In pictures: Earning again

David Snyder reports on the difference Oxfam grants are making to Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.

Adham Atieh with his fishing nets. [Photo credit: David Snyder]

Adham Atieh’s fingers move deftly through the green lines of his fishing net. It is too windy today for fishing, but Atieh predicts the evening will bring a chance to set his nets.

A fisherman since the age of 11, Atieh knows his business. But here on the edge of the Nahr El Bared refugee camp of northern Lebanon, Atieh’s story is not how he is fishing, but rather that he is fishing at all.

Photo: David Snyder

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Adham Atieh with his fishing net. [Photo credit: David Snyder]

“I was a fisherman before,” Atieh said. “But I was sharing a net with my friend since I lost my equipment during the conflict [in Nahr El Bared camp in 2007]. When we came back we saw that our house was fully destroyed. We could save nothing from it.”

Displaced by the fighting, and without his equipment, Atieh had to find a new way of making a living.

Photo: David Snyder

Adham Atieh and his friend on the beach. [Photo credit: David Snyder]

Atieh applied for a grant offered by Oxfam’s local partner, the Palestinian Arab Women League (PAWL), which was working in the camp to support those like him who had lost their livelihoods to the conflict.

“Per month we used to earn about $550 between us,” Atieh said of the months he and his friend shared equipment. “Now, since I have my own equipment, I average about $60 a day just with the net, or as much as $100 if I can also use the spear gun.”

Photo: David Snyder

Close-up of Adham Atieh's fishing net. [Photo credit: David Snyder]

For the first time since 2007, Atieh says he is able to save money, a luxury many in Nahr El Bared camp cannot imagine. Denied the right to own land in Lebanon, and now displaced from their homes, most here lead a life in limbo, caught between the realities of the present and the uncertainties of the future. Like all good businessmen, though, Atieh has plans.

Photo: David Snyder

Adham Atieh handling a fishing net. [Photo credit: David Snyder]

“Currently I am helping my family with income,” Atieh said. “But I want to expand my business. In two months there will be bigger fish available and I need a different type of net. So I am saving for that.”

Thanks to the grants being disbursed by PAWL, Atieh is not alone. Since the fighting ended in 2007, PAWL has distributed grants averaging $2,000 each to 120 camp residents.

Photo: David Snyder

Adham Atieh standing on the beach. [Photo credit: David Snyder]

But while Adham Atieh is earning again, life remains difficult for him and the other camp residents. Like many here, hardened by a life of displacement, Atieh is skeptical that the old camp he used to live in will ever be rebuilt. Asked of his thoughts on the future of the camp, Atieh offered a sentiment shared by most in Nahr El Bared. “We are waiting,” he said simply.