Most of the people of Wadi Khaled work in agriculture. They live day-to-day off of the trade that spanned the Syrian border.
There is a story often told that when displaced Syrians came to the border, the people of this area awaited them there and offered to let them stay in their homes. They recalled the hospitality the Syrians had shown them during the July 2006 war, when they were the ones who were displaced, and they were determined to repay this favor. To them, displacement is a humanitarian issue.
Displacement is often discussed in negative terms, with reference to its effect on the social, economic, and cultural fabric of a host community. But the reality in Lebanon, and especially in Wadi Khaled, is that residents have responded with generosity, goodness, and patriotic pride.
From the economic perspective, displaced Syrians have expanded the Lebanese commercial market, and they have brought with them innovations in the fields of industry and work. Among these, for example, are sweets and jewelry production and handmade crafts.
From the social perspective, displaced Syrians have refreshed the modes of coexistence, through intermarriage and mutual support, which manifests itself most of all in times of medical crisis, when Lebanese citizens gather donations to help refugees pay for expensive healthcare treatments.
We have learned from the refugees about the will to live, despite pain and suffering.
The saying is true, regrettably: “One people’s disaster is another’s benefit.” The Wadi Khaled area, once forgotten, has now seen a degree of activity and prosperity. But it has always prided itself on its patriotism, and it has always demanded to be included in the heart of the nation, and it still recalls the verse of poetry:
Though my country tyrannizes me, it is dear,
And though its people constrain me, they are noble.
And so the displacement issue had made it clear that every matter has a positive aspect as well as a negative one.
It has cast light, as no one expected, on once forgotten Wadi Khaled, whose municipalities have long requested that international organizations come face deprivation on the front lines.
Now, these organizations are executing projects in development and infrastructure, and they are helping Akkar surmount real challenges. It was the displaced Syrians who finally drew the attention of these organizations here.