2/2 “My parents had four children and I am one of them. When I was 8, my father decided that we should move to Lebanon in order to reconnect with our Lebanese heritage. When I was 18, I met a boy and we started to go out. It was the same year that my parents decided to move back to Venezuela. My mother said: ‘’Lulu, this guy seems very nice. Why don’t you marry him and stay here in Lebanon?’’ I told her that I really liked him but that I still wanted to study. She said that I could always go back to university once I got married. I thought about it and I decided to marry him. I really liked him. He was an architect, a gentleman and most of all he really respected my freedom. After one year our son was born. I remember the years that followed
as a period filled with parties, having a lot of fun and living life to the fullest. Seven years after my first son was born I got pregnant again. After I gave birth to our second son, I received a letter from my mother and it said: ‘’Have you forgotten about university?’’ She wrote: ‘’Even though you have a husband, you need to be able to take care of yourself. Make sure to have a diploma in your hands.’’ That is when I decided to go to art school and I became a painter.”
(Beirut, Lebanon)

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½ “I am going to tell you a little love story. Like many Lebanese my father was born in South America. However, every summer my father would go back to Lebanon to visit his family. One time during his visit, he was walking through the neighborhood and he saw a girl on a bike. He instantly fell in love without approaching her. He asked the neighbors about her. It turned out she was a Lebanese girl who lived in Egypt. My father could not forget about her and he decided to travel to Egypt to find her. When he arrived he asked every Lebanese person he met if they knew her. Eventually he found her and asked her dad if he could marry his daughter. Her father was a very liberal man and said that it was up to his daughter to decide for herself. She agreed to go out with him for one month so she could make a well informed decision. After one month of dating she agreed to get married and move with him to Venezuela..’‘ 
(Beirut, Lebanon)

(2/3) “My friend told me that my youngest brother got murdered. He got into trouble with a group of criminals in Aleppo and they killed him. I immediately packed my stuff and I went back to Aleppo for the funeral. The next day, after the funeral my father and grandfather came up to me. They told me that I needed to take revenge on the men who killed my little brother. They had already arranged a gun for me. As much as I was hurt, there was no way I was going to kill anyone. I told them: ‘’If I do it, there is no difference between me and the criminals who killed my brother.’’ That night I left Aleppo and I decided to never come back. I got back to Damascus and someone had broken into my room and stolen all my money and clothes. I have never felt so lonely in my entire life. I couldn’t ask anyone for help. I went back to work and tried to survive and rebuild my financial situation. In 2011 the war started and the situation in Damascus became unstable. A few years later I got drafted in by the Army. Again I didn’t want to fight so I postponed my service and left Syria. I came to Lebanon and the first thing I did was trying to find a job. Once I found work I was tried to find shelter. I went to the UN office because someone told me that Syrians could apply for refugee status which can give you benefits. When I arrived at the UN office there was a huge line and people were treated horribly. I realized that it would take days for me to receive some sort of help. I didn’t want to risk losing my new job as a tailor. So even though I fled my country, officially I am not a refugee.”
(Beirut, Lebanon)

1/3. ”Until this day I still don’t know why she left. I was three years old when it happened. She took my little sister with her and left me and my two brothers with my father. I was nine when my dad remarried. My dad’s new wife would hit and punish us a lot. She never wanted us so my dad ended up putting the three of us in an orphanage. The first night in the orphanage was horrible. The supervisor would yell at us if we cried. I was separated from my brothers. I shared a room with a lot of kids and we were all scared. At night they would turn off all the lights. Until this day, I don’t like to sleep in the dark. Every day in the orphanage I would cry and I would barely eat out of stress. After six months I could not take it anymore and I walked away. When my dad found out that I escaped he was furious. He took the three of us out of the orphanage. He rented a room in Aleppo nearby where he lived and that became our new home. He took us out of school and he said that from now on we needed to work and make money. We started working as tailors. The money we would earn we needed to give to our father. At the age of fourteen, I decided that I wanted to be far away from my family so I moved to Damascus. I found a place to live and I worked there as a tailor. One day I received a phone call. It was one of my friends from Aleppo. He said: ‘’I only have a few minutes to talk but I have some bad news. You have to come home right away..”

“I am lucky because unlike many Palestinians I have a Lebanese passport. My grandparents are Palestinians from Haifa who fled to Syria. That is why I lived most of my life in Yarmouk, a Palestinian Refugee Camp in Syria. I left a few years ago because of the war. My mum is Lebanese it was quite easy for us to move to Beirut. Life here is also difficult but we feel blessed because we are safe. My dad had trouble finding work so I am doing my best to support my family financially. Sometimes I feel really bad for everyone in the camp. A few weeks ago I raised money to buy food and supplies for the people in Yarmouk. I just came back from my trip to Syria. I feel responsible for everyone left behind. I just wish there was more I could do but at the same time I know that I have to start building my own life.. Welcome to life in the Middle-East.”
(Beirut, Lebanon