Rebuilding Beirut鈥檚 Village in a City
A year on from the explosion that devastated Beirut, survivors in one close-knit district are trying to rebuild their lives, helped by passionate volunteers, but not the state.
A year ago Johnny Khawand saw the home he grew up in ripped apart by the massive explosion in a chemical dump in the port of Beirut, Lebanon 鈥 one of the largest non-nuclear blasts in history. For hours Johnny fought to save neighbours trapped in the rubble, seeing some die in front of him. Now, after months of restoration work, he鈥檚 coming back to try to rebuild his life, hoping that the unique spirit of his close-knit, multi-faith neighbourhood 鈥 Karantina 鈥 will survive. As he enters his house again for the first time, memories flood back 鈥 both comforting and distressing. Johnny and other survivors have formed close bonds with some of the volunteers, including engineers and architects, who鈥檝e spent the last year rebuilding the district for free. They鈥檙e passionate about restoring its ancient buildings exactly as they were before. But they鈥檙e angry that they鈥檝e received no help from the Lebanese state, which is accused of negligence over the explosion. And Johnny and others now fear that wider redevelopment plans will bring in big money and change Karantina鈥檚 character forever. For Crossing Continents, Tim Whewell asks if Beirut鈥檚 鈥渧illage in a city鈥, with its many layers of history and memory, can survive?
Reporter and producer: Tim Whewell
Producer: Mohamad Chreyteh
Editor: Bridget Harney
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- Thu 29 Jul 2021 11:00成人快手 Radio 4
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Crossing Continents
Stories from around the world and the people at the heart of them.