“Children of Beirut dream of joy“: Is football still for everyone in Lebanon?
Photo taken in Beirut, Lebanon by Adnan Hajj Ali
BEIRUT, August 30, 2023 - With the widespread of football academies and schools in Lebanon, parents pay monthly subscriptions for their children to play the nation's most popular game, to learn its origins and master its skills. Sometimes, the academy monthly subscription could reach an amount close to an entire misfortuned family's income.
Like many families, crushed by the collapse of the currency exchange rate, becoming unable to carry out the very basic needs of life, like paying for electricity and water bills that are doubled due to the interruption of these services by the state, with the absence of public transportations, the decline of public spaces, gardens, and parks that provide an outlet for the residents of the capital.
In the photo, taken by Adnan Hajj Ali, a number of children practice their beloved hobby on a neglected sandy land. Its floor is covered with waste, and rust-eaten iron beams pitched on it, not covered by any mesh.
According to the residents of the area, this piece of land is an outlet for the children of the neighbourhood, as they flock to it in the afternoon hours, in dozens, and continue to play until their vision is obscured after sunset.
Despite all the suffering, and with the lack of basics for a child to grow properly, their passion for the game makes them play it with ease and enjoyment, and so life goes on in Lebanon, because despite everything there are those who still believe that something will change, and that a better life must come.
Like many families, crushed by the collapse of the currency exchange rate, becoming unable to carry out the very basic needs of life, like paying for electricity and water bills that are doubled due to the interruption of these services by the state, with the absence of public transportations, the decline of public spaces, gardens, and parks that provide an outlet for the residents of the capital.
In the photo, taken by Adnan Hajj Ali, a number of children practice their beloved hobby on a neglected sandy land. Its floor is covered with waste, and rust-eaten iron beams pitched on it, not covered by any mesh.
According to the residents of the area, this piece of land is an outlet for the children of the neighbourhood, as they flock to it in the afternoon hours, in dozens, and continue to play until their vision is obscured after sunset.
Despite all the suffering, and with the lack of basics for a child to grow properly, their passion for the game makes them play it with ease and enjoyment, and so life goes on in Lebanon, because despite everything there are those who still believe that something will change, and that a better life must come.
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