Opinion Piece by Rhea Haddad, Staff Writer

September 20th, 2020

Disclaimer: This article was written right before the August 4 blast. Ever since, things have drastically deteriorated and people are trying their best not to give up. Let us all, as Lebanese citizens, take this as a lesson of Hope.

“Make your life a dream, and a dream a reality” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery (The Little Prince)

 Following the economic deadlock in which Lebanon is trapped, crowned by the coronavirus pandemic, the young people, at the heart of our dear Lebanon, see all doors closing in front of them and are drained into a spiral of helplessness. 

For years, countless Lebanese youth flew away to other “homes” in hope of finding a “better future”. Currently, young graduates are stuck in Lebanon and struggling to find employment. Students have no longer the right to dream of pursuing their studies abroad and those who have not yet completed their educations can no more even afford to attend their universities and are forced to quit them to search for a job and help their families in need.

One thing that has become certain in our country is that the majority of the people who live there suffer in almost the same way, but at different levels, and a whole population is plunged into despair. What did I say ? A whole population? No… 

We, the Lebanese youth,  whose hearts can fill oceans with hopes and dreams, refuse to be drawn into this wave of distress. The future of Lebanon is ours alone, We are the architects of our Home. We will never want to one day tell our great and great grandchildren the story of a country that does not exist anymore!

In Lebanon, we all grew up learning a single adage, that only money makes men, and entire generations have been raised on this false principle, which has led to a materialistic society, where everything is sold and bought, where the richest is the stronger and can buy the less rich and the less fortunate, and where the poorest "sells" to the less poor. The giants of the business world of our country are falling, one after another, like the leaves of an autumn tree, and the big companies that were solid as rock have to overcome harsh financial situations.  

And therein lies the historic opportunity to take our destiny back into our own hands.

Everything is swept away in front of us, as the Lebanese youth, allowing a return to our deep roots and paving the way to a new space where we can innovate and think differently, “out of the box”, create industries that Lebanon needs, say no to imports, say no to the imported consumerism society in which we have been trapped for decades.

Why don’t we promote Lebanese coffee chains instead of Starbucks? Why don’t we invest in local healthy and organic agricultural industries? We have conquered the world with our wine, and we have our gin, our vodka, and so much more… 

Why don’t we pursue our global quest with other products, our "PROUDLY Made in Lebanon" assortment? 

Driven by our passions and ambitions, our time has come to innovate, create, reform, and most importantly, overturn the tables on the temple’s merchants. 

This is what Jad Ojjeh, a Lebanese expat did, by coming up with the concept of a virtual hackathon connecting Lebanese people around the world to build bridges together to create a more stable Lebanon, at the center of an ongoing global crisis and an increasingly digital world. This MIT Lebanon Challenge inspired hope for everyone involved by fostering creative solutions and exposing the youth to new ways of solving real world problems through participatory engagements.

When our money has been stolen from us, we are left with no other values ​​than our human qualities and our principles of which we were ashamed at one time because they were considered an obstacle to our success or even signs of failure. This is an opportunity to transform our society and ourselves to become again what we have always liked to be, or what we believed to be. 

As Mother Teresa said, "Life is a dream, realize it. Life is a challenge, meet it.”