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Winter
2013 25
Goblins, witches, pirates and princesses
of all ages strolled along Hamra Street
on Sunday November 3
rd
running to vari-
ous activity stands and vying for candies
being doled out by older looking goblins
and witches. On the side, a dance troop
was entertaining curious onlookers.
In their midst, an old haggard and
frightening witch wandered around. A
closer look revealed a beaming smile.
“Don’t you recognize me?” she suddenly
laughed. “It’s me. Iman.”
And so it was. Iman Assaf is the brains
behind the Halloween festivities. This
would be her second year. An IC mom
of three (Ziad, Wadad and Rawad), she
began quite modestly in her Hamra
apartment.
“I would distribute boxes of candies
to neighbors and take my kids and their
friends trick or treating,” she said.
Before long, the children were no lon-
ger satisfied with only knocking on a few
doors. Assaf obligingly took them down
to the side road of Hamra to continue
trick or treating. Every Halloween saw
more kids showing up at her doorstep to
join the fun.
“At one point, I had 90 kids in my
home,” she exclaimed.
Finally, last year she hit up upon the
idea of turning Hamra street into a mini
Halloween area. Several IC moms loved the
idea and together formed their own group
called Ahla Fawdah (“the best chaos”)
because “it really is such chaos,” said Assaf
laughing. “But somehow it works.”
But behind the fun and games, there
is a just cause: to improve the district of
Hamra.
Last year, the proceeds of the day
(LL 15,000 per ticket) allowed “Ahla
Fawdah” to rehabilitate a small dumpsite
at the beginning of the street and turn it
into a small garden.
From the way Assaf talks about Hamra,
you would think that she was born and
reared there. But nothing would be
further from the truth. Born and reared
in Africa, she finished her studies and
worked as a financial consultant in the
UK. Assaf only moved to Hamra when
she got married sixteen years ago. But it
was love at first sight.
“I love Hamra,” she said. “It’s the
heartbeat of Lebanon. To me, Hamra is
Lebanon. It’s Jean and Omar and Mo-
hamed. It’s the priest and the sheikh. The
hippie and the fundamentalist. The artist
and the scholar. All of the diversity of
Lebanon is right here.”
But would people really show up to
such an American themed festival?
Last year was the first experiment. “It
was beautiful,” she said. “Very chaotic,
yes. But beautiful. Kids had a great time.”
The event had not gone unnoticed.
Sponsors were lined up immediately this
time around. The municipality itself got
on board quicker. True, the Ahla Fawdah
started organizing only a few
weeks before the event, but
things seem to have fallen into
place quickly enough.
This time, the proceeds will
partially go towards rehabilitat-
ing ramps for the disabled in
Hamra. At the moment the
ramps are unfortunately being
used as flower pot holders or
motorcycles parking spots.
“We want to paint these
ramps with clear signs,” she
said. “We want to get students
from schools to do this as a
community service.”
Her second project is to get
Ras Beirut schools to hold an
art competition and the best
art work will be chosen to be
implemented on different walls in Hamra.
Other projects include adding greenery
in the area and installing a better lighting
system at night.
As for Assaf, somehow between being
a mother, a wife, running her household,
volunteering for various associations
and planning the Hamra Halloween, she
somehow found time to turn herself into
a mesmerizingly frightful witch.
IC mom
brings
Halloween
to Hamra