Volunteers and NGOs have been working on assessing the damage for more than a month

Lebanese people launch crowdfunding campaigns to revive their institutions after the port explosion

• Volunteers came to help build what was destroyed in the blast.

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• The famous blue archaeological building in the Gemmayzeh area in Beirut, which was damaged in the explosion.

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• Giselle Hassoun in the ruins of the "Madame M" tavern in the Gemmayzeh area.

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Inside the bar overlooking the port of Beirut, the pictures of Umm Kulthum hanging on the remains of the walls no longer bear witness to nights of dance and fun, but rather a mere ruin, and in front of the horror of the tragedy, Giselle found the solution by launching an electronic campaign in search of funding to revive the place.

"This place is my life," says Giselle Hasson, 46, "but suddenly, without warning, there is nothing left."

The "Madame Umm" bar, whose name is inspired by "The Planet of the East," Umm Kulthum, is located in a blue-colored antique building in the Gemmayzeh district, one of the areas most affected by the Beirut Port explosion on August 4.

Especially at the weekend, the pub used to be full of customers, and many of them used to visit it periodically, and some of them did not provide nights dedicated to Arabic music and songs of the eighties.

Today, however, a large gap has been solved instead of the front of the tavern, and the floor of one of its rooms has collapsed, and the balcony has completely collapsed, so it seems that Madame M's bar will have to find another place to revive the long nights of nights.

Giselle stands on the rubble of her bar, and behind her is a red wall still standing, with a black and white picture of Umm Kulthum on it. She says, "We are looking for funding so that we can get up again and put our young staff back to work."

Giselle and her partner at the bar have so far raised $ 5,000 of the 85,000 they need to reopen the bar.

Before the explosion, Gemmayzeh Street, known for its heritage buildings and its cafes and bars, was pulsing with life and with an unstoppable crowd, day and night.

Today, despite the reopening of some shops, the removal of rubble from some aspects, and the removal of tons of glass that were flying in every direction, the neighborhood still lacks its usual vitality.

We cannot wait

More than a month after the explosion, which left more than 190 dead and 6,500 injured, and in the absence of any real role for the authorities, many decided to search for funding, especially through electronic crowdfunding campaigns to help them revitalize restaurants, bars and even gyms.

To reopen his café, Hani Burghul (37 years) obtained a loan from a bank in Dubai, then launched an electronic campaign through which he hopes to secure 20,000 dollars to be able to repay the loan, and he has so far collected only a quarter of the amount.

"We cannot wait for the army or the government to act," said the Lebanese-French lawyer who opened the café in partnership with a friend last year.

We wanted to get back to work — at least for the sake of the coffee shop workers, who need work in light of the economic meltdown.

In conjunction with the electronic campaign, his Romanian friend, who taught him the coffee industry, launched another campaign among cafes he knows in Romania to donate part of their profits to restart the "Cortado" Beiruti cafe.

Also, a non-governmental organization provided Burghul with the materials needed to repair the damage.

In the areas most affected by the explosion, volunteers and non-governmental organizations have been working for more than a month to assess the damage and repair as much as possible in the absence of state institutions.

We will not go

After the climbing wall collapsed in the exercise studio she frequented, Laura Karam, 24, turned to social media.

"We had to resort to a crowdfunding campaign, and to ask groups of climbers outside Lebanon to support us," she says.

In fact, Laura has made more than $ 16,000 out of the $ 30,000 she needs to restart the studio.

"I think the reconstruction of this place is essential, as is everything else in Beirut," says Laura, who posted photos of volunteers loosening the colorful plastic fists from the climbing wall. "As everything else in Beirut, Beirut cannot survive without everyone's solidarity."

When one of the studio's owners, Diala Smakieh, found this crowdfunding campaign a success, she decided to use the same option to overhaul the parkour and jumping sports park she runs.

The road ahead for Diyala is still long, as she only got $ 1,000 of the 50,000 she needs, but she hopes to secure in the short term the amount sufficient to pay her employees' salaries for three months.

"We don't think the government will do anything for us," says Diala, who also lost her home in the blast. "They are the ones who bombed us in the first place."

"They want to expel us from our country, but we will not go," she added.

- Despite the reopening of some shops, the removal of rubble from some aspects of the Gemmayzeh neighborhood, and the removal of tons of shattered glass, the neighborhood still lacks its usual vitality.

- More than a month after the explosion, many decided to seek collective private funding to help them revitalize restaurants, bars and even gyms.

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