Ep 26. Lebanon Lives - the voice of Areej

Summary

Podcast Summary: Migrant Odyssey, Ep 26. "Lebanon Lives – the Voice of Areej"
Host: Stephen Barden
Guest: Areej, Lebanese educator from Saida
Date: April 21, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this moving episode, host Stephen Barden speaks with Areej, an educator from the historic southern Lebanese city of Saida. Against the backdrop of ongoing violence and upheaval in Lebanon, Areej shares her deeply personal reflections on identity, resilience, education, faith, and the power of human connection. The conversation centers on how individuals find meaning, teach, and heal in times of conflict, offering listeners an intimate portrait of everyday life and hope in war-torn Lebanon.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Language, Identity, and the Poetic Spirit (00:06 – 03:20)

• Stephen introduces Areej’s poetic capacity of expression, highlighting how Arabic is innately poetic in meaning, not just in cultural stereotype. He urges listeners to listen for depth and humanity in voices from the Arab world, beyond simplistic or prejudiced labels:
  • "When we define people, any people, according to our own limitations... we miss the humanity." (02:50, Stephen)

2. Living in Wartime Lebanon (03:38 – 05:47)

• Areej describes the emotional numbness and overwhelming mix of feelings under the threat of war. She feels sadness, anger, devastation, and especially hopelessness as recent hopes for peace faded with Israeli attacks.
  • “Sometimes you come to a phase where you don’t know how to feel anymore. You’re all the feelings at once... It’s really very hard to believe anything right now.” (03:56, Areej)
• Discussing proximity, Areej notes that Lebanon’s small size means violence always feels close to everyone’s heart, even if not physically near.

3. Saida: Home and Heritage (05:47 – 08:08)

• Areej shares her deep connection to the ancient city of Saida, “the Gate of the South,” describing the sense of peace she feels returning home despite repeated wars.
  • “Once I reach this sign that says ‘welcome’, I just feel like at peace.” (07:09, Areej)
• She acknowledges her family’s exhaustion from years of conflict: “We were born and raised on wars. This is something that became a part of everyday life...” (07:37, Areej)
• Social media’s role in fostering division is discussed.

4. Perspective and Empathy: Teaching Through Perception (08:14 – 09:31)

• Areej details a classroom exercise she uses to illustrate perspective and empathy, using the Arabic numeral '8'—students see it differently depending on their position.
  • “The ones on the right, they will see it as number eight. The ones on the left, they will see it as number seven... It’s both correct.” (08:32, Areej)

5. Childhood, Calmness, and Growth (09:45 – 12:12)

• Areej reflects on her childhood: calm, introverted, often creating tents to find peace. She’s surprised by her shift to extroversion as she matured.
  • “I used to make tents and literally live in them. I used to isolate myself from everyone... That was my place, my home, my peace.” (11:29, Areej)
• Stephen questions labels like extrovert/introvert, suggesting that what matters is the ability to communicate and adapt.

6. Becoming an Educator: From Rejection to Calling (13:01 – 16:53)

• Areej never aimed to be a teacher; she originally aspired to medicine to "save lives." Rejection from med programs led her, almost accidentally, into education.
  • “Maybe I’m not good enough... I don’t know how I shifted, but I did my teaching diploma in education and then I traveled to Abu Dhabi and I taught there.” (13:22, Areej)
• Her breakthrough came when she chose to ask her students what they wanted their teacher to know about them. This unlocked their humanity:
  • “Maybe teaching is not about academics, it’s more... I saw the humans before labeling them as students.” (15:55, Areej)
• She now teaches underprivileged students in Lebanon, finding this work deeply meaningful and akin to saving lives “in a different way.”

7. Trauma, Safety, and Real Learning (17:00 – 19:42)

• Many of her students face poverty, violence, or familial trauma. Stephen compares this to European classrooms where control takes precedence over connection.
• Areej describes the neurological need for safety in learning, referencing Maslow’s hierarchy:
  • “If their brain doesn’t feel safe, then their thinking brain is blocked... before the students bloom, we should Maslow.” (18:34, Areej)
• The act of affirming each child’s value (“you are important”) is emphasized by Stephen as more powerful than simply feeling safe.

