‘Back to Authentic Nutrition’ Festival

The festival's anti-smoking ‘coupons’ were popular. This one reads: "Daddy, Mommy, I don’t like it when you smoke cigarettes or nargileh. I hate the smell. I cough and I can’t breathe. Also, you get sick and I worry that you will die."

Anti-smoking messages persuaded many to at least abstain during the festival.
Anti-smoking signs were posted throughout the festival.

Iraqi singer, Sahar Taha, was the high point of the entertainment at the Beirut Creative Health Festival.
Iraqi singer Sahar Taha (sitting) was one of the featured performers at the festival

The festival ‘Back to Authentic Nutrition’, the latest in the three-year life of the Creative Health Campaign, was most notable for the diversity of its participants – Lebanese, Palestinians and Iraqis – and its venue, the Woods of Beirut, one of the few public parks in the Lebanese capital.

The use of the Beirut Woods resulted from discussions between the Amel Association, one of the Creative Health Campaign's partners, and the municipality of Beirut. Access to the Woods is strictly limited as the authorities try to ensure that the trees are not damaged by visitors. Only people above the age of 35 can enter the park, and only with a permit from the municipality.

A small portion of the woods, with sand-covered ground, was made available for the festival. Meeting on a hot afternoon, more than 300 participants, most of them women and children, quickly turned the barren plot into the site of a joyous carnival, with diverse colors, sounds and tastes.

There were stands promoting breastfeeding, healthy food - especially for children - and posters and leaflets on the fatal effects of smoking, as well as advice on how to quit. Small ‘coupons’ with anti-smoking messages which could be exchanged with gifts were offered to the participants.

The anti-tobacco messages persuaded the smokers among the audience to stop, at least for the duration of the festival. Several smokers also sought and received advice on quitting.

There was music by the Palestinian Jalil Club, a group singing health messages in folk music style. The group was led by Faten Ezdmad from the Women’s Humanitarian Organization, based at the Borj al-Barajneh Palestinian refugee camp. There were songs from the ‘Health and Happiness’ collection, produced by musicians in various Arab countries, and compiled by the Creative Health Campaign. The high point of the day was a performance by the Iraqi Singer, Sahar Taha. Sahar’s presence especially energized the group of Iraqi refugee women in Lebanon, who also displayed a selection of hand-made clothing and ornaments for sale.

As with previous Creative Health Campaign events, the happiness of the occasion was as important as the messages behind it. Children were particularly cheerful and enjoyed the big playground which is beyond their reach in their own residential areas.

by Hossein Shahidi, June 20, 2009 - Dr. Hossein Shahidi teaches journalism at the Lebanese American University in Beirut.

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