A story of love & war

Nathalie Salameh

In March 2020, I was approached by MARCH Association to embark on a collaboration journey in Tripoli, North of Lebanon. For decades, Tripoli endured so many conflicts from cultural to religious wars powered and initiated by warlords, turned politicians. The goal was to separate people and keep them divided, with the innocence of children shattered: taught to always use violence and weapons to resolve their differences.

There is so much I can say about MARCH’s work and impact on people’s lives, but where do I begin..

March brought together former fighters and enemies from the two areas in Tripoli: “Beb el Tebbeneh” & “Jabal Mehsen”. On the demarcation line, they worked hand in hand to break the fictional walls of divide & learn how to respect and like each other for who they are as humans despite their religious and cultural difference.

For these young people who have known nothing but violence growing up, March association has created a safe haven where the youths formed their own “new” community around innovation, art, creativity away from shackles of sectarianism and violence along the demarcation line that kept witnessing unimaginable brutality.

For a year, I worked side by side with a team of young people - victims of being pawns of war - yearning to learn, better their lives and most importantly have someone to believe in them, someone to believe that they could triumph against the forces of destruction and become free.

Together, we created a beautiful story. MARCH gives the youths a new chance in life, in turn the youths give a new chance to old discarded furniture to be part of our stories.

Picture taken by the talented MSWR Production for March Association

I love this quote by Vincent Van Gogh : “If you hear a voice within you say you cannot paint then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced". In times where the youths felt hopeless, unable to free their mind & souls from the never ending scars of life, I always used to lean on this quote to inspire them not to surrender & give up to their realities, but make their own fate.

I have to say, coming from a different background and being a woman was tough at the beginning, but I was able to achieve more than I ever expected. I wanted to be able to teach them more than just to paint. I wanted to teach them to value the cause of humanity: kindness & acceptance of each other no matter our differences. In the end, we all bleed the same color. Most of all, I wanted to help create a safe space where young women and men can work together side by side despite the social stigma.

MARCH, in collaboration with Crafted treasured by nataly, organized several exhibitions in the heart of the capital Beirut. After the devastating August 4 Beirut port blast, MARCH's youths gave back to their community by fixing destructed homes & restaurants and providing furniture they restored themselves to people affected by this horrific explosion..This was the first time the youths traveled outside their community to help spread the message of love & hope they worked so hard to instill between themselves..tearing down the walls of division & building a better tomorrow!

This is their story of love and war. Their journey of determination and hope conceiving amazing pieces of art as a symbol of their power and ability to take ownership over their lives. The story of believing that tomorrow, they will choose peace.