In Achrafieh, many mums and dads rely on relatives to solve the problem. Nour Nassih, who lives with her family of four children, in Sodeco, bounces her kids in between the grandparents. She says it´s common and that she feels lucky to live in a culture where she can count on the whole family to help out.

“It´s so much better for them to be with family than to be left at daycare all day. It´s too many kids and too much stress. I´m happy that my kids can stay home and take it easy during the summer,” Nassih said.

However, with all the rubble piled in the middle of the way, the traffic on the street is a problem.

The attack on October 19 not only killed three people and injured more than 120, but rhe violence of the explosion has also caused huge damage to the buildings on the street. One of the outer walls of a building was completely destroyed in the attack, some even collapsed.

Several hotels in Beirut offered to host the homeless residents and in the meantime, several Lebanese associations decided to take action.

The street where the attempt took place was still closed by Monday morning by legal forces because the investigation was still taking place.
The silence is only broken by the traffic jam caused by the presence of military soldiers. Employees who work in the street where the bombing took place preferred to stay at home, for others, life continues. The highlight of the day was cleaning the damage caused by the explosion; glaziers were busy fixing new glass for the windows of the damaged buildings.

Critical but romantic is the younger generation: Mawadda, 22, is “against marriage on paper, at the church or in any religious institution: marriage is first and foremost a union between two souls”. Her friend Therry nods. Far removed from romance, some rather see love as a battlefield, where you have to think tactics, play it smart and use your brains instead of your heart: “This is the key to a successful marriage”, says Annie, 42, married and divorced.

Whoever I asked, all agreed on the fact that Achrafieh was the place to be if you wanted to enjoy a nice drink or wander around in a classy and well frequented atmosphere. Some residents also pointed out their luck concerning the electricity problems which have raged through Lebanon and which they were spared of, Achrafieh being a neuralgic center that the government alimented well in electricity.

When the post office in Sassine initiated about two years ago the usage of tickets to wait for one's turn, many were surprised, some laughed, saying that the concept would "never work!"

And indeed, at first, many started to bypass the ticket dispenser, seeking to directly reach the office, with explanations of "urgency". This led to the frustration of the people standing in the queue, a ticket in hand.

In each Achrafieh's neighborhood more or less, you will find a construction site. Towers are sprouting from the ground, they are everywhere. Huge modern apartment buildings stripping Ashrafieh from its charm. The towers are reaching forever upwards on an unstable ground not meant for such grandeur.

This technical report of a Committee of Experts (the legal aspects of the case are investigated by the prosecutor of Beirut) involves several factors, starting with the age of the building.

"Nous avons entamé ce projet depuis un certain temps et il l'est l'une des conséquences du congrès sur la croissance "Ada'a" en coopération avec la municipalité de Beyrouth et il porte le numéro 03 910 000", a dit le député du bloc Michel Pharaon en cette occasion.

Pharaon announced the launch of the Hotline 03 000 019 which will be allocated to receive development complaints from the people of the region as well as contribute to the non-recurrence of the Achrafieh collapsed building disaster. 

"This number will be at the disposal of the people of the region to listen to their complaints and development needs and work to meet them in collaboration with members of the municipal, mayors and municipal employees."