We were wondering why every time we asked about water in Wadi al Jamus, everybody said water was so polluted that it was almost unusable and they all pointed up the mountain. We asked Annamaria Laurini, the UNICEF Representative, and she told us the problem originated in the small village of Fnaidek up the mountain. She offered to take us there and the next morning we drove together to Fnaidek. On the way to the village, we crossed the infamous creek that feeds water to all the villages downstream and we were presented with a horrible scenario.


The creek had become a garbage disposal. Filthy water  was running downstream and wild dogs were living on the mounds of garbage feeding themselves with rotten food.

Annamaria smiled and said that was only part of the problem. We kept driving  past the village of Fnaidek into a beautiful forest. We arrived at the top of the mountain and the idyllic scenario quickly became a scene from Dante’s Inferno.  A gigantic hole had been carved inside the mountain and unbelievable quantities of garbage were covering the it.

Remains of slaughtered cows and goats laid strewn all over the place. Thousands of plastic bottles were self-combusting in the midday sun.


A lonely toy lies abandoned as a metaphor for the children that live in the villages below Fnaidek who are all affected by this disaster. 14 Million people a day die because of water born illnesses, and the majority are children.  Later we meet the mayor of Fnaidek and he begs us to help him solve the problem. He tells us that a brand new incinerator has been built above the village, but there is no money to run it and/or maintain it.  This story made us feel very powerless and angry. Back in Wadi al Jamus we told the ladies of the NGO about our experience and they told us they can’t even wash with the water as it gives them tremendous rashes. No comment.