Refugees in Lebanon

After watching a 360 Virtual Reality video, "The Displaced," I made a connection to a recent trip I took to Lebanon.

My father met and became best friends with a man he was working with on a lawsuit. His name is Bassam Shaheen, and he grew up in Lebanon, up until the terrorizing environments of their civil war, beginning in the 1970s, and now lives in the United States. He was taken by militants and was on the bring on being killed before he was able to convince them that he was indeed on their side. He was forced into being a refugee who had to travel to America in hopes of a better life.

During the summer going into my junior year, my family took a three week trip to Lebanon. We stayed with my dad's friends who had grown up in the country, who now owns a lot of real estate, and has built his dream house. Lebanon is still a third world country facing problems of infrastructure and refugees. Although many parts of the country are very poor, we stayed in an upper class neighborhood full of mansions.

In the video that I watched, Hana is a little girl from Syria who is seeking refuge in Lebanon. She speaks on how the country treats refugees poorly, and they have little care for them.

Upon arriving in Lebanon, our driver, who my dads knows from previous trips, started to speak to us on the topic of Donald Trump, and the travel ban of muslim countries. He told us that he and other citizens of Lebanon agree with Trump's tough stance on immigration, as they see first hand of the problems that they face with an abundance of refugees across their nation.

I was able to experience both sides of the story by watching the VR video, and by going to Lebanon and seeing how the Syrian refugees are treated. I understand the side of the refugees just wanting a better life, but I also get how the citizens feel as though they are being invaded, as refugees flood the streets around the country.

The story of my dad's friends being a former refugee and being able to come back to his country to relive a better life with more opportunities, is very similar to the future aspirations of many refugees that are fighting to live another day. He understands what it felt like to be a refugee and experience the hardships of being unwanted in a different country.

Bassam has also hired Syrians to work on his property, as he is understanding of their experiences. He came up from nothing, having to immigrate to the United States in hopes of a better life, and has risen above expectations by living the American Dream.