I love this letter. Alain doesn't cover up his early childhood terrors (the painted light bulbs) nor does he minimize the ghastliness of Israel's incursion into Lebanon last summer. (My beloved cousin was killed in an Israeli army tank weeks shy of his wedding -- in Bint Jbeil, the last place on earth he would have chosen to be, and surely not in a tank... more likely like you, a peace seeker, he would have preferred coming to Lebanon as a friend, not an enemy). Lisa, people don't write such letters (and all the supportive comments on your posts from Lebanese people) unless they are moved that someone chose to see their humanity and the kinship between our people. The NGO person I have met in the bodies of Americans and Germans. Different languages, same know-it-all attitude with grand plans no one finds interesting. Thank you for your courageous work.