Hassan's hairdressing equipment in his salon in Burj al-Brajneh, in the southern suburbs of Beirut. (Credit: Photo by Emily Carpenter / L'Orient-Le Jour - Montage by Céline Bejjani / L'Orient-Le Jour)
Six years after the start of Lebanon's economic collapse, and with the war between Hezbollah and Israel having devastated parts of the country since October 2023, L’Orient-Le Jour met Lebanese from different walks of life to understand how they have had to reinvent their daily lives and rethink their plans for the future in order to adapt to the country's new economic reality — if not simply to survive.Deep in Beirut’s Burj al-Barajneh neighborhood, Hassan trims his client’s beard with a precision that speaks to years of experience. Yet he is only 21. He has been working as a barber since 2018, when Lebanon’s economic collapse began — a period he remembers with some nostalgia.“Before the crisis, clients were much more regular. Some even came in twice a week,” he says. Although he was still an apprentice at the time, the haircuts...
Six years after the start of Lebanon's economic collapse, and with the war between Hezbollah and Israel having devastated parts of the country since October 2023, L’Orient-Le Jour met Lebanese from different walks of life to understand how they have had to reinvent their daily lives and rethink their plans for the future in order to adapt to the country's new economic reality — if not simply to survive.Deep in Beirut’s Burj al-Barajneh neighborhood, Hassan trims his client’s beard with a precision that speaks to years of experience. Yet he is only 21. He has been working as a barber since 2018, when Lebanon’s economic collapse began — a period he remembers with some nostalgia.“Before the crisis, clients were much more regular. Some even came in twice a week,” he says. Although he was still an apprentice at the...