In the shadow of hostilities in southern Lebanon between Hezbollah and Israel, ‘normal’ life goes on. Despite fears of an all-out war that could quickly expand to the rest of the region, SWIM Lebanon organised a beach clean-up in Anfah, in the north. The Liberum’s editor-in-chief and his family participated in cleaning up this polluted part of the country's shores.

By Arthur Blok
Anfeh (Enfe) is a small coastal town in northern Lebanon’s Koura district. It borders the village of Chekka and is near the coastal city of Tripoli. Today, the village is built around the ruins of several short-lived towns dating back to the Phoenician period, possibly even earlier.

The original city lies on a small island about half a kilometre into the sea. Its outstanding feature is that it is the only town on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean to have been carved out of its rocky surroundings.

At eight-thirty sharp, Lisa Sofian and Nabil Aouad, the founders of SWIM Lebanon (Sustainable Waste Intercity Marathon), welcomed over a hundred volunteers on a summery Saturday morning. The mercury had risen well into the 20s, but a mild wind kept it pleasant.

In a 20-minute motivational pitch, the founders elaborated on the importance of preserving the environment and soon got the participants eager to start. And dirty the beach behind them was indeed—enough clean-up work to do.

Anfeh’s beach is steep and rocky, with pieces of sharp stone that go far into the water. It's not your ideal swim destination, but it's a pleasant location to catch some Lebanese coastal summer breeze.

For this event, SWIM teamed up with Taqa, a local snack producer. “Their bakery, specialised in healthy cookies and bars, is far from this site. Later this morning, they will hand out some of their finest healthy bars. During their production process in the bakery, there is almost 0 waste,” said Sofiyan.

Environmental negligence in Lebanon is alarming. It worsened severely over the past years after the incompetent and corrupt ruling class could not prevent devastating banking crises in August 2019. An elite that does not want to leave despite losing the last elections. By acting so, the whole country is kept hostage in a lingering governmental crisis.

At least SWIM is doing its best to help turn the tide and raise awareness amongst the countries’ younger generations by organising frequent beach clean-ups. The Liberum has been reporting about SWIM’s good work for years already.

Like today, with the support of the author of this article and his family. The cleanup crew consisted mainly of youngsters from the village, Red Cross volunteers, scouts, local scouts and even participants who came from far away for another reason.

Raphael Blok is one of the latter. He drove over an hour from Beirut, the capital, with his younger brother (Gabriel) and cousin (Luca) to participate—not just for fun but also as part of his so-called ‘CAS project,’ which stands for creativity, activity, and service.

“Right before my vacation started, I was admitted to the Diploma Program for my IB studies at Gems International School Al Khail in Dubai. It's a very nice school. I need to finish six of such social activities to get my diploma. This is my fifth one, so I am almost there.”

Saturday’s clean-up was a big success. The volunteers gathered three cubic metres of garbage from the small beach strip, mainly plastic, cans, glass, and other waste, such as clothes and shoes.

Sofiyan: “Despite the difficulties and the crisis in the South, we at SWIM are determined to continue our mission to raise environmental awareness and highlight the importance of changing mindsets. As a blueprint to create a sustainable future.”

On August 10, for World Scuba Diving Day, SWIM will organise an underwater cleanup from South to North, from Tyre to Tripoli—an initiative with 25 local clubs to spread awareness about marine conservation of the Mediterranean Sea.