Participants: Aiden, Jude, Laila, Nahla, Noah, Georges
Our journey started in Baabda forest. Every morning, as the children arrived at the entrance of the forest, they noticed the train tracks. They would walk along the trail and jump between the metal sleepers. This playful routine soon developed into a genuine wondering.
Many questions emerged: “Where does the train come from?”, “Where does it go?”, “Who rides the train?”, “Does it really exist?”…
Over the weeks, we set out on a journey to find the core concepts around which our inquiry will revolve. The questions on trains involved connection, relations, speed, distance, and time. We designed immersive experiences incorporating narratives, pictures, maps, books, videos, field trips, and above all playfulness and imagination. As a starting point, we crafted the story of Mantoura and Sami, an adaptation of the fable The Country and The City Mouse.
The story focuses on how the worlds of both mice connected with the help of the train. Traveling by train made it possible for each mouse to experience what lies beyond their living environments. The narration depicted the trip from Baabda to Beirut by train.
“Mantoura gazes out of the window, at trees waving their branches. Soon there were less and less trees and more and more tall buildings that touch the sky. They pass Horsh Beirut, the lighthouse near the corniche that calls the ships to shore, Hamra Street where the best movies play, Martyr’s square, the downtown souk, and Gemayzeh with its old stone houses.
Chugga-chugga-chugga. Choo! Choo! They reach the train station in Mar Mikhael.”
Then, we invited the children to take part in creating a train prop for the story. The story became a backdrop that drew the children’s attention to historical and geographical layers while piquing their curiosity about what once ‘was’ and what still ‘is’. The children’s illustrations portrayed their colorful perceptions and humorous understandings of traveling and train rides.
Swinging between fictional accounts and realistic possibilities the children’s curiosities about the train were steadily kindled. There was a growing sense of urgency to really understand and question what seemed to them a mysterious and inexplicable absence.
The children’s questions became the first steps to a long search for a hidden and forgotten chronicle.
Georges: Where is it, can we see it?
Maha: It’s in the Mar Mikhail Train Station.
Jude: Can we ride in it?
Georges: We’ll take a look inside the train to see how it broke and why it stopped working.
Jude: Where did it start from and where did it go?
Aiden: How come here in Baabda we see the train tracks but no train, and in Mar Mikhael we see the train but no train tracks?
Looking at the Map of Beirut
Our next move was taking a step back and creating a context for making the connection between places and geographies visible to the children. The children brought pictures of their neighborhoods.
Then they placed them on the map of Beirut while identifying where Mantoura and Sami (the mice) traveled. The children understood how places connect through migratory routes and acquired map literacy skills.
Walking Down the Track in Baabda
As the journey started from the train tracks in Baabda, a walk down the trail was a must. The train track became a place of adventure, research, and imagination. We observed how each child experienced the place as they spoke of the mental images that they had formed.
“There are old light poles to light the dark trail for the train to pass. Trees and bushes grew on the track since the train was gone a long time ago.“
“People took the scraps of metal and built other things with them…”
“This track reaches Nahla’s home.“
“Let’s make a map for the train track!“
Images blended into each other forming a mosaic of disconnected materialities making way for the real story to be revealed. The children’s suggestion to make a map paved the way for our next step.
To bring the story to life, we needed to rebuild it. With the children, we identified the elements that our story needs and we set out to work!
Where and When? (place and time)
In Baabda Forest, the children used the forest ground as a canvas to create a three dimensional map of the Beirut-Damascus line. They located the sea and constructed Beirut, the Lebanese mountain chains separated by the Bekaa Valley, and Damascus. Then, we placed pictures of the important stations that the train went through. The children used a rope to represent the train track and make the path visible.
Once we had the setting ready, we shared with the children the account of the American adventurer and travel writer Harry A. Franck who rode the train from Damascus to Beirut describing what he saw along the way. Franck paints a picture of the landscape all the way from Barada (Damascus) to Beirut. The children’s eyes beamed with excitement. It is starting to feel real.
“Then the train climbs up the edge of the mighty chasm until we are lost in the clouds. Though May has begun, it is still cold and miserable up here…”
“A long tunnel—and no lights in the train. But passengers have matches and candles, should anyone be bold to steal…” Writes Franck.
Who?
After creating the map and hearing some stories about it, the children brought the character of the train to life.
“He is Rusty the Choo Choo Train. A smart, curious, and lucky train. He was very happy to have seen so many places, but is currently grumpy because he is all alone. Rusty’s favorite thing was to watch the rivers, trees, plants, and meet other trains on the track. He liked feeling the air. Rusty ate wood, oil, and coal.
He now lives in a garage at the Mar Mikhael station in Beirut and he misses going around. He also misses his mother, father, and his sister. Rusty is now a great great great grandfather.”
What happened? Why did the train stop?
Mar Mikhael train station was our last stop! There we met Abir and Jinane, mothers from our community, to see the train and learn what happened to it.
Abir guided us through the place telling us about the three train track destinations that connected Lebanon to Syria and Palestine. She showed us the station where passengers bought their tickets and waited for the train.
The children’s body movement and verbalizations spoke volumes of the impact of their encounter with the train. We noticed awe in their expressions. It felt like they were attempting to take in the vastness and trying to figure out how their findings squared out with what they imagined and strongly felt for.
“Let’s go inside!”
The children got into one of the trains. They were so excited and tried to understand how passengers and drivers occupied the train. They inspected the inside and were very moved by this humongous inanimate metallic ‘being’. “Where did the driver see the road from? Where is his window?”, they would ask.
Abir and Jinane assumed the perspectives of the last three drivers who witnessed the last trip on each track and read the stories from the first person point of view.
“The war had stopped the train from traveling…”
The children’s sense of love and empathy made it hard for them to understand how people would not care about a fun and exciting thing like the train and allow for its destruction. They insistently asked:
“Why did people break the train? Why would they do that?”
For the children this question will probably remain unanswered for quite some time.
A New Story, a New Ending
After hearing the story of the train, the children had different reactions. Some were accepting of the train’s fate and some were very upset. Here came the perfect moment to invite them to rewrite a different ending of the story or perhaps give the train a new life.
Using the power of their childhood and imagination, the children created a new story for Rusty the Choo Choo train. Each of them gave the train a new life with new and faraway destinations.
After all, happy endings are always a possibility!
Laϊla
The train went to Germany. There is Mariam, Nahla, Kalani, Roman, and Noah in it. Other children joined. My story did not finish.
25.06.2024
Georges
They oiled the train’s wheels and it kept running. It grew old and rusty. They fixed it and it reached Baabda. There was a storm. The train held on to the tracks and kept moving. It reached France. They took his autograph there. They colored it black and they made a festivity. People got into it and started making it better. And here it is!
25.06.2024
Jude
It was a rainy day. The people on the train were happy. Rusty went to the Emirates where my grandfather and grandmother live and said hello to them. Rusty did not bring anything back with it. It just said hello and came back to Beirut.
26.06.2024
Noah
People gave the train armor. It ended when an army came. They tried to rip off the armor and they used a big hammer to rack it, but the hammer broke. It didn’t work. The train says ‘Ding Ding Ding Ding Doov Doov’ when it travels.
25.06.2024
Nahla
I am driving the train. There is Laila, Aiden, Roman, Noah and Jude in it. We are going to Spain. We will buy Jamón and have a party. The train has a lot of colors.
25.06.2024
Aiden
The train reached Brazil. There, they painted him gold. People get on board and travel. They are happy when the train reaches Brazil, they put on it the Brazilian flag. When it comes back to Lebanