured. It's so sad.

"After the ceasefire, I am optimistic. We hope this war ends really soon."

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Fairouz: "Yesterday the bombing was very close to our area and was random; it was really loud as well. We could not sleep, the bombing even started early last night, but usually during the day it's quieter.

"We had no bread, but because we had electricity mom was baking bread and I helped her, and later on I typed up my diaries...I play with my brothers and sisters, study for my exams because at a point we will be back to university, I also read.

"Children do not play in the neighborhood anymore, people left their homes and moved to other shelters; the area is very quiet..."

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Fairouz: "We don't go out of our home, even during the short cease fire; we do not believe in it because there were several times when the Israelis killed people during that time, they might wait until all people are out and they would attack them.

"We could not sleep last night. The shelling was very close to our house. We tried to find another shelter to go to but we couldn't because no place is safe.

"Usually I used to go to the university, to the office and to French lessons, but now there is nothing that can be done, and I am home all day long. We listen to the news on the radio; lately we have been getting electricity for about 2-3 hours per day so we watch television.

"Everyone is psychologically tired. People have been telling me that they are waiting to die, because they either know someone who died or someone who got injured."

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Fairouz: "Today my parents and I went to our home; we changed clothes and brought a few things. We will be staying away from our house because the places around it still may be bombarded anytime, so it is not safe to be there. The situation is deteriorating every day."

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Fairouz: "Last night at 3:20 a.m. our neighbors informed us that buildings close to our home will be bombarded and that it wasn't safe for us to stay. We grabbed our ID cards, money and some bed covers and went to a nearby park where all the people were gathering. We had to call relatives and move in with them. The situation is really miserable. I was supposed to graduate and now we are left without electricity, water...not even a house."

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