Sabrine kept a journal and wrote some literary texts for herself every once in a while. When one of her volunteering colleagues came across one of her writings, he told everyone at their workplace that the young lady was talented with words. A short while later, he called her to tell her about a writing vacancy in a magazine named “The Pencil”, which was interested in covering the situations of Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.
Enthusiasm returned to Sabrine, so she immediately applied for the position, and was quickly accepted. In the beginning, she found it quite difficult to write the pieces she was asked for, because she only knew to write creative literary essays. She had absolutely no idea about how to write investigations or informative pieces. Within two years’ time, though, her experience in journalism flourished and she became well acquainted with the ways of writing good essays, reports, and investigative pieces. Joining the news website “Shababik”, in which many reporters from all Palestinian camps worked, was also extremely helpful in broadening her journalistic experience.
Later in 2018, the Institute for Palestine Studies in Beirut announced a creative writing workshop with Lebanese novelist Elias Khoury. Sabrine was hesitant to apply at first; it seemed to her that her level of skill might not qualify her to be in a group of professional writers. After some thought, she summoned enough courage to submit her application, only to be amazed by the news of her acceptance. Sabrine’s happiness was boundless…
During the workshop, she learned a lot about creative writing and developed her style and technique. Another important achievement at the time was her increased freedom which boosted her character, after she challenged her family’s initial refusal to let her stay out after sunset, in Beirut. At the end of the course, Sabrine completed a text that was published in an anthology book titled “Love in the Camp.”
The young lady cried tears of joy when she saw the outcome of her efforts. The experience brought her much pride and contentment, yet she kept dreaming of a university degree that would supposedly open doors to better opportunities and bring her more respect in a country where Palestinians were treated as inferiors.
Sabrine still struggled with the lack of opportunities and found blocked roads everywhere, however, she never considered immigration as an option. She was, after all, the proud Palestinian child of the camp. Her brother’s cancer was a brutal blow to her and made her reconsider.
Saber found out he had colon cancer barely two semesters before his prospective graduation. The family did their best for him, going from one doctor to another and from one hospital to the next, until they were finally able to get him the lumpectomy he needed. But, it was too late, as the cancer had spread too far. Sabrine’s father went the extra mile to find a way to get his son to a good hospital outside the country but failed repeatedly. Being a Palestinian dimmed any chances of getting a visa. Saber passed away only one month after he discovered his illness, leaving behind a deeply wounded, grieving family.
The house turned gloomy. For the next three months, Sabrine always woke up to her father’s weeping. For the first time in her life, she felt a real need to take refuge in another country and obtain a new nationality, if only to guarantee basic rights and access to medical help to her family and herself, so that the tragedy they had been through wouldn’t repeat itself.
Today, nearly a year after her brother’s passing, Sabrine has become more determined than ever to travel abroad, write her first novel, and enroll at a university, in the hope that she may, at last, fulfill her long pending dream – and Saber’s…