São Paulo – Aimed at bringing together the over 12 million Lebanese and descendants who live abroad, Lebanese telecommunications engineering student Fernando Rohayem Khatlab developed site Mahjar – Lebanese Connections. The portal is the result of a competition promoted last year by French newspaper L’Orient-Le Jour, from Beirut, in partnership with software producer Murex. "The objective of the competition was to develop a site turned to the Lebanese and friends of Lebanon worldwide and should be a reference for the Lebanese Diaspora," said Fernando.
The fascination for information technology and his interest in the work of his father, Roberto Khatlab, as a Brazilian writer and researcher of the Lebanese immigration, influenced Fernando’s decision of participating in the competition. According to him, the importance of Lebanese immigration is so great that part of the country economy comes from the diaspora. "From my research, I have seen how many sites and Lebanese organisations exist in the world and I thought it would be interesting to organise a directory so that Internet users could discover the variety and riches of information about Lebanon, a small country geographically speaking, but immense due to the contacts and expansion of migration," he said.
According to him, the idea was not to create one more site about Lebanon, as there are already many, but to establish a point of reference, as required by the competition. Fernando explained that the directory of Lebanese organisations is of open access, including to those interested in recommending new addresses. "The organisations are references that Internet users may contact to find relatives and friends who immigrated. They are great sources of information," he said. Fernando placed the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and ANBA addresses and links on his site.
The student developed a directory of Lebanese, their descendants and friends of Lebanon that people may register in and through which they may exchange information with others. "It is a network for communication that makes connections in all four corners of the world," he said. According to him, in its short existence, the site already has people registered in Lebanon, Brazil, Argentina, the United States, Canada, France and Belgium, among other countries.
Apart from that, Internet users also find in the site a list of names of all cities and villages in Lebanon, with ancient pictures, the story of the country, the national anthem, tourist information, services and business.
The site, Mahjar (which means diaspora in Arabic) was developed in five languages: Arabic, French, English, Spanish and Portuguese. According to Fernando, the choice of the Spanish and Portuguese languages was due to the fact that most of the Lebanese migrants are in Latin America, English was chosen as it is an international language, French due to it being the language of paper L’Orient-Le Jour, which promoted the competition, and as it is the language spoken in many countries where a great number of Lebanese live, and Arabic as it is the official language of Lebanon and of other Arab countries where there are many Lebanese.
In December 2008, Fernando heard that he and another Lebanese student, Fady Khoury, won the newspaper’s competition. According to him, there was no first and second place, both students were elected winners, and each one was granted the right to publish his site and got a US$ 5,000 prize.
Brazilian-Lebanese
Aged 19 and in the sophomore year at Université Antonine, in Beirut, Fernando defines himself as a Brazilian-Lebanese, as he was born in Beirut and is the son of a Brazilian and a Lebanese. Fernando’s father, Roberto Khatlab, was born in Maringá, in the state of Paraná, and moved to Lebanon in 1986. The Khatlab name came from his great-grandfather on his father’s side, who was born in an area that is currently Saudi Arabia and immigrated to Brazil alone in 1924.
"I have already been to Brazil several times on holiday and thought that the country was wonderful. I am proud of being Brazilian," he said. According to Fernando, the Brazilian people do not have great differences from the Arab culture. "It is a hospitable people, with the difference that in Brazil, when people meet, they generally ask what team the other supports, whereas in the East the question is generally about their religion," he added.
Service
Mahjar – Lebanese Connection
www.connexionslibanaises.com
*Translated by Mark Ament