8. The Seed and the Tree: Early Influences on Leadership (20:29 – 21:46)

• Areej likens developing children to growing trees—a process shaped from the roots up:
  • “You don’t see a tree that is suddenly grown up. You did something when it was a seed and then it became the tree.” (21:30, Areej)

9. Teaching During Conflict & Online Education (21:54 – 24:25)

• Schools in southern Lebanon are often closed; Areej now teaches asynchronously online due to security risks. She adapts by reducing pressure and putting students’ well-being first:
  • “As long as they are safe and they are alive, that’s what’s important.” (23:14, Areej)
• Areej insists on maintaining routines like emotional check-ins even through recorded video, inviting students to respond with their current feelings.

10. What Makes a Good Teacher? (24:39 – 25:55)

• Areej and Stephen agree the subject is less important than the relationship. True teaching is about dialogue and student agency.
  • “It’s not what you teach, but how you teach it.” (24:42, Areej)
  • “I learned a lot from them... I leave with a lot of new learnings from them.” (25:55, Areej)

11. Self, Place, and Belonging (26:00 – 28:07)

• They discuss the profound comfort of returning home, not just to a place but to a version of the self. Areej reflects:
  • “Maybe you don’t like the place. You like the version of you that is in that place. ...It’s the version that keeps me standing...” (26:39, Areej)

12. Faith, Resilience, and the Decision to Wear Hijab (29:54 – 36:52)

• Faith is a quiet, internal strength for Areej, not for show:
  • “Faith is not something... to show off with. It’s something that is born and raised deep within you.” (29:54, Areej)
  • There’s no external difference before or after hijab: “It’s the same whether I’m with the hijab or without the hijab... It’s always there and comes out at the right moment.” (30:49, Areej)
• Wearing hijab was a transformative, almost mystical experience for her during Ramadan, a spontaneous act that brought tears of joy and a sense of reunion with herself.
  • “When I put it on and looked at myself in the mirror, I started to cry so much and I felt this burst of power and confidence in myself...” (35:45, Areej)
  • “Oh my God, I feel like I’m rejoining that moment, remembering that moment, like as if it was yesterday and it was something so, so, so beautiful.” (35:48, Areej)

13. Closing Reflections (37:10 – End)

• Asked if there were unspoken worries or wishes, Areej says she prefers openness and living in the present during conversations.
  • “I just love to be open and just talk whatever comes to my mind.” (37:10, Areej)
• Stephen thanks Areej for her honesty and humanity, wishing her safety and hoping to meet someday in Saida.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Lebanese Pain and Resilience:
  “We were born and raised on wars. This is something that became a part of everyday life...” (07:37, Areej)
• On Teaching:
  “Maybe teaching is not about academics, it’s more... I saw the humans before labeling them as students.” (15:55, Areej)
• On Perspective:
  “The ones on the right, they will see it as number eight. The ones on the left, they will see it as number seven... It’s both correct.” (08:32, Areej)
• On the Power of Faith:
  “Faith is not there to eliminate everything around me... It’s what keeps you moving in spite of all of this.” (31:34, Areej)
• On Belonging:
  “Maybe you don’t like the place. You like the version of you that is in that place.” (26:39, Areej)
• On Wearing Hijab:
  “I felt this burst of power and confidence... I feel like I’m rejoining that moment, remembering that moment, like as if it was yesterday...” (35:45–35:53, Areej)

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Important Segment Timestamps

• 00:06–03:20 — Introduction, Stephen’s thoughts on language and stereotypes
• 03:38–05:47 — Areej's first-person account of life under bombardment
• 07:11–08:08 — Areej on the emotional experience of returning home and her family history
• 08:14–09:31 — Anecdote on perspective with ‘the number 8’ teaching exercise
• 13:01–16:53 — Areej’s pathway to and philosophy of education
• 18:34–19:42 — On Maslow’s hierarchy and the need for safety in learning
• 21:30–21:46 — The tree and seed metaphor for leadership and growth
• 23:14–24:25 — Emphasis on student safety over academic performance during war
• 26:39–28:07 — Where belonging and the best self reside
• 29:54–32:38 — The sustaining role of faith
• 35:45–35:53 — Transformational moment of donning hijab

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Tone and Closing

The conversation is gentle, insightful, and poetic throughout, reflecting Areej’s and Stephen’s mutual respect for depth and the many layers of human experience. Areej’s story stands as both a testimony to the suffering endured in Lebanon and to the enduring triumph of finding joy, meaning, and humanity even in the darkest times.

