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Alongside her older brother Michel Assali, her companion on the long 1956 journey (when they traveled with their mother and paternal grandmother), she wrote the book Entre ver\u00f5es e invernos: Esta\u00e7\u00f5es de uma fam\u00edlia libanesa<\/em> [Between summers and winters: Seasons of a Lebanese family<\/em>] (Scortecci Editora), launched at a large family celebration in November in S\u00e3o Paulo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the work, the siblings share memories of that journey: leaving the village of Ain-Hurche in the Bekaa Valley, crossing the Atlantic, reuniting with their father at the port, and traveling from Santos to Assis in the state of S\u00e3o Paulo, where their father had settled among a large community from their Lebanese village already living there.<\/p>\n\n\n \u201cAll immigrants talk about the lush coastal mountains upon arriving in Santos, but we saw nothing because it rained so much,\u201d recalls Michel, who also became a professor and worked in education his whole life, retiring during the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Their paternal grandmother, Marian, born in 1901, came with them and died in Brazil without ever speaking Portuguese. At 67, she traveled alone to Canada to visit some siblings, without knowing a word of English. According to Raimunda, she was the family\u2019s great storyteller, and it was from her that the siblings inherited many of their family memories. Much of the book focuses on their father, Youssef, and his mother, Marian, whose husband had left for Argentina years earlier, leaving her alone with their son. The family never reunited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The so-called Lebanese diaspora is full of stories like that of the Abou Assali family (Gebran is Raimunda\u2019s husband\u2019s surname, also of Lebanese origin), of people leaving a rural Lebanon, where hard labor on the land could not fill the family\u2019s table, and setting off in pursuit of the dream of \u201cmaking it\u201d in the Americas. The siblings\u2019 own family spread across Canada, Brazil, and Argentina\u2014some stayed in Lebanon\u2014so that many never saw each other again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Youssef arrived in Assis, a city now with over one hundred thousand inhabitants, 434 km from S\u00e3o Paulo city, he followed the handbook of Arabs coming to Brazil: he hawked goods for three years before opening his own store. By the time his family arrived, his financial situation had already improved. One week after arriving in Assis, the siblings went to school\u2026 speaking Arabic. \u201cImagine the bullying!\u201d says Raimunda, laughing. \u201cThat\u2019s something you never forget!\u201d adds her older brother.<\/p>\n\n\n Fortunately, the learning was quick, and Raimunda never lost her Arabic, a language she still speaks fluently today. Michel understands it but no longer speaks with the fluency he had as a child. She visited Lebanon four times, including trips to the village where she was born and reunions with some relatives. Michel has been twice, once with his entire family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once settled in Assis, Roberto was born, the Brazilian son of Youssef and Faride, and the younger brother of Raimunda and Michel, who didn\u2019t share their migratory experience. \u201cMaybe that\u2019s why the book was surprising for him too\u2014he was moved,\u201d says Raimunda. Her eldest granddaughter, at 18, was also struck by the hardships their ancestors faced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe main goal of the book is precisely for the new generations to know everything that had to be done, how much our parents and grandparents fought and had to leave behind, so that they could have the comfortable life they enjoy today,\u201d says Michel, who regrets that his parents never got to see the beautiful family that came after. \u201cIt\u2019s a shame they couldn\u2019t see that we prospered\u2014and that the grandchildren even more so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n The book includes a series of documents that Raimunda kept in Assis (she has always lived there, while her brother moved to S\u00e3o Paulo, where he still lives), others found at the Immigration Museum in S\u00e3o Paulo, including one listing their names. It\u2019s also filled with family photos, including one of the two brothers posing beside their father at the port, one of Michel\u2019s favorites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The story ends in 1968, when the family moved to the neighboring city of Presidente Prudente, beginning a new chapter, with the older siblings going to college and starting to forge their own paths. \u201cThat would be a whole other book,\u201d says Raimunda. After all, the story continues to be lived and told by the new generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The book\u2019s launch made such an impact in Assis that it ended up reaching other parts of Brazil. She says she even found out it was featured in a newspaper for the Brazilian community in Lebanon. What was meant to be a small, family-focused edition ended up sparking interest beyond the Abou Assali family\u2014and beyond the Lebanese community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Learn more about the book<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/abou-assali-navio.jpg\")
New land<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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