Fight Like Hell
The Palestinian Civil Defense in Chatila Camp implementing a COVID awareness campaign with nearly 1500 masks distributed.
Please note, I am on Day 15 of Whole30[1] and tiger blood is kicking in while I write this.
Official definition below.
Days 16-27: Tiger Blood!
You’ve hit the downhill slope of your Whole30, and life is beautiful—which means different things for different people. For some (generally people who came to the program eating well, exercising regularly, and feeling pretty good to begin with), Tiger Blood means we flipped a switch and turned on the awesome. Energy is through the roof, cravings are under control, clothes are fitting better, and workouts are stronger – lookout, world, you’re on fire.
Just keep that in mind as you read this.
The past few weeks have been discouraging on personal and professional levels. I’m still devastated from the Beirut blast and have been waiting for the fallout for marginalized communities, especially what this means for Palestinian refugees.
COVID is spreading in refugee communities in the Middle East – both Syrian and Palestinian. According to two U.N. agencies (UNHCR and UNRWA) that work with refugees in the Middle East, there are over 1,000 cases in refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan.[2]
Add the economic situation in Lebanon, which started last fall, exasperated by a pandemic and a horrific blast that left 300,000 homeless and overwhelmed a city’s ability to provide healthcare. The Lebanese currency has lost 60-70% of its value. Let me break down how that would affect a refugee. Say as a refugee you are lucky enough to have work in Lebanon and your average salary is $400 a month, which is nothing but was enough to live on. That $400 is currently valued at $70. How do you pay rent and feed a family on $70 a month?
Now with COVID, it was estimated that 90% of Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon lost employment. Currently, it’s been six months of not having a regular paycheck. Reports of domestic abuse are rising as well as extreme hunger. People are living from food handout to food handout. There are no safety nets for refugees.
This is developing worse than I feared. But I hadn’t factored in a blast that would destroy a good portion of Beirut and send Lebanon into more turmoil.
On a personal level, I’m stuck in America. I’ve been playing with the idea of going back to the Middle East, airports are open now. I am trying to juggle if I can really help there or if my help is better spent by advocating and fundraising here. Guess which one option I know is for the best, but personally painful?
I’m also watching my own country being torn apart at the seams by hatred, violence, and division.
Maybe this is the tiger blood talking or maybe it is the enneagram 8[3], but when things seem overwhelming and hopeless is when I feel like standing up, in defiance, in love. There is something about having the deck stacked against me or being the underdog that motivates me. I like the odds. Maybe that’s why I haven’t given up on fighting for Palestinian refugees. It seems like a losing battle, especially right now. I do have my days when I want to give up and throw in the towel.
How could I give up when I am watching and championing refugees stepping up to safeguard their communities with few resources? Palestinian Civil Defense is currently sanitizing refugee camps and providing awareness to help refugees stop the spread of COVID. They have also started a mask production project in Shatila Camp in Beirut. Daily they are producing 50,000 high quality face masks in accordance with WHO standards.
It’s not about winning, it’s not about keeping myself safe. It’s about being a part of something bigger than myself – using whatever rights, privileges, and talents to fight for the rights of others. This act, whether big or small is what changes the world. And changes me.
What if in the middle of such a horrible year, a pandemic, insecurity, racial injustice, instability, we focus on fighting like hell for each other? For our neighbors, those with different points of view, those we disagree with, those we have bias against, those we fear, those we think are disposable, for the most vulnerable among us? What if we championed not just for our agenda, not just for ourselves, not just for those in our tribes? What if we could see and know the pain, suffering, and fear of others? What if we really fought with love, with equality, with justice for humanity? What if we replaced fear and scarcity with generosity and curiosity?
In this brutal year of 2020, could that be its redemption? Could it be ours?
“But if you want to be a true professional, you will do something outside yourself, something to repair tears in your community, something to make life a little better for people less fortunate than you.” ~ Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
[1] https://whole30.com/whole30-program-rules/
[2] https://www.independent.co.uk/independentpremium/world/coronavirus-cases-surge-among-refugees-middle-east-pandemic-pushes-most-vulnerable-deeper-poverty-b506833.html?fbclid=IwAR28K07IE5x0yRsf0Yada0FjMynPext4YCxf_q9fEdIhkU773K-mACwKkHI
[3] https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/type-8/