Transcript

[A]

Sometimes what guests say to me stops me in my tracks. It's when I know that the the best response is to be quiet and listen and to sit in the silence afterwards as well. But of course, in the best case, my curiosity to find out more, and in the worst case, my ego or old habits needlessly fill that silence. All of that happened when I spoke with Arish, Lebanese educator from the ancient city of Saida. It's not just what she says, it's the penetratingly poetic way she has of saying it. When we in the so called west think of Arab speaking people as bloated oil billionaires or deal makers, or extravagant transactional sponsors of golf, tennis, football and any other tournament you can think of, or take your pick, as Islamists, terrorists, victims, perpetrators, refugees, or hopeless. When we do that, and we certainly do, we blind ourselves to the fact that those Arabs speak a language of poetry, not just in verse, but in everyday speech. Long before we caricatured it, Arabic was known to be a wonderfully poetic language. The layers of meaning in words and phrases give it depths that enable scholars, linguists and writers to find new and startling interpretations with every hearing or reading. And it's not in flowery, elaborate, dense language. It's in the flow of meaning within. Very simple, very pure language in and between the words, as it were. Even in translation, that flow is present in poetry ranging from that of Al Mutanabi writing in the 10th century, to Mahmud Darwish in the 20th and 21st century, and now the young Muhammad Abd Al Bahri. And it is that poetry, without exaggeration, that somehow Aries brings with her when she speaks in English. Arej is the second extraordinary ordinary guest in this miniseries on Lebanon, which at the time of recording was being bombed and attacked on a massive scale by Israel. And now Israel has declared a military zone in the south in which they are bulldozing some 55 villages and which makes up around 15% of the total territory of Lebanon. So Arija's story is for me both an oasis, a haven in the noise of war, but also a story that tells us to listen to the humanity that we miss when we define people, any people, according to our own limitations.

[B]

Arish, thank you very much for being on the podcast. It's lovely seeing you and I know we'll have a wonderful conversation. How do I know that? I just simply do. Thank you, Stephen.

[C]

My pleasure is the flesh.

[B]

I'm going to ask you, first of all, if you don't mind, because the Israelis have escalated their attacks on Lebanon, quite dramatically. What does that feel like for you from the ground?

[C]

Well, I really don't know. Sometimes you come to a phase where you don't know how to feel anymore. You're all the feelings at once sad, maybe angry, maybe devastated, maybe uncomfortable. Definitely hopeless because, you know, we had hope that everything is going to come to negotiations, but then we woke up on this. So it's really very hard to believe anything right now. It's just that I really don't know how I'm feeling anymore.

[B]

And how close have the attacks, the bombings been to you, physically?

[C]

Yeah, it's not very close, but it's not very far. At the same time, we say that Lebanon 1 is 10,452 kilometers square. And like, literally it's very small. And whatever is happening anywhere on its land, it's as if it's very close to your heart, you know? So. Yes.

[B]

What a wonderful way you have of speaking. It's really.

[C]

Thank you.

[B]

Now, the most important thing is I want to know about you. So very briefly, if you very briefly say whatever you like. Where were you born? Tell me something about your.

[A]

Your.

[B]

Something about your. Your parents, something about your family, just, just as a. As a background so that we know something about you.

[C]

Okay. I'm born on this land that I think it's one of the. Or specifically in this city where it goes back to thousands and thousands of years ago. Like, my city is 6,000 years old. It's called Saida. We call it the Gate of the south in Lebanon, which is translated to gate of the South. I can say that it comes from the Saida, comes from the world side and means fishing and fishermen because it's on the coastal line. And I. Sometimes they tell me to talk about this city, but as much as I love it, as much as I. I can't describe how, how does it mean, how much does it mean to me? Like, you know, I've traveled a lot and then the. Once I reach this sign that says will come, I just feel like at peace.

[D]

No matter where, where I am.

