Crowdfunding may save Beirut
CRISIS: ENTREPRENEURS REBUILDING AFTER BLAST
Explosion a knockout punch after months of financial struggle in Lebanon.
Standing in the gutted ruins of her bar destroyed by Beirut’s massive port blast, Lebanese entrepreneur Gizelle Hassoun said she hopes crowdfunding can help save her business from the rubble.
“This place was my life,” the 46 year old said, standing on top of piles of broken shutters and plaster, on what was once the dance floor.
“Then just like that – bam! – there was nothing left,” she said, a blown-out wall behind her providing a view of the tall cranes at the capital’s port.
Nestled on the first floor of a blue villa in Beirut’s lively Gemmayzeh district, Madame Om was once a popular nightspot famed for its weekend parties and drag shows.
But today, the walls of the rented venue are cracked, part of its floor has caved in and its balcony has been blown off. The bar will have to move.
“We’re fundraising,” Hassoun said, under surviving snapshots of Egyptian diva Umm Kulthum. “So perhaps we can go back to doing something, get back on our feet, re-employ the little staff we had.”
So far $5 000 (about R85 000) of an $85 000 objective has been raised.
On 4 August, a huge stockpile of ammonium nitrate exploded on the dockside, killing more than 190 people, wounding thousands, and ravaging large parts of the city.
Beirut’s nightlife districts of Gemmayzeh and Mar Mikhael, known for their bars, restaurants and art galleries, were some of the hardest hit neighbourhoods.
The army last week said it had surveyed 19 115 businesses and 962 restaurants damaged by the explosion. For many, the blast was a knockout punch after months of financial struggle to survive Lebanon’s worst economic crisis in decades and a coronavirus lockdown.
With little hope of compensation or loans from struggling Lebanese banks, savvy business owners are crowdfunding online to tap into donations from abroad.
Hany Bourghol, 37, cofounder of the Cortado cafe, was able to take out a loan from a United Arab Emirates bank to fix his coffee shop and pay salaries.
He hopes crowdfunding will help him pay the loan back.
“We cannot wait for the army or the government,” Bourghol said. “We need to resume work.”
The online campaign has collected a quarter of the $20 000 requested.
A Romanian barista who helped Bourghol set up the cafe rallied coffee houses in Romania to send donations too, while an aid organisation has provided free building materials.