Saad Tasleem – Travel Vlog – Refugee Camps in Lebanon

			So I want to go everyone. I've never really done a travel vlog before but I decided to do one for
this particular trip because of the significance of it. I traveled to Lebanon to visit some of these
Syrian refugee camps that are there and deliver winter aid. I traveled from my home airport which is
Dulles International in Washington DC to Turkey and then from Turkey to Beirut, Lebanon. Here's a
little bit of what happened on the way and during my trip
		

			just finished security headed to my date.
		

			So this will do area in the lounge in the Istanbul airport. It's pretty cool. They give you
disposable slippers and even disposable prayer rugs and a little masala here walking to my gate to
catch my flight for Beirut I came across a shop selling a whole bunch of these evil eye talismans
man, I don't even know what to say why. Finally boarding my flights to favorite job.
		

			Took me about two to three hours to get through customs and immigration. In Beirut, it was just that
the line was really, really long.
		

			First thing I did in Beirut was to go get a shawarma. Most of Beirut that I saw that night was
pretty dark. And I was told it's because of the power outages and a lot of the buildings were
dilapidated. Honestly, it was kind of sad to see it. This picture here actually is brighter than
reality. Nothing that's because of the iPhone night mode. We did stop by this area, which was quite
beautiful. On the coast. It's known as Roche. I'm hope I'm saying that properly. The view was just
stunning, even at nighttime.
		

			So down to the first day, this is my main man in from human appeal, who basically put this whole
trip together for me drove past the explosion, or the aftermath of the explosion that took place in
Beirut in 2020. Headed to an area known as Addison, which is where the Syrian refugee camps are in
Lebanon. And this is what we saw on the way
		

			it was certainly beautiful to see the snowfall and the scenery. But on the other hand, they were
telling me that all this snow means that the refugees are having a very, very difficult time dealing
with the snow and obviously dealing with the cold as well.
		

			So right behind me here are the Syrian refugee camps. It's right over the border from serious those
mountains behind those mountains is Syria. These camps, I've been told have about 50,000 families
that are here to get hit by snowstorms, they just had a storm and I'm told another one is coming as
well. So this is what we're we're here to see and we're here to give some a shot.
		

			These living conditions were horrible. I mean, I don't know what else to say. This particular quote
unquote, house tent, you know, whatever you want to call it. Here's a tour of it. This is the main
living room area.
		

			And here is pretty much the rest of the house. This is kitchen, laundry room.
		

			Sink. I mean, it's all this is this is the house, this is what it is.
		

			And right in here is the bathroom. And you can see there's no real separation between the bathroom
and the rest of the Concord house. So just wanted to show you what it's actually like here in the
refugee camps. Oftentimes when we hear camps, we think of a very comfortable place but it's it's not
		

			like that,
		

			let me show you
		

			this is what their alleys are like this is where they're living.
		

			As you can see, it's not it's not even safe to walk here. But this kids that live here play here,
this is this is the this is
		

			this campaign or soil, it's been snowing for the last couple of days, it's minus four degrees right
now really cold families here, just to keep warm, they collect food, they kick plastic, they burn it
isn't good for them or the environment, but they have no choice. Because otherwise they will freeze
because of the severe conditions here. And you can see there's a fire here, this plaster in this
metal bin if you like, you have the whole family here to keep homes.
		

			So let me introduce you to what's happening here we have fuel that can sustain them. Hopefully in
this winter, they can get some heat going. And then we have two food packs per family here to
provide food for them. And then lastly, this winter kit, we have hats, scarves, and blankets for
them. Even though for us, it may not seem like a lot. And this may seem like things that, you know,
we we don't even think about this stuff. But for them, this is everything. This is their life, this
is how they survive in the winter.
		

			So I was able to come and visit this particular, I don't even know what to call it dwelling, it's
not really house, it's just seems like it's put together with scraps, the roof is leaking.
		

			Honestly, I'm a little bit at a loss for words, especially when I think about the way I live. And,
you know, my family lives in compared to this.
		

			But this is actually a happy day, because our sister here did receive some aid and she got food, she
was unable to actually cook for herself before number one because without food number two, there was
no fuel. She was burning rubber and plastic just to get some warmth to but handle that now she has
fuel. Hopefully, hopefully this will last year, some time where she can actually take advantage of
the food and cook the food and get some warmth. In this place. I wish you could touch and feel the
surfaces because everything is damp and everything is wet, and everything is cold.
		

			I'm wearing socks right now. And I'm cold and I don't I can't imagine being here at night when the
temperature drops. And when another storm comes through. And it snows more and more and more. But
have been whatever you know we can do.
		

			It's it's something has been that and i i For me, I know this doesn't seem like a lot. But when I
know it's speaking the sister, this means everything to her and her family.
		

			And I'm really happy to be able to come in and put a face to the donation that I've been collecting.
You know, honestly, one of the things about empathy
		

			is, unless you connect with someone, you can't feel what they're feeling. A lot of times when we
donate, and we give, they're just these names and just these people in these numbers and these
figures, and we say, you know, there's 50,000 refugees here, and but these are people and they're
living their lives, and they're dealing with this stuff on it on a daily basis. You know, for us, we
look at that. $95 And we're like, can I afford to give $95 You know, what am I willing to give up
for that? $95 But for these people this is, this is their life. And you know, this is how there's
surviving. And I really wish I could bring every one of you here with me to come see how these
		

			people are, are living the sister here with her children. She's living here for 10 years. And that
was really weird for me to hear that because when I think of refugees, I always think temporary,
right? Like they're just in a temporary bad situation. But she's been here for 10 years living here.
And this is her life. There's no you know, somebody was saying a lot of these people are are not
looking for anything forward and not looking for the for the next year. Or, you know, where will I
be in five years or 10 years? They're just looking to survive today. This season. They're looking to
survive this winter right now. So I hope they can you can just get a glimpse of what these what you
		

			know, our brothers and sisters what their lives are like.
		

			You saw the cause of it. I can see you well you can ozone them. It's freezing cold right now. Um
		

			Working and I'm still not getting warm, I'm so glad I brought gloves because my, through the gloves,
my hands are freezing right now. So very cold. I can't believe people live here without any type of
heat, without anything to keep them warm, I can't imagine what it's like being here at nighttime,
the sun is still up, it's still not dark yet and it's already so cold. That is just some of what I
saw in this particular refugee camp. And I know I could have gotten more footage but I'm just gonna
be real with you, I really wanted to just experience it, you know, put the camera down and just
connect with people and just be there myself in the moment. But I'll share this particular image
		

			with you which is a standout image for me and that is the spirit of these people with all the
suffering and pain that they're going through and the difficulty their spirit is not broken. As you
can see these kids are smiling and they're hopeful. So we those who can actually help should not
lose hope either. And take these children and these refugees as an inspiration to do as much as we
can do
		

			while in Lebanon, I also got the chance to visit the city of slight debt which is a beautiful city
also on the coast there are a lot of refugees there for example Palestinian refugees and they're
living well below the poverty line so I got the chance to deliver some aid to them some some food
packages
		

			I also went to go visit a refugee family in one of the old parts of the town
		

			so this particular refugee family in slay Deb lived on the top floor of this building and I just
want you to see what this climb was like to get all the way to the top and the man who lives there
is actually partially blind
		

			yo
		

			yo
		

			so that's just a small glimpse into my stay in Lebanon and here I'm headed out to the airport to go
to Turkey and then home from Turkey. But here's what happened in Turkey
		

			Yeah, Turkey got hit by a snowstorm and it was pretty bad. All the flights got canceled so I was
stuck in Turkey for a few days. I really missed home at this point, but there's nothing I could do.
I couldn't even actually go out and C is stumble. There was so much snow roads were closed places
were closed. The blue mosque was closed but I got to see snow in Turkey
		

			so the flight is delayed, but I'm hoping today a lot that is gonna just be a delay and not a
cancellation shot.
		

			So I hope you liked my very first travel vlog most of it was shot by me on my cell phone. So excuse
the footage and like I said, I've never done one of these before. It is a lot of work I realized
while doing it that sometimes I wanted to just experience things rather than, you know, get them on
film but handled I do realize it gave you the chance to see and experience some of what I
experienced. If you'd like to see more of these let me know I might have to upgrade my equipment a
little bit. So let's see. Thank you for watching Zakum on the head off, like subscribe, share all
that YouTube stuff, not used to it but you know you got to do what you got to do. So make sure you
		

			do that the link to donate is actually below so the campaign is done. But I left the just giving
page open so people still want to give you can still give and the donations will still go to the
refugees during winter insha Allah I'll catch you later take care said I'm ready to lay wabarakatuh
		

			Aloha