[C]

Once I reach this sign, I feel

[D]

like home sweet home. I can take a deep breath.

[C]

You know. Something I say about my parents is that today I was with a talk with my mom and she said we're tired of all these wars. I think there's a lot of differences, but a lot of commonalities between us because we were born and raised on wars. And this is something that became a part of everyday life, you know, But I think during our times is maybe Harder because social media has played an important role in doing more and more separation between people. And.

[B]

Yeah, why separation?

[C]

As I told you before, that. Or as I think that sometimes betrayal comes from the inside, as I said. And once someone like, just throw something, we. Everyone start to think of it from their own perspective, like the. I always, I always make this game for my students. I'm an educator, by the way. And there is the number eight in Arabic. It's like an open triangle and it's like a V. So I always put the number eight in the middle. And I divide the students into two parts and the ones on the right, they will see it as number eight. The ones on the left, they will see it as number seven. And when I ask them, they will

[D]

fight and each one will fight to say that they are right.

[C]

So. Yes, but unfortunately it's number eight.

[D]

It's number eight and it's V. So it's both correct. So. Yes.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. And you're right, of course, you know, most the betrayal that is more important comes from within. Arish, tell me what's.

[A]

What was your.

[B]

What's your first memory that you have as a child? Or rather more important, what's the memory that you have as a child that

[A]

has stuck to your heart, that you

[B]

still remain remember strongly in your heart memory?

[C]

Do you want me to say positive or a negative one?

[B]

I want you to say whatever comes to your mind.

[C]

There are a lot of childhood memories, but I can say that there were a lot of laughters as a child. Well, and there's a lot of times where I felt sad too, and angry too, because we're human at the end of the day, and a child experiences all these emotions at a younger age. And sometimes back then, we didn't know how to understand it or why we would feel the same thing or the way we are feeling it. We just come to understand it at an older age. But my childhood was somehow calm. I was literally writing about it in my journal last time that I was really a very calm child.

[D]

I don't know how I became an extrovert as I become older, but really

[C]

I was very calm. I used to make tents and literally live in them. I used to isolate myself from everyone. I just eat, sleep, draw color in that tent. That was my, I don't know, my place, my home, my peace.

[B]

You see yourself as an extrovert now, or do you see yourself as somebody who communicates?

[C]

Well, that's a nice question.

[D]

You made me think about it. Right now, I think both,

[B]

because you Certainly communicate beautifully. I mean, you do. You're so, so clear in what you're saying in, in all the conversations I've had with you. But funny enough, I mean, I have a thing that I, you know, I

[A]

don't, I don't actually.

[B]

It's almost as if I was going to say I don't actually believe in ex. People being extrovert or introvert. It depends on, it depends on the stage in their life where. What they need to do. And I agree.

[C]

Yeah, you're right. Yeah.

[B]

And that's why, that's why I, you know, I said, are you, do you, are you an extrovert or do you, are you a communicator? Do you communicate? Tell me something about your, your being an educator, what do you do with, with whom, etc. Etc.

[C]

Okay, so it's a brief story. I don't know how brief I will be.

[B]

Just go on. There are love stories. That's what we're here for.

[D]

I, I still remember that I didn't want to become a teacher. It was something I literally hated back in high school. I always wanted to become a.

[C]

Do I want to save lives? This is the only way. I want to save lives. No matter what I do, this is the only way. And I started my university first year as a pre med. And then I wasn't accepted into med school. And then I thought to myself, it's okay, I can continue my education as a biologist and then I can reshift to medicine. But then I tried to apply to many universities as well. I got rejected from a lot of universities and not only in Lebanon. So I thought to myself, maybe I'm not good enough. And now self doubt started to leak into my system. And then I don't know how I shifted to. I did my teaching diploma in education. And then I traveled to Abu Dhabi and I taught there. I still remember the first time I entered a classroom. Thirty students in each classroom from all nationalities, from everywhere in the world. Jumping, shouting, crying.

[D]

I don't know what was happening. I thought to myself, should I run or just.

[C]

I stay.

[D]

And then, oh my God, what can I do? I entered the second class. Maybe this class is calmer. And then everyone was shouting and crying and climbing as well.

