THE MAGICAL AUTUMN OF THE NORTH

The last couple of years it has almost become a routine leaving Norway when the days are getting colder and shorter, searching for adventures in warmer places somewhere far away from home. This fall however, for many (good) reasons, I chose northern Norway for a different adventure, mainly a photographic expedition to the Helgeland coast and Lofoten.

If you have followed me on this blog, or seen some of my pictures and posts on SmugMug, Facebook or Instagram, you might have noticed that much of my photography are documentary oriented, and sometimes I want to share knowledge and experiences quite political. Nature and Landscape photography however, have always been a passion, at times almost an addiction. Trying again and a again (and sometimes succeed), to recreate some of those wonderful, breathtaking moments when the light of the "golden hour" is painting the nature in a magical hue like a creation of the great impressionists is a challenge, but can also be extremely rewarding. 

THE SYRIAN REFUGEES IN BEKAA

This is the fourth and last article from my visit to Lebanon in late February 2019. This time I want to share my impressions from a visit to the Bekaa valley, an area where more than 340 000 Syrian refugees were living at the time of my visit. 

It´s the last week of my stay, and I have just left my friends in the Palestinian refugee camp Rashidieh in southern Lebanon, to join a group of young Palestinian volunteers on a relief supply mission to a Syrian refugee camp (or rather an informal settlement) in the Bekaa valley. As you may understand from reading my previous articles from Lebanon, my feelings after getting a glimpse into the daily life and struggles of the Palestinian refugees are quite mixed to say the least, but by the end of this day, I will experience conditions even worse. But I´ll start with a bit of context information...

IN THE SHADOWS OF WAR - "THE CHANGEMAKERS"

This is the third blog article in my on-going mini series “In the shadows of war”, from my visit to the Palestinians in Lebanon in February 2019. In fact it has been a piece of writing quite hard to put in words due to the complexity and divergent views about the situation, political solutions and even some factual information. I have called this post “The Changemakers”, even though the word “change” has to be interpreted in context and with some reservations. 

After more than 70 years of occupation, armed conflicts and for thousands of Palestinians being forced to live their lives as refugees and denied the right to a homeland, one could argue that all the change that has come these years has been mostly for the worse. As Israel is constantly expanding the settlements, building more walls, and bombing and killing demonstrators and innocent civilians, and while the war in Syria adds yet another tragedy to thousands of Palestinians, and exploitation and absence of basic human rights are what Palestinian refugees are facing in Lebanon. It´s really hard to keep up hope and believe in any change for the better. The absence of a functioning, united, political leadership, internal conflicts within PLO and repeated corruption accusations, make things even worse.  

However, to deny anyone hope, or to refuse to recognise and celebrate the hard work of thousands of young and old Palestinians struggling long hours, day in and day out, trying to make life better for their people in so many different ways, would be yet another assault, and in my opinion deeply unfair. So, while the word “Changemakers” only to a limited extent is pointing at significant or potential political, lasting change, I am convinced that the people I introduce to you in this article make a real difference for many of the people they are trying to help.

IN THE SHADOWS OF WAR - THE RETURN FROM SYRIA

THE RETURN FROM SYRIA 

 PALESTINIAN WOMEN TELL THEIR STORIES

Tyre seen from Rashidieh seaside

This is my second blog article in a mini series I have called “In the shadows of war”, mainly about Palestinians in Lebanon. Today I will share some stories from meetings with Palestinian women during my visits to Rashidieh and El Buss refugee camps, including the stories about Salma and “Sarah” and their return from Syria to Lebanon, just after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war. (For the records; I find the expression “civil war” rather imprecise or misleading due to the deep involvement in the war from numerous countries in the Middle East as well as the US, Russia, EU countries and China.). 

More than anywhere else outside the West Bank and Gaza, Palestinians in Lebanon have been facing war and armed conflicts repeatedly since the first Israel – Arab war in 1947 -49.  From 2011, when the so-called “Arab-spring” had spread to Syria, starting an uprising that soon escalated to the worst armed conflict in the Middle East since the Iraq – Iranian war in the eighties. And once again thousands of Palestinian families, who had been refugees for four generations, were forced to leave their homes and flee for their lives, some for the second or third time, as soldiers, arms and bombs were reaching their neighbourhoods. 

IN THE SHADOWS OF WAR

IN THE SHADOWS OF WAR

Beirut, Lebanon and the Palestinians

The modern, Beirut Down Town and the marina with million dollar luxury yachts.

From the back seat of the taxi on the way from Rafic Hariri airport a little south of Beirut, I see the evening sun pushing its last rays through the clouds as it sinks into the Mediterranean. Thoughts and emotions mingle with unclear expectations of meeting with a city and a country, which at the first time I came here, more than 36 years ago, lay in ruins while the civil war were still raging. At that time I came to Beirut crossing the sea from Limassol in Cyprus with the cargo boat "Lucky Hope", which by no means lived up to its name, but struggled with engine trouble during much of the crossing and left us drifting in the wind for a couple of days before the ship-engineer finally brought the engine back to life. 

Arriving in Beirut, we were met by a  city and a country at war. The ports were besieged and controlled by the Falangists (strongly right-wing, Christian Maronites). The Falangists and other militia groups had divided the city between them and there were checkpoints, and barricades everywhere and the beautiful Beirut harbour promenade street were virtually abandoned and surrounded by bombed-out buildings. 

I came to the city at the beginning of November, a month and a half after the massacres in the refugee camps Sabra and Shatila where more than 2,000 (the numbers still vary depending on sources) people were massacred by the Falangists, with Israeli support. I visited the camps where traces of fighting were still visible. A week later, after driving trough the Bekaa valley at night, with Israeli and Druze grenades passing over our heads, I met survivors from the massacres, who had fled to Syria and the Yarmouk camp outside Damascus. The stories about the carnage and meeting with people who had lost their whole family were heartbreaking.

Refugee camp in Damascus for Palestinians who had fled from Sabra and Shatila i 1982

VENEZUELA MIGRANTS - A QUESTION OF SURVIVAL

"CHAOS, TOTAL CHAOS - WE HAD TO LEAVE TO SURVIVE"

For years now we´ve received frequent news from the growing financial crises and collapse of the Venezuelan civil society. Inflation is sky high and has reached a level not seen since Germany´s financial collapse in the early 1920´s. People are struggling to find or pay for their daily needs. Transportation and public services works only partly, hospitals and health clinics are lacking supplies and qualified staff and criminal gangs are a constant threat in many towns and cities. 

Reading news feeds and watching people on television arriving at their first Colombian destination, exhausted after walking for days to reach the the Colombian border is one thing. To be there, and to see all the people sleeping in the parks and on side walks, and to hear their stories is definitely something else. 

THE MEDELLIN TRANSFORMATION

A multi-level success story to learn from

Sometimes I feel almost ashamed and quite ignorant, coming to a new country, or a new city, just to discover that my previous knowledge has been totally inadequate. Arriving in Medellin, Colombia, this was definitely the case. I knew from my travel preparations and a bit of research that the city was pretty safe and the drug-war was something of the past. Little did I know however, that Medellin had been named the world's most innovative city in a competition organised by the non-profit “Urban Land Institute”. 

The Institute compiled a list of 200 cities based on eight criteria ranging from culture and livability to education and infrastructure and said Medellin, once a stronghold for Pablo Escobar and the drug cartels, had seen one of the most remarkable urban transitions in modern history. Exploring the city today it`s hard to imagine this once was the worlds most dangerous city, where 6000 people were murdered annually from 1990 to 1993.