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The Trip to Romania

By Farid E. Chedid

Born in a mud house on November 27, 1967, in the village of Khoder, Biqaa, Mohamad Awdi remembers all the alleys of his village as much as he remembers the streets of New York, Bucharest and Beirut to which his destiny took him since he set his feet outside his tiny world.

The man who slept under the grape trees, drove the tractor and rode the donkey, will never forget the farmers of Lebanon. He will also never forget the time when he slept under the fig tree back in Khoder and dreamt of a better life in a modern, prosperous Lebanon.

He kept asking himself whether it would ever be possible for Khoder and the other Biqaa villages to pave their way to civilization like the other lucky towns he visited in the United States, Europe, and Romania, which became his beloved and cherished home after Lebanon and the United States .

Mohamad Awdi saw the sea at the age of seven and wondered what would be inside it. He asked his daddy: what is in it? His dad said: Fish my son, fish. From that time on, Mohamad wanted to fish, but was determined not to get a fish from somebody else.

With this in mind, Mohamad made his journey out of Khodr to the world, seeking two assets: education and a way to put an end to the poverty he experienced as a child.

Succeeding in attaining both assets, Mohamad's aspirations now focus on how to help the deprived areas of Lebanon move out from the dark alleys of ignorance and poverty to the highways of knowledge and prosperity..

With this in mind, Mohamad could not also ignore the struggle Lebanon is undergoing to move from occupation to freedom, and form corruption to reform.

Observing the political interplay in his beloved Lebanon, Mohamad have a few comments to make:

• UN Security Council Resolution 1559 is legitimate, but dangerous to Lebanon. As such, all efforts should be made to avoid plunging Lebanon again into chaos as a result of a blind implementation of this controversial resolution.
• Resistance is right but monopolizing the shiite community by only two parties is not right.
• Diversity is better for all, freedom of choice is the best choice.
• Adopting Beshir Gemayel's 10452km-slogan is not only positive, but definitely conducive to national unity, especially as Lebanon is now facing formidable threats to its unity.
• Giving all the Lebanese, especially the poor, an equal chance to education, health care and future progress.

Mohamad has had the chance to live in New York, Glastonbury, Apple Hill, Housh Sneid, Bucharest, Khoder and all villages of Biqaa. He intends to use what he saw in the world to make a better Lebanon.

He always says: The stars change, and the donkey will become a prince.

Mohamad does not seem to belong to the ground. He sees himself always flying high over Lebanon and the world, hoping to see things as they really are.

Reform and change are his blood. So please give way...

* Farid Chedid is the editor of www.lebanonwire.com and a close friend to Mohamad. He wrote this commentary to mark Mohamad's thrust into the world of politics.