[C]

And then I thought to myself, what can I do to calm them down or maybe discover something about them? I didn't ask them what their favorite color is. I didn't ask them what was their name. Out of nowhere I told them, pick up a paper and just tell me, what do you wish Your teacher to know about you. And for a few minutes, everyone was calm. And they started writing on the papers. And they asked me, should we write our names? I told them, it's okay, it's okay, you don't have to just be open. And I took the papers home and I started to read that there were a lot behind the human beings that I saw today. And from that time I thought, maybe teaching is not about academics, it's more way than that. And with time, I started to become more and more attached to them and more. And you know, the first students you

[D]

teach, they will always be your favorite.

[C]

But yeah, it was very, very emotional. But I think that's what made me love education is that I saw the humans before labeling them as students. And yes, now I teach, I still teach, but now I teach unprivileged students who come from unprivileged communities. And I think I'm more into education right now because I saw what education really means, and I think I'm saving lives in a different way.

[B]

When you say unprivileged, you meaning unprivileged because of poverty, unprivileged because of

[C]

many, many reasons. Some come from communities that are poor, some come from violence and so on.

[B]

You know, okay, so they're actually children that have been deprived or have been abused, et cetera, et cetera. Yeah. Interesting. I was talking to a teacher here in France quite recently, and she told me a story which actually I've heard stories like this from teachers in Germany and teachers in England, where they basically say that they spent most of their time trying to discipline, trying to control almost a mob, if you like, which

[D]

is what you definitely a mob.

[B]

A mob which is running. Right. And that the teaching takes, almost has to take second place. You know, you act as a police person first and then, and then, and then, and then you teach and you tell me if this is correct. You basically short circuited that by going straight to the human being, the curious child that said, tell me what you want me to know about you, not what I want you to learn. That's what you did, didn't you?

[C]

Yes, exactly. Because I think the first step for students to start learning, and this is what I've learned recently, is that they should feel safe. And scientifically, their brain works like that. If their brain doesn't feel safe, then their thinking brain is blocked. So that's what I mean by we always say this in education before the students bloom, we should maslow. And most maslow goes to this psychologist who made this hierarchy of like the needs that they should have before we go into Bloom's taxonomy, which is more academic and evaluate also, it's all about evaluation and stuff. Because if they don't feel safe, no matter what we do, no matter how, how active we are in the class, they will just not learn.

[B]

So yes, yeah, I'm very familiar with Maslow's hierarchy of needs, but I also think that you tapped into something very deep in human beings, which is which you said, I am interested in you. I'm not interested just in teaching you biology or maths or English or whatever. I am interested in you. I want to know what you need. I think you said, I think that. And that arouses probably more than safety. It arouses.

[A]

You said to them, you are important.

[B]

You, the children are important. I care about it.

[C]

Definitely.

[B]

Some years ago I did some, a lot, four or five year study, which still goes on actually, into leaders. And I wanted to know how they took in their learning while they were at the top of their profession, if you like. And that was my initial research. And then I had to change it because every time they would say to me, you know, when I was a child, blah, blah, when I was a child. And I thought, they're trying to tell me something. They are trying to tell me something. Not they're trying to tell me that what they. How they learned as adults, you know, when they were really at the top of their profession started. Right, when they were children.

[C]

Definitely, yes. I just want to add something. I'm sorry, that it's just like the tree. You don't see a tree that is suddenly grown up. You did something when it was a

[D]

seed and then it became the tree.

[C]

So yes, leaders, they were children and they were like nurturing themselves until they become those leaders. So.

[B]

Yes, yeah, quite right. And do you. Are schools open now or are they closed?

[C]

No, no, only in some areas. Like in some areas that are somehow safe, they are open, but not all the schools, but we are open online.

[B]

So you still teach every day?

[C]

Hopefully online, yes, delivering online.

[B]

And how are they coping with it, the children?

[C]

Well, for me, for my school, because we are closer to the risky areas. We don't go live sessions. We only send things asynchronously. So I can't see them, but I can receive their answers. I can receive whatever question they had, but I can't say they are very active. They are not. Sometimes I extend the deadline so that I don't put so much pressure on them because some of the students even with the deadline, they are not submitting anything. So which is, I understand we have no pressure. And to be honest, the, the thing we think about it now is not what we receive from them. As long as they are safe and they are alive, that's what's important.

