That lebanon will survive until theyre fighting for its survival. Then i believe lebanon can survive that. Hussein is a lawyer by profession. Saving lebannon is his vocation. Ever no doubt, but its going to be the toughest case of his life and his country is on its needs. We were not just in crisis. We were in a total collapse. You know, everything in this country had already collapse, not just economically, even the social fabric of the society had collapsed. Beirut is in ruins. Not only because of the explosion at the port on august the 4th of this year, which killed almost 200. 00 people and made around 300000 homeless. The lebanese economy is also want to sneeze. The country has been on the brink of collapse for months. Were it not for a few determined people taking matters into their own hands. Busy the country would long be dead through shot down hussein and his fiance, nor want to bring their city back to life because they are coordinating everything with fellow volunteers. From 1st aid to the rebel brigades who are clearing up the debris and the 1st couple of hours after the explosions. We saw bodies in the streets. We saw people on body dont want to come to the hospital. Then we decided that the government began. It will be absent, it will not be here. So we took matters into our own hands. I dont know about some has been distributing food since the blast for 9 years. The 29 year old has been working for various n. G. O. S in the environmental sector. Her experience is that the state is often absent, and it was no different after the explosion. Hardly any lebanese politician showed their faces. If you want to survive in lebanon, you have to look after yourself. Maybe im going to deny it now. Maybe i dont so much even fight it. Its great so much. And because were working and where im standing and we dont feel it, but they cant take it through its ranks. We are in the newer and hussein are gearing up to fight the countrys political elite. The lebanese constitution guarantees government positions to christians, shias, and sunni. Those in power have been exploiting the system for decades to ruthlessly plunder the country. Hussein wants to use the opportunity of a u. S. Envoys visit to prevent corrupt politicians from getting their hands on emergency aid from the west. Mr. Hale is going out of rehab to mr. Hale. We have 2 words. He shouts to the u. S. Envoy. 6 dont bail them out, dont give them a lifeline. 6 for the activists, this is just the beginning. They are aiming to realign the countrys political system. Lebannon needs a reboot. We want to transform society because society here is not actually in unison. Its not one society. Its a multitude of small decide if god has been bred on the fear of author. So im a, she offered something me, how soon is there . You have christians there for me. Like for example, the last decade this sunday was kind of an enemy. You know, i mean, hes there to come and take what i have and for him if the same thing before the christians and the muslims, the same thing. And the rulers, they feed off of this. They feed off of fear from the other desperate 30 year old. Hussein believes that it is not yet too late. But many of his compatriots want something completely different. They want to get out of the country as soon as they can. Tripoli around an hour north of beirut. Electro d. J. John tellem has had enough and is taking off. His next album will come out in london. He has already moved out of his flat in beirut, and together with his girlfriend, a russian film producer. Hes living with his parents until his flight leaves for europe. Man on the evening and basically leaving because we lost hope in the country and i got the chance to apply to u. K. Made with kind of like its turned us down altogether because of its like instability and like difficulties financing. My, in my personal projects and all that stuff for months, hes been plowing through british red tape with lily as support. Its increasingly difficult for lebanese to get a western visa. The demand is too high because so many people want to leave. But john got an artists visa, which entitles him to apply for british citizenship in 3 years. Now that i was there, theres no room for thousands and you know, exactly the only thing i dont get, this is my way out for, you know, like all lebanese until he leaves a job will have to struggle with the collapsing economy. He still has a few dollars left, but hard currency is in increasingly short supply. Its becoming hard for people to change my appropriately because the rates, you know, how do you have money rates like the black market . For instance, like you have this 100. This used to be lets say this one used to be worth around 66. 00. Now its like less than 10. 00. So you cant really buy anything with the lebanese currency has lost around 80 percent of its value against the u. S. Dollar in just a year. Its a catastrophe for people in this city, which is already poor. Unemployment is up almost 60 percent. Tripoli is falling apart. Its where john spent his youth, saying goodbye to old friends doesnt come easy to him. Her. It was different. Among our things is anything happening of ali moore right now . Films . Anyone still here is shot segments of hes in belgium, probably stay there. Hes better off than anyway, but hes just coming back to pick up his stuff for sure from lebanon has a long tradition of farewells. Only some 4000000 lebanese actually live there, as opposed to a global diaspora of 12000000. This number is likely to grow fast, which is why europe is looking across the mediterranean with great concern. But some lebanese are still determined to stay a year ago. Hussein and new are bought their 1st flat together. Are you going to close that . You know, thats where the air conditioning will be. Its going in name, one of our great strength and its face a split in the kitchen, a wide awake look at home. Nothing in lebannon really works any more, including housing construction. There are barely any building materials. Everything is going up in price and the completion of their flight has been delayed. Theyve also canceled the wedding, they were planning to ensure we can see said, really good look at whats happening around us. And i feel like i cant, i cant enjoy it. And i think after the blast, the whole idea of a wedding, just, you know, its gone when the crisis hit, the lebanese middle class a while ago, nor in husseins Bank Accounts have