Lebanon, Our Story seeks to tap into the power of storytelling in order to write a new, shared story for Lebanon, one based on openness, transparency, and accountability. The project was formed in response to poor civic engagement and social erosion driven by sectarianism, in particular, the effects of this on host communities and displaced people.

At the beginning of the year, in my first university class, we all began to introduce ourselves.

“Kamel,” I said. “Palestinian refugee.”

Eyes widened around me. Then somebody said, “What are you doing here? Haven’t you people done enough to us?”