The Aftermath of the Beirut Blast Interview with Soraya Soraya (IS) was in Beirut last summer when a devasting explosion rocked the city. I sat down with Soraya as she shared what she witnessed and how her family stayed to help those affected by the disaster. INTERVIEW BY AFIYAH ALIM, ALUMNAE AND DEVELOPMENT OFFICER
Vases fell off the shelf, the ground shook, chairs were thrown about the room, lights flickered, glass shattered, and the front door burst open. I heard sirens roaring and people screaming in the street. My mum grabbed my brother and me and dragged us into the hallway away from the window. I was confused and we did not know what was happening. We thought it was an earthquake or a bomb, but then when we looked through the window, we saw a large cloud of pink chemical smoke.”
Can you describe to us what you and your family experienced? The day after the explosion my family and I were eager to visit the affected areas to see how we could help. We were really lucky as our house is in West Beirut and the port, where the explosion happened, is in the East of the city. Our door blew off and our windows shattered but compared to what we saw, we counted ourselves very lucky.
Soraya talking to Linda, a 90 year old woman who lives near the site of the explosion
social media had a massive influence on our fundraising. Our page was shared on Twitter by newsreaders Mishal Hussein and Emily Maitlis and coupled with our friends and family, we were able to raise even more money. This is what spurred us on. We started by creating food parcels — people did not have water or electricity and needed to eat. We set up a tent to distribute these and people saw our efforts and joined in, with the whole community helping where they could. A man who needed food parcels as his house was destroyed offered the use of his pickup truck, which was vital in transporting the 450 gallons of water and food we were distributing every day.
“Vases fell off the shelf, the ground shook, chairs were thrown about the room, glass shattered...”
There was talk of international aid coming but little immediate emergency relief. We feared that this would be seen as just more political turmoil in the Middle East but in fact, this was a mammoth humanitarian disaster. My family and I wanted to do something. With the help of my aunt in London, we set up a GoFundMe page with an initial target of £1,000. We reached our goal in less than 24 hours and then it just grew from there. The power of 9
Donations from our GoFundMe page allowed us to offer food parcels, water and other essential supplies, but some people just wanted to talk — we were providing emotional support where we could. There are also so many other vital things that they needed like nappies, and we also collected and delivered prescriptions and medication to the elderly who couldn’t leave their homes – we tried to do as much as we possibly could.
