By Stella Embliss
I was born in Beirut in 1950, the eldest daughter of Rosemary and Norman Lewis, the Principal Instructor at mecas from 1948–1955. We lived in the Chouf village of Shemlan until 1955 when my parents decided to return to England. In 1968 I visited Lebanon with my sister and at last—follow- ing wars, unrest, covid and the explosion—I have made it back again.
My son and I had booked a tour of Lebanon which included walking in the Cedars and the Kadisha Valley, but we arranged to spend a day in Shemlan beforehand and an evening with Lebanese friends of my parents at the end. It was perfect.
How to find someone to show us round Shemlan proved not to be the problem I had anticipated. An internet search threw up SPNL—the Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon— and amazingly there were several web pages about Shemlan, https://www.spnl.org/?s=shemlan. Even better, Tarek Hitti, the son of the mayor and Shemlan’s SPNL project manager, arranged a wonderful day of visits for us.
I had imagined that Shemlan would now be a scruffy urbanised sprawl, perhaps showing signs of the devastation of the civil war (1975–1990), but not at all. It’s an attractive village with a population of around 1,000 people. We didn’t see a shop (though there are some) but walked up and down paths past largish traditionally-built stone houses, similar in colour to Cotswolds houses here. The famous view was the same—right down to the Mediterranean. There is still a primary school, reminding me of the time I tried to run away because all the Shemlani girls were endlessly picking me up and playing with my hair. The Cliff House restaurant is still open and plays a large part in the thriller Shemlan—A Deadly Tragedy by Alexander McNabb. mecas’s famous word cards are also mentioned in the book.
And what of mecas?
Tarek, Assad, Zeina and Ali (all from the SPNL) took us to the house of “The Chosen One” (mukhtar), Father Elie Abdel Masih. He is now 80 and is responsible for record-keeping, social cohesion and very much more. We sat on the veranda with other villagers drinking Lebanese coffee, eating cakes and I passed round photos taken in Shemlan by my parents in the early 1950s. It was a wonderful occasion—everyone was welcoming and curious, talking about the photographs in Arabic and English, and then about mecas. Father Elie described how mecas students would come to his house to eat and how he would visit the school. Given his age he probably met some of your parents or those of you reading this article.
I know that mecas was set up in Jerusalem and moved in 1947 to what had been an old silk factory and then orphanage in Shemlan. My father took up his post in 1948 and I have photos of staff and students there. The new building was opened in 1959 and that mecas was closed in 1978 due to the civil war. On our visit Tarek said that the original building had been used for many purposes since mecas moved and had only been finally demolished last year, 2022. He walked us through the site, now a small meadow of poppies and other wild flowers, very pretty.
We then walked up the hill to the newer mecas building which was sold in 1995 and the buildings repurposed for the Shemlan Social Institution, which accommodates “special needs beneficiaries with mental and learning disabilities”. The building is still owned and used for this purpose.
The staff spontaneously arranged a tour of the school for us; we visited the dormitories, classrooms, vocational workshops and canteen which has phenomenal views down to Beirut and the sea.
Tarek is keen to forge stronger links between the school and SPNL. One idea is to create a safe path between the school and his small hotel, The Chill Inn (see booking.com) so that students can walk the few minutes alone, help him with small tasks and then return, thereby building up their independence.
This brings me to SPNL and its mission in Shemlan
We were bowled over by Tarek’s, Assad’s, Ali’s and Zeina’s enthusiasm and passion. SPNL is a national organisation with several projects in Shemlan. In 2022 the Quranic Garden in nearby Keyfoun was inaugurated and work is taking place on the Biblical Garden in Shemlan. We walked around the site, saw some rescued birds and tortoises and heard how the garden is to be planted with native species, some of which are mentioned in the Bible. Once the garden is finished people will be able to walk the short distance between the Quranic Garden and the Biblical garden. These gardens are not just a conservation effort, however; they are part of the concept of HIMA FOR PEACE: the treasure of balance between people and nature, and in Lebanon’s case a way for members of different communities and faiths to live together in peace.
https://www.spnl.org/spectacular-hima-for-peace-shemlane-biblical-garden-gets-a-little-wild/
We saw on the rest of our trip that Lebanon is close to collapse: ATMs have no money, thousands have lost their savings, there are power cuts, hardly anyone is buying in the shops and many shops are closed, traffic lights are not repaired, there are very few tourists and as everyone from taxis drivers to an MP told us, “Lebanon needs a creative solution, it needs hope”.
If there is a way that mecas members could help Tarek and the SPNL complete the Biblical Garden that would be fantastic. Here is the website link to make donations https://www.spnl.org/ campaigns/support-hima-shimlan-biblical-garden-center/
