A very regular day, except that it was. we had been in contact with someone who had covid at the time and so, my family and i, everyone, was on lockdown to make sure that we don t infect anybody. and we were supposed to have a class at the studio around 6pm, so right around the time of the explosion. but we decided to close and to postpone because it was the ethical thing to do. and we were really saved by a miracle back then. i m really glad. but how i felt in my body, actually, just like joelle said, everyone felt like it was happening on their street and in the building where they were. i said my prayers, i thought i was going to die. and that was it, i wasjust glad that my husband
Hello. i m kim chakanetsa and today, i m in beirut, the capital of lebanon. on august 4, 2020, a devastating explosion ripped through the city s port. the blast claimed more than 200 lives and thousands others were injured. damage to surrounding properties and businesses was estimated to be over four billion us dollars. many of those affected were small to medium enterprises, led by women. it was one of the largest non nuclear explosions in history. three years on, what is life like for the people who live and work here? i ve come to downtown beirut to meet two women who are working tirelessly to rebuild their city. joelle azar is the owner
The year of the pandemic. lebanon s facing this very severe financial crisis and then, of course, on august 4, the blast happens. joelle, where were you when the explosion occurred and were you injured? thank god, no. i was not injured. but i was so scared after the blast, so i couldn t really understand what happened, so i was in my car when it happened, ground zero, i did not actually hear anything, other than my car moving forward. and then, everything was yellowish. and there was glass everywhere. so, my car, i had a very big car, so i thought the explosion was next to my car and nothing around. and everything around me was ok, you know? but then, ijust realised that everything was broken and i looked up and my carwas. i have a panoramic view from my car and the glass was shattered and i had a balcony that fell on my car, but not on my head.
And after the blast, all my sisters left beirut, so i had to stay alone and work, and do something with the shop. that must have been difficult. oh, yeah! trust me! because you know when you re four, it s easier, you know, but when you handle the responsibility on your own, it s much more difficult. but what s amazing about lebanon is that whenever you need help, you will find it, so it s. that s true. our heart is. maybe we can hate each other, but when someone needs help, everybody will come and, like, help you. yes, totally. i think that people s help to one another was really a major factor in being able to rise again after the explosion. nour, when you look back, what were some of the hurdles you faced at the beginning? well, i started my entrepreneurialjourney a couple of weeks before
I would say the same. the same thing. things were going smoothly up until 2019. before the blast, we had some. the banking crisis and the economic crisis here in lebanon, not to mention the covid crisis, but. and while these were happening, we were trying to adapt, but the blast was really a hit in the heart, unfortunately. we ll talk more about the explosion and its aftermath in a second, but first, i want to hear about your personal stories. now, joelle, you were in banking and then you left that and you opened a food store. so tell me, why did you choose to quit banking? ok, so, basically, when we opened the shop, i was still in the banking sector in lebanon and then, when the financial crisis hit and the banking sector saw the devaluation of our lebanese pound was really huge, so when you work in a bank, you earn in lebanese.