Lebanon - Beeka & Beirut - 2014
Before one can share one’s vision about things, once first needs to see them.
Surviving in tents in a refugee camp in the valley of Beeka, a couple hours only away from the Syrian border is a rude test for anyone who has flown the war. Despite all these obstacles, the children here wish to continue to go to school and study for a future they hope to be better. The right to education is a universal right that should give every child the chance to develop the knowledge and capacities needed to one day live their adult lives. While many students around the world take this daily journey to school for granted, an increasingly amount of them is having this right to education spoiled by war and displacement. By giving them a camera and asking them to document their way to school, every young student, no matter where he or she is from is encouraged to reflect on this journey and the position that they take within it. Before one can share one’s vision about things, once first needs to see them, and that is what this project is about.
Every school exists within different political, economic and social-cultural realities, and thus the students, as much as the viewers, are exposed to new realities that they have never been confronted with, or at least not in such a personal way. They are incited to reflect on the society they grew up in, and consequently – hopefully – emerge with a new sense of solidarity and tolerance.
Along with the students we retrace this way to school that becomes a way of hope, a journey to a better future and we join them in their hope that one day they can walk this way in a place that is safe and worthy of their being.
