These crisscrossed wires are a common sight across many parts of Lebanon,
and they are a symbol of the country's
notoriously dysfunctional electricity sector.
- When the light is dead,
I work using my phone light.
If there's no phone light, then I work by candlelight.
For almost two years, Nadia and her family have been surviving on
two hours a day of state-provided electricity.
- We eat in the dark every day.
- We do on most days because there’s no electricity.
And like many children in Lebanon, her son, Charbel,
quickly learned to ask about electricity.
- Why did the electricity not come?
The story of Nadia's family is not unique.
Many in the country are struggling as Lebanon has been grappling
with a financial and fuel shortage crisis since 2019.
And it's impacting every aspect of people's lives.
If there's no electricity, then there's no work.
If there's no work, then there's no money.
If there's no money, then you can't live.
The electricity crisis has also been years in the making.
For decades, paying two electricity bills in Lebanon has been the norm.
One for the state-provided electricity
and another one for a private electricity-generator operator.
Now, with inflation at more than 200%,
and reduced incomes,
many families are forced to give up their generator subscription.
I imagine hell to be more merciful than here.
With two months left before Nadia becomes a mother of two,
she says the future is bleak.
- I hope that by the time I give birth, things will get better
so that my daughter doesn't come into this world to be oppressed.
We head to Bourj Hammoud at 6 a.m.
It's one of the many Beirut neighborhoods experiencing frequent power outages.
Nadia woke up minutes ago.
- Our life during winter without electricity is really difficult.
This year has been extremely cold.
And there's nothing that you can do.
You get quite bored and frustrated.
How many layers are you wearing?
- Several pieces.
Here's one, two, three, four.
And three pairs [covering] my stomach so I can stay warm.
As challenging as this past winter has been for Nadia's family,
she says the blistering summer heat can be even more crippling.
The summers are so hot,
you're sometimes obliged to sleep on the balcony.
And what's annoying about the summer is the fridge.
Everything goes bad in the fridge. Everything gets thrown away.
Simple daily routines, like taking a shower, have become a luxury.
- If all of us wanted to shower,
we'd have to do it day by day.
I'd have to shower today, my husband would shower tomorrow
and my son the third day,
because the water tank doesn't heat up in time because we don't have electricity.
So we boil water in a pot and shower like the old days.
Once Nadia gets ready,
she gets Charbel out of bed by telling him there's electricity.
- The government electricity is on.
[Laughs]
The country's state-run producer, Électricité du Liban,
has failed to provide around-the- clock electricity for 30 years.
We can't say anything other than that this country is corrupt
for allowing children to grow up under such circumstances and in such a crisis.
Charbel asks a lot of questions about electricity.
Charbel asks, "Why there's no electricity?"
As soon as Charbel wakes up,
he switches the lights on to check for himself
if the electricity is on.
- Nadia: See... - Charbel: There's electricity!
[Nadia laughs]
People in Lebanon have largely relied on
private diesel generators to survive,
But inflation has made it unaffordable to many.
Nadia says the financial crisis has even forced them to change their eating habits.
I cook day by day.
I've prepared this for today,
and the rest are nonperishable things, just some jam in the back.
The freezer as you can see is empty. I store nothing inside at all.
- So what do you do during the summer?
During the summer I'll take some stuff to my mother-in-law, and store it in her fridge.
The sharp deterioration of the Lebanese pound is one of the main issues
driving the collapse of most basic public services.
Before 2019, 1,500 Lebanese pounds were equivalent to $1.
Now 30,000 Lebanese pounds is $1 on the black market.
And despite those astronomical changes,
people's salaries have not increased.
People are still earning salaries based on the 1,500 [exchange rate].
It's not even enough to cover a generator subscription.
Before 2019,
Lebanon's minimum wage was equivalent to $450 per month.
Now, the country's minimum wage is $22 per month.
Nadia says, the generator operator of their building
wanted to charge them a monthly fee of $90.
I hope that by the time I give birth things will get better,
so that my daughter doesn't come into this world to be oppressed,
so that she doesn't wake up in the middle of the night with no light,
so that I don't have to change her diapers by candlelight or rechargeable light.
I don't wish this for myself. I don't wish this for my baby,
because it's not her fault.
Once Nadia drops Charbel to school,
she joins her husband Chady at the hair salon.
He's had to lay off his five employees and says
the current situation is causing him extreme anxiety.
Do you usually commute to work in a shared taxi?
I used to have a car, but I had to sell it because we have a lot of bills,
especially bills for the electricity generator.
So you sold your car to pay electricity bills?
That's right because it's so expensive.
How much are your electricity bills at the moment?
Millions [of Lebanese pounds], and it's increasing every month.
The economic crisis has plunged
80% of the Lebanese population below the poverty line,
destroying the country’s middle class.
I used to make $4,000 to 5,000 per month.
That allowed me to live comfortably.
I didn't even make $200 last month.
Based on what he [the generator operator] wants to charge,
I need $400 per month.
This is taking into account that I try to save by closing up twice a week.
I close on Monday and Sunday and leave early so I can save on electricity.
Chady says his electricity bill at the hair salon
barely reached $100 before 2019.
He says the electricity shortage is now forcing him to turn customers away.
We had a problem this morning. They were late providing fuel.
There was no fuel for two days. [The gas stations] were on strike for two days.
- What do you think? Should I come now or come at 2 p.m.?
- Mom wants to come with me.
I just can't guarantee the electricity will stay on.
And once they arrive, their chats are largely
about how suffocating life is in Lebanon.
The doctor recommended [I use oxygen] from 9 p.m. until the morning.
- Yeah.
They are cutting my electricity off at 2 a.m.
- So you get up at 2 a.m. without oxygen?
Yeah, there's no oxygen and I can suffocate without it.
Some accuse generator operators
of monopolizing the electricity supply and taking advantage of the crisis.
Chady says his generator operator also limited
the electricity of subscribers in the entire building where he works.
And one of them is a doctor.
We're going to talk to her and find out how the electricity crisis is impacting her.
I am a pediatrician and I have vaccines in the fridge that cost a lot,
especially now since there's shortage of vaccines.
I was worried about losing them.
I was obliged to move them home.
Also when we want to check up on a child there was no heater.
Working is really challenging.
We are having to set appointments based on when there's electricity.
Lebanon's private generator industry is illegal, but the government can't
eliminate the sector as long as it fails to provide electricity.
Over the years, generator operators in Lebanon
have become known as mafia-like for monopolizing electricity
or for having ties to sectarian political parties.
We met with Joseph who has been a generator operator since 1990.
Why do generator operators in Lebanon have the reputation of being mafia-like?
The word mafia might have a negative connotation,
but it's a lobby.
Generator operators in every neighborhood
agree with each other [on the areas they should operate in]
to avoid wars between them.
Joseph says generator operators are often caught in the middle,
despite being a sector that "lights up the country."
He says the government sets tariffs that don't reflect
how much generator operators are spending on fuel.
I wish there'd be some cooperation
between the Ministry of Energy and generator operators.
It feels as though the government
would like to stay on bad terms and to keep issues going with this sector,
so the sector can take the beating from the people
and take people's anger and make sure it doesn't fall on politicians.
In addition to the financial crisis,
a corrupt Lebanese government
run on a sectarian power-sharing system has often stalled reforms.
And for decades, sectarian politicians have remained in power
with the support of several external actors,
such as Syria, Saudi Arabia, France, the United States and Iran.
So if we wanted to build new power plants, we had to build one in the south,
which is for the Shia, another for the north for the Sunni,
and a third one in the middle for the Christian community.
The subscription generator market is estimated
at $1.1 billion in Lebanon,
and filling the void of Lebanon's electric grid with
diesel-powered generators is also coming at a heavy environmental price.
First, there's a noise pollution.
Second, most of those generators do not have filters,
or adequate filters,
so the emissions of which are really spread in the environment.
Lebanon is now running on two aging power plants,
which need fuel that the country is struggling to afford.
Before the crisis, the government subsidized fuel,
which means it used to be price- controlled to make it affordable.
It has since phased out the subsidies.
That [fuel] was first subsidized before the crisis.
But now [people] have to pay more than 10 times.
I'm talking of all of this happening
with no support from the government.
Marc says he wants to see the country invest in renewable energy.
After a long day, Nadia is back home cooking.
She says she moved her oven to the balcony to catch as much light as possible.
It's annoying for someone to cook like this every night,
in the dark, by candlelight or using rechargeable batteries.
It demoralizes you, especially after coming home exhausted from a long day at work.
I am pregnant, and I'm having to spend a lot of time standing.
And in the absence of any distractions,
Charbel insists on helping his mother in the kitchen.
He wants to do something to entertain himself.
During this time, if I'm cooking then he'll cook with me.
If I'm sweeping the floors, then he'll sweep the floors with me.
They gather in the dark
to share a meal with little hope that change is coming.
- We eat in the dark every day.
- Most times because there's no electricity.
- What do you talk about when you have dinner these days?
- How we'll cover our debt. - How indebted we are.
- How we'll pay and get out of this.
If the [crisis] lasts longer,
more people will be forced to give up their generator subscriptions.
Some people can't even buy candles
because some people would rather buy two packets of bread with the price of candles
so their children can eat.
We didn't know hell was this rough.
I imagine hell to be better than here.