Moving through the streets of Tripoli we cross numerous checkpoints. It adds at least an extra hour to our journey. Many shops are still closed in the capital, but some are beginning to return to business. People queue for bread, it is not even midday and the sun is beating down. Some people hold plastic sacks over their heads to give them some semblance of shade.
Islamic Relief is carrying out a rapid needs assessment of the situation in Tripoli. Moaathe Enayet talks to the people in the queue about why they have to wait so long as well as talking to the bakery owner. Libyans are proud people and when talking to them we have realised that they sometimes feel uncomfortable being pictured or filmed. A lot of people do not want to be pictured waiting in bread, petrol and water queues. They have a sense of pride.
The length of the bread queues is down to the inconsistent supply of electricity.
“Our machine keeps stopping so we cannot produce enough bread,” Muhammed, the baker, tells us.
We move on to the south of the city to visit a burns hospital. As we walk in we hear an explosion and the ground shakes beneath our feet causing the car alarms to go off. The sound of gunfire can be heard and we see rebel fighters running towards the noise. It is a sniper; the staff say they have seen the sniper on a roof. Even amongst all this commotion Head of Mission, Moaathe just turns and carries on talking to the staff about their needs. Time is short and there are many places to visit.
“I have no time for the commotion and cannot think about what is happening outside too much, I have a job to do,” says Moaathe firmly. I figure the safest place is inside the hospital, the last thing you want to do when there is a sniper on the rooftops is to go outside.
We move onto Tripoli central hospital where Moaathe talks with Dr Imad Al Ratib. The doctor tells Moaathe that they are fine for supplies at the moment but are working with last year’s stock. Moaathe listens attentively and takes notes. Moaathe heads up to see some patients.
Muhannad Rajab is thirteen years old and was shot. The doctors found a bullet in his spine after three days and now he wears a neck brace. Muhannad’s forty-eight-year-old mother, Suaad, stands by his side, his sister walks off when she sees the camera; she is shy. His mother says he was playing in the street when he was shot by a sniper. He begins to cry.
“I look at the chair and I want to sit in it, I am crying because I cannot,” Muhannad explains.
The ward falls silent. No one knows what to say, how to console him or to ease his pain.
Rauda is in the same ward, she is visiting her nine-year-old niece. Rauda is upset, “Why?! We did not see this for forty years, why did my niece get shot. The rebels are always firing bullets in the air, why?!” She is convinced that it was a stray rebel bullet that hit her niece. There are many tears in this ward, frustration and anxiety as to what is to come.
“We do not need anything, we are a strong people, we were fine before and will be fine now!” Rauda shouts as tears flow down her cheek.
We move to the next ward. One and a half year old Ahmed’s head is bandaged. Moaathe speaks to his mother, he pauses for a while, speechless. I prompt Moaathe to ask what the ‘story’ is. The story is another one of pain. Ahmed was playing on the balcony of the house, his mum found him there, he had been shot in the head. They do not know who fired the shot. The bullet is still lodged in his head. His mother breaks down in tears. She does not allow us to take any pictures. We leave, embarrassed to have made such a request.
The hospitals are full of these stories. Away from all the news hype about rebels, revolution and victory are the real victims of all this. Stray bullets, snipers, electricity cuts, water shortages. The humanitarian situation is often ignored in the political toing and froing that we see on the news.
The assessment is not only looking at hospitals but the other humanitarian needs of the people of Tripoli. Many people have not had running water for days. As the battle has waged the water processing plant has been neglected. The NTC now say that they are trying to return running water to households. Some people get water from trucks loaded with water. They come to parts of the city and people bring their containers to fill up. Fatima Salim is putting water containers in the back of her car, Moaathe helps her.
“I use the water for wudu, cleaning and other household things. I have to be very careful with the water, there is so little around,” she tells us.
The situation is made worse by a fuel shortage. There are miles of queues to fill up cars. If people cannot fill up their cars then it will make collecting water even more difficult.
Rubbish is building up on the streets of Tripoli. There is very little rubbish collection taking place and the situation in some areas is getting progressively worse. It is frustrating residents that sometimes just set fire to rubbish piles which engulfs the streets with dark black smoke.
Moaathe has spent several days in Tripoli carrying out the rapid needs assessment. Moaathe has collated his findings and will immediately propose the aid requirements for Tripoli. It is hard work and dedication like that displayed by Moaathe Enayet that enables Islamic Relief to reach the most vulnerable people around the world.