been frozen. Rampant inflation has also eaten into the savings they have sometimes i go home, i just sit and think over eating and just, maybe im in shock. Maybe i dont know. I maybe i decided maybe im good because i may be better than someone, but at the same time, i dont want hussein and nor are among the more fortunate ones, more and more of their fellow citizens dont even have enough to eat. Half of all lebanese live below the poverty line helpers from abroad, such as germans enosh cycle are taking care of them. She works for orient help or a Small Charity that distributes food to the needy. In beirut. With the paper said, this is the field kitchen, orient house brought it here a few years ago from cairo. Mound down in the bay. Cavani, i think it was in 2015 years. I can stuff about it. It was originally that to provide food for syrian refugees. The food was prepared for the last 5 times a day, so they had something warm to wait. When the explosion happened, i just got a message on my phone saying i will take this kitchen and use it here. Im not only the kitchen. Zina too has been deployed in various projects as a photographer. She came to document the work of the charity but she arrived from the black forest in a country that was sliding into chaos. Xena had always longed to visit beirut. Even as a teenager, she wanted to live there more than anywhere else in the world. Her neighborhood jimmies once pulsated with a mixture of culture, chaos and tolerance that magically drew young people from all over the worlds to beirut. But for the last year, all xena has been able to do is watch her dream city slowly going to the dogs. 3, it really makes me sad, incredibly sad to say, oh this is, this is the hostage bay bridge it hit to maisie. Normally you have clubs, the bar scene, people go out, people make money, the economy is buzzing. It feels like everyones out and about. But none of that exists anymore. And if i dont fucking wish now, so the shockwave ripped into xenas flat to she was lucky, she was next door in her office when the explosion happened. Is that i was sitting here at my desk working. The next thing i remember is lying on the floor with stuff all around me and no idea what was happening. And this is only the 2nd time ive come in here since it happened inside the mind of the 1st time i was shaking from head to toe because i was so scared. Its an incredible feeling when you realize how lucky you were. Every time i come into this room, i realize how lucky i was the explosion caused an estimated 15000000000. 00 worth of damage. Vital infrastructure such as hospitals were destroyed. The government was obviously aware that the board was a ticking time bomb, but did nothing. It was an unprecedented failure. The lebanese had been protesting against the state for months. In october 29 teams, tens of thousands took to the streets to demonstrate against incompetence and corruption. They might have toppled the government, but the new one which replaced it seemed equally useless. Hussein founded the group mean to shlaim, which helped to organize the protests. Mentation means since october, referring to the month in 2019 when the demonstrations began. This revolution right now is the only out to revolution because it came from the people, not from political parties. You know, it was curious spontaneous, it started with the whats up ducks. I mean, it was, of course, it was an i. Q. Malaysian, but they were really blew it out of proportion. We turned from the uk well, of tens of people to hundreds to thousands and were still here. Husseins movement was right on the front line after the explosion in early august, as angry citizens marched against a government that they held directly responsible for the devastation. And it was one of their anger exploded. And suddenly the state did make an appearance with a huge police presence. One Police Officer was killed in the street fighting, and over 700, demonstrators were injured including some of husseins people. Down there is injured as well. He got shot in the leg during the last protest. We have had 12 injured people. One of them got hit in the stomach and he had internal bleeding. And he had to be operated on and hes still at the hospital. After the protests, the situation escalated and the government declared a state of emergency on august 13th about. But since then the army has been patrolling the streets of beirut. Now the army controls everything. For example, if the army wants to get your house, they can go in, get you from your house, send you to military court. They can do that. You dont have to wait for a prosecutor to give a court order for them to investigate. If were assembled, they can come, this person just put us in, in their jeeps, take us to barracks and arrest us. This is very dangerous. They can even go as far as censoring whatever we write, they can censor t. V. s, radio stations, theater. As we live. Its like we live in a state of war, basically. I dont remember. But the activists are not intimidated by the threats of the sting. And the fact that were all from different backgrounds, different families. We can reach a conclusion together because we agree we won the Common Benefit of that they are increasingly taking the fight to their opponents. One of their actions involves tracking down politicians to a fancy restaurant and stopping them from dining in splendor amidst the citys poverty. They are aiming to deny those in power a moments peace. Their next plan is to dump rubble from the city in front of the politicians mansions. Yet the campaigns are getting increasingly risky. The activists have a powerful opponent, has belonged to heavily armed shia militia supported by iran, that controls the government and has no interest in changing sectarian groups such as hezbollah are where the real power in lebanon lines, christians, shias, and sunnis largely live in ghettos controlled by their respective groups and the government has little say in the matter. Hussein is shia. He knows how deeply embedded has been, is in his community and that no change is possible without them. He a newer drive to the shia district of conduct to distribute food. For them, its all about reaching out some people from the revolution are scared of going there. Im sure that a lot of them are very also have big fears from the other side. You know, theyre scared that these people who are coming, lets say an International Agenda are backed by the west or are backed by the u. S. And on the other hand, some people from here think that these people are less like iranians or something. You know, while the truth is that we are suffering from the same government, their philanthropy isnt without its dangers. Hezbollah is not keen on outside helpers on their territory. The entrance to the district is marked by a large portrait up the powerful hezbollah leader. That guy in one of the local bosses has invited hussein in because the people here also need help but they still have to act fast. Has belonged gunmen could turn up any moment that ali wants to show hussein how bad things really are here. Extreme poverty starks these narrow streets. Oh, a lot of people actually live in this damp cave like dwelling. This is a hospital with this is a house, look at the humanising for over an intimate mogul. This house is downstairs. Theres a whole building shook and everything from here. Good luck. I want the explosion. A lot of damage here too. But no help came, says ali, not even from hezbollah itself. Were going to this morning. This is good, and then, you know, then go, we cant stay here. Lebanon is finished. It was all our politician ins are corrupt, without exception. The law or politicians are thieves. They are all things. How could the anger and dissolution now be enough to break with old loyalties . Maybe . But all these preference still seems clear. A picture of hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah still hangs on his wall outside. Its the same situation. Residents tearfully thank ali for his help, but if anything is to change here, people will have to turn their back on hezbollah and its powerful allies, such as multimillionaire nabih berri, who is a parliamentary speaker and head of the party. Political parties are entrenched in this area very much and so i think they have a major influence over the people there. Maybe they provide services is a good state they need to survive. And i think that this is something that we need to work on. We need to bridge, we need to talk to them more and we need them to understand what were doing. You know, amal and has the tape here and found out for example. And they as they were hurt by that they, they are all incompetent. You know, its not just the other parties that there are competent, theyre all incompetent. The court is controlled by all of them. You know, not a single 40, if not involved in this court. And they all share the responsibility. Because the explosion isnt the only reason has below is under pressure in the west, it is seen as a terrorist organization. More and more lebanese blame it for the countrys misery. So even in crisis, levanon remains divided. It is enough for orient helper also feels the rising tension. Shes on her way to Zala A Christian town, and the back of valley christians dominated lebanon until the 1970 s. Now they are in a minority. Zala is like a showcase city. Contrary to the situation in the rest of the country, theres always electricity here and the streets are cleaner than elsewhere. But the crisis has also hit here and more and more people in need help as well. Xena doesnt see anyone from the state here either. Volunteers are taking care of everything orient helpers, food goes to people like 83 year old event, koori, who used to work for the red cross the cavity that when we shoot there, that one that you have to do. If you said there is no work on my comp pay, the rain was not a bad way to say bring me food. And many of the elderly here had been supported by their children. But now theyre also running out of money. Theres barely any social safety net in lebanon at all. Of course, it makes me really sad when i see how miserable the people are, how little we do to them. Its still such a lot. I think it really affects me. Id really like to help. Here to help in the long bond and human, i wish i knew how to really help people here in the long term. As with the shias, the people here turn to religion for comfort in increasing poverty. And just like in the hezbollah quarter, zol is political bosses ignore the misery and so the future for many people is elsewhere. John, the d. J. From tripoli is off to london. Before he leaves, he wants to go to beirut one more time to bid farewell to the city where he became a big name. Star states like shocking is the 1st time. I see it like live. Thats when i read about him. To be honest, its nothing left of johns, beirut is a pile of rubble in the middle of it all. He bumps into johnny, an old friend from his clubbing days, leaving one of or leaving for the same time. Little johnny scars bear witness to the full brunt of the explosion. New ones. Think Something Like this is all used to smoke. This should get closer and all of you dont need this to feel anymore. Theyre all the been there for 30 years since the ninetys. Come on guys, thats so lets get you a new people, new people with new, fresh ideas and all that ideas. We dont have this. We dont need anyone anymore. Tell us were talking about many of the powers that be, do not want change. And activist slike hussein a newer face, an uphill struggle. I know of 7 on i really dont get me hopes to come in every damn into a living. But if i want to have a family and have kids, i cant, i can just raise them in this country like this. I have a lot of corruption and we dont have basic rights. And you know, when my sleeve for the truth that we want to live in on, that is a civil state where i can get my rights without going through the proxy of my community. I dont have to be a shia to get my rights. I need to be a live in ease and i get all my rights. And then if i want to practice my religion, i can do it freely. You know, i can no ones telling anyone that we wanted to got away. No, we dont want that. I want to live in on where you have again, rule of law and accountability. And we want a loving on where anyone can live here and actually achieve something. Because in this lemon, on the only way to achieve the only way to be, you know, to get there in life, is to get on a plane, get your a magician. And to go abroad, you a country where politicians are not allied to religion and serve all citizens. Not just their own base would be a real novelty. This is what Hussein Moore and their fellow activists want to build. To prevent the lebannon collapsing for good eco india, people and on the morrow, want to get to work on time right there. Mike. Theres a growing going on. Marks