[B]

And can you express that concern to them? I mean, you know, I know it's asynchronistically, but can you. Do they know that you are concerned?

[C]

Yes, yes, we. Well, actually there is a routine we do inside the class. Like every day I enter the class, we do some check in, emotions check in, we do some morning greetings. And I know I record the video online, but I insist on doing this in the beginning of every video. I always tell them, now imagine you

[D]

have the greetings sheet. I want to bump fist your hands or I'm feeling excited because I'm seeing

[C]

you, how do you feel? And I try to tell them to answer me when they submit their answers. So yeah, I think they know.

[B]

And what do you teach? Is that right? English and biology, Is that correct?

[C]

Science, Science, science.

[B]

So from medicine to biology to science and ink.

[D]

Yes, yes, it was the most challenging thing.

[C]

But I think it's not what you teach, but how you teach it.

[B]

Yeah, I think it's absolutely right. I think it's absolutely. And if you think about, certainly if I think about the teachers who I remember and the ones I got most out of, if you ask me now were they good teachers, I'd say I have no idea. But what I do know is that

[A]

I learned a lot from them.

[B]

It's how you relate, isn't it? It's how you relate to these, to the people you're teaching.

[C]

Definitely, yes.

[B]

And I wonder whether we should actually stop talking about teaching and start talking about dialogue. Difficult when you've got 30 kids. I know, but you know, maybe.

[C]

Well, now I don't have 30 students, I have less. But yes, definitely I agree with you. At the end of the day, it's this class, it's for them, it's not for me. So they should have the right to be the ones leading as well, not only me.

[D]

So.

[C]

And I learned a lot from them. Like I entered the class like I want to teach them this, but I

[D]

leave it with a lot of new learnings from them.

[B]

You said earlier on that when you, when you return, when you see that welcome sign inside it, you, you breathe a sigh of relief basically, don't you? You? Yeah.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

You exhale. Yes, exhale. What I talk about, interestingly enough, I ask people where do you exhale? Where do you breathe Beside the relief?

[A]

And you.

[B]

And you told me without my asking, it's for you, that place. Is it a place? Or is it also family? Is it also people?

[C]

There is something I read last time. It's maybe you don't like the place. You like the version of you that is in that place. And this is quite amazing. And I think the version of me here is just absolutely the version I love, or maybe if it's not the version that I really want, but it's the version that keeps me standing even with all the, with all the conflicts, with everything, with all the uncertainty. I think it's where my strength and resilience come from. And maybe I love this version of me.

[B]

Yeah. There are so many layers on that. So the version of you is in the place, because that is possibly the, the place that formed you and lets you behave in ways that are meaningful and that you love is. Am I close?

[C]

Definitely, yes.

[B]

You've hit upon a very profound point for me, which is that there are certainly places and people within which and with whom we cannot be or we don't allow ourselves to be the selves that we love, I think, and therefore there must be places where. There are places where, of course, you can be the selves that we love. I, I, I've been sort of fairly nomadic most of my life in that, you know, the very few years where I've. Very few places that I've been permanently in and I don't. My birthplace in Tanzania, I left when I was 13. And although it still remains in my, in my memory, in my heart and things like that, it's, it's not the place, of course, that I, That I am living in, but I think you're absolutely correct.

[A]

It's that it's.

[B]

When people talk about. You put it in a different way, in a much more meaningful way when they, when they talk about, you know, being my true self, whatever that means. It's not, it's not Huck, it's. It's being the self that you can love, which is Aziz, if you think about it. If one for me, that's. That's Aziz. That's the precious one. That's the. Yeah. Tell me something about the role that faith, Islam plays for you as a, As a human being. If you don't mind. If you do mind, don't tell me.

