12 September 2008

BEIRUT: More than a week into the holy month of Ramadan, simple crescent shapes of all colors and sizes continue to decorate the streets of Beirut, a constant reminder of this special time of year. Many of the decorations are part of Dar al-Aytam's yearly effort to adorn the city for Ramadan and provide the people of Beirut with a small departure from the ordinary sight of traffic-clogged streets and endless construction.

Dar al-Aytam al-Islamiyah is a social welfare institution that provides care to orphans, abandoned children, and children with special needs, as well as many other services. Established in 1917, Dar al-Aytam now has 50 centers across the country that serve about 10,000 beneficiaries.

"Dar al-Aytam likes to have decorations in Ramadan to remind the Lebanese about the presence of Ramadan and how important it is religiously and for the institution as well," says Rola Chbaklo, Dar al-Aytam's support and development director.

Since the 1960's the organization has been decorating the streets of the capital with various designs, banners and billboards. In light of its continuing growth Dar al-Aytam has been providing decorations on a bigger and more ambitious scale since the 1990s.

"It is a decorative thing that is being done because no other institution or party does the same that Dar al-Aytam does. Yes, they do have billboards or photos, or they do have other banners, but not as a specific location with such a big design," Chbaklo said.

Every year during Ramadan the organization sets up large displays of decorations in various parts of the city. Last year, for example, Dar al-Aytam had nine locations around the city where it set up decorations with a historical flavor.

"They wanted to remind the Lebanese of their history," says Chbaklo. "It was the idea of our general manager. He joined historians and they gathered for several months to design something and to figure out what each historical era represented for the Lebanese."

"This year we decided to have them [the decorations] directly related to Ramadan," said Chbaklo, adding: "The phases of the moon represent the holy month of Ramadan."

The holy month begins with a crescent moon. It takes 15 days for the moon to become full and another 15 days for it to become yet another crescent shape. This is the idea behind Dar al-Aytam's decorations this year. 

The crescent shape decorations occupy 14 locations in the city this year. In addition there are two locations outside Beirut in the Bekaa Valley and in Iqlim al-Kharoub, where Dar a-l Aytam has two of its centers.

According to Chbaklo, it is difficult to say whether there will be as many locations next year.

"It's not specific, with all the renovations on the streets; it's hard to find a specific location and it depends on the site. You cannot have the moon on a smaller location because there needs space to see it from a different area," she said.

Most of the ideas for the decorations come from Dar al-Aytam's director general, Muhamad Barakat. The ideas are then developed by his staff. However, feedback from the population is also taken into account. When the designs have been sufficiently developed they are outsourced to different companies. A different organization or foundation funds each of the decoration sites.

Usually the decorations are not reused in the same way.

"We store them, sometimes we reuse parts of them or most of them. Sometimes we have things we move to other areas, or sometimes we just have parts of it as a decorative items in the institutions. But rarely are the big locations being reused the same way," said Chbaklo.

Chbaklo is also not sure what them the decorations will follow next year. "Usually the idea, the motto and the logo is at least being prepared or completed four months before Ramadan," she says. Every year not only are there new decorations, but also new mottos that are directly correlated. This year's motto, for example, is "The moon is here for the holy month of Ramadan" which in Arabic sounds much more colorful. 

If it was up to Bassam Rashwani the decorations would stay the same for next year. Rashwani, 31 is the owner of an Internet caf? and enjoys passing by the crescents in his car. "I like them," he says. "It keeps the people in the mood of Ramadan. They make me feel like the spirit is there and that there is still some peace in the world. I really like them and I hope they keep them for next year."

Copyright The Daily Star 2008.