I had the tremendous good luck to get to know Lebanon and the Lebanese culture thanks to some close friends and especially to one of my best friends, who chose to settle in Beirut in 2006, just before the outbreak of war the following summer.
Under the spell of what she told me about the country, and once the political situation had improved, I decided to visit her. In May 2007 the situation seemed to have stabilised, and my friend confirmed that daily life was once more calm and safe. So I headed off to explore this wonderful country.

But I’m not writing to talk about the political situation in Lebanon, or to tell you in detail about our experiences on this particular visit.
I’d like to talk about how things can change, and about the work of an association that brings a lot of hope and which takes practical steps towards creating peace. This organisation is called OffreJoie (Bringing Hope), a Lebanese association that I support and that is attempting to lay the foundations for peace and dialogue in this beautiful country, in the hopes of creating ever more peace and dialogue in the future.

OffreJoie was created in 1985 as the result of a bet made by 5 students of Lebanese origin and a variety of different faiths. They committed to setting up a free, multi-faith holiday camp, provided that each of their mothers agreed to prepare one meal for 40 people on one of the days of the camp.

And so, for 25 years, OffreJoie has provided an opportunity each summer for Lebanese youths to live together irrespective of their social and religious origins.
This year, from July to August, OffreJoie’s permanent centre in Kfifane (north of Beirut) will once again host children aged 8 to 12 years, for free, week after week. They will be supervised by volunteers from Europe and Lebanon (if you’re interested in volunteering, contact: paris@offrejoie.com).

In addition to the holiday camps, OffreJoie has become an apolitical, multi-faith and community-minded Lebanese movement that aims to build bridges among the Lebanese:

•    by carrying out social projects throughout Lebanon, including during the summer: renovating distressed neighbourhoods (Bab El Tebbaneh in Northern Lebanon), schools (Bazbina in 2009 in Northern Lebanon) and prisons (Tebnine in 2009 in South Lebanon).
•    through reintegration camps for young offenders and abused girls every year in September in Kfifane.
•    through community-inspired initiatives throughout the year: community demonstrations, citizenship training, multi-faith prayers, the “sweaters for prisoners” program, “Operation Christmas Tree”, the “Roads to Kfifane” music festival, etc.

In Paris, former OffreJoie volunteers get involved to help to finance activities in Lebanon and to publicise the movement through a cultural event, the Paris OffreJoie Souk, held every year in December.