Posts tagged ‘service workers’
Kiva Lebanon: Lebanon without the Lebanese?
The ladies (plus gent) that lunched!
As I strolled casually down this major city street I savored the sweet smells of spices as I walked by small grocery shops, admired the dangling gold earrings and embroidered “saris” of women giggling as they strutted down the sidewalk, and edged closer than I normally would to passersby hoping to catch a few phrases in my mother tongue of Bengali. This would seem like a typical day for a Kiva Fellow cruising the crowded streets of Kolkata, but strangely enough Kiva does not yet work in India, and it took me a few surreal moments to remember that I was still in Beirut. Little did I know that on this seemingly normal Sunday I would find myself in Beirut’s multi-ethnic shopping and food district of “Dora” to celebrate the Sri Lankan New Year with my cleaning lady and her friends, also service workers from South Asia living in Lebanon.
A South Asian supermarket and of course a Western Union for money transfers!
Lebanon: Multiculturalism or Artfully Masked Discrimination?
Tailored advertisements for Lebanon's service workers
Lebanon is aesthetically beautiful with its lush greenery and seemingly endless miles of coastline flirting with the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean Sea. In a region known for its vast deserts, Lebanon is certainly a strange exception. Living in ultra modern Beirut, it is easy to forget that the country has been plagued by war for generations. With its bustling cafes, gorgeous boardwalk (the “Corniche”) filled with street vendors, young lovers holding hands, and families walking carelessly as small children ride bicycles and eat chocolate bars or freshly grilled corn, Beirut sometimes feels like an urban paradise. As a middle-income country, Lebanon does not suffer from the same degree of poverty like Egypt and Syria. It also does not have the incredible wealth of countries like Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Yet, there is an interesting social dynamic here that I did not expect to find….. (more…)