[C]

Of course, this is, you know, as much as I always say that, for me, faith is not something. Or praying or religion as a whole is not something to show off with. It's something that is born and raised deep within you. And the way you act, opponent tells so much like, I'm not a person who, of course, if you see me, you'll see. You'll see a Muslim girl, because of course I'm putting the hijab on and so on. But I always say, what if I wasn't a hijabi? How would people know if I really have this faith in my. In me? And to be honest, I wasn't a hijabi before, and I decided to wear it when I was 21 years old. So I was really old. And I took this decision on my own. So I always compare, if I want to compare myself before and now it's the same. Actually, it's the same whether I'm with the hijab or without the hijab. And faith is something to me that comes. It's always there and comes out at the right moment whenever I feel like I need it, but I don't know

[D]

how much I need it.

[C]

I don't know if you got this, but I think it's one of the things in life that just happens. Maybe sometimes you cannot understand how or why, or maybe sometimes you cannot name it, but you feel something inside you that gives you so much power to do things you didn't know you are able of doing. And I think if I didn't have that faith deep within me, I don't know what would happen to me right now. I've collapsed. But faith is not there to eliminate everything around me. It's not to eliminate the sadness or the angriness or anything. It's all there. It was born with all of this. It's what keeps you moving in spite of all of this. So. Yes.

[B]

So that is what, from what you're saying, I'm gathering that it is there. You can draw on that well, or you can draw from that well

[A]

when

[B]

you need it, even though sometimes you don't know that you need it. That's right. Because I equate faith with remembering. If you like remembering God, Allah, remembering one's source.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

Being close, I found that. That the strongest times, the times that I'm really moved, is when I practice remembering. If I don't, I find myself quite detached.

[C]

Yes. And there's this ayah that says, and it's in the remembrance of Allah that the hearts are feel at ease, you know?

[B]

Yes, absolutely. That's. That's so. So it's. It's not working hard with the brain. It's Working hard with the. It's working. Working hard with the soul, maybe. Yeah. With the heart, with the soul, with the core. It's actually getting tried. And yeah, the remembering always. That remembering always struck me and resonated with me because it is. It's remembering. It's and, and remembering has two meanings. One is I remember what happened in the past. I remember what's. But it also is to rejoin. You remember you put yourself back together again.

[C]

I love this word, rejoin.

[D]

Yes.

[B]

Yeah. Yes, you rejoin it, which is important. So. Yeah.

[A]

Why did you put the hijab on?

[C]

Well, I've always thought about it, but I remember one time that it was during Ramadan, the holy month of Ramadan. It was, I think it was the first night and it was before the Fajr prayer, before the dawn prayer, and I was reading the Quran and I saw my sister's scarf on the bed and I thought to myself, why not try it? And I remember when I put it on and looked at myself in the mirror, I started to cry so much and I felt this burst of power and confidence in myself that I was, oh, my God, what is this feeling?

[D]

I don't know.

[C]

And oh my God, I feel like

[D]

I'm rejoining that moment, remembering that moment,

[C]

like as if it was yesterday and it was something so, so, so beautiful. And at that time, I decided that this all happened for a reason. This moment happened for a reason for me. I don't know what or how or why. Maybe I don't want the answer. All I want that I was really, really so happy from the inside. And yes, and maybe it's a way that for me to thank Allah for everything that he has given me. And I feel like this is something very, very small that I can, can give in return. So, yes, thank you, thank you, thank you.

[B]

Now, a funny question I'm going to ask you. Is there anything that I haven't asked you that either you want to tell me or that you worried that I would ask you?

[C]

No, actually, as I told you, I don't. When I want to talk about something or I want to start a conversation, I don't really think of what I'm going to say or what the people are going to ask me. I just love to be open and just talk whatever comes to my mind.

[D]

But believe me, after that, I will always think of, oh, maybe I should have said that, maybe. But like before it and with enduring, I don't really think about anything.

[B]

This has been a wonderful conversation and

[D]

thank you for me as well.

[C]

Thank you.

[B]

Thank you very much. We will talk again, I hope. I trust.

[C]

Hopefully. Hopefully.

[B]

And bless you. Stay safe. Stay well.

[C]

Thank you.

[B]

Stay happy.

[C]

May we see you in Cyber one day?

[B]

Please, Please. Inshallah. I will be there.

[A]

That was the wonderful Arish speaking to me from Saida in Lebanon in our mini series on extraordinary ordinary people in Lebanon. I'm Stephen Barton. This has been another episode of Migrant Odyssey.

[B]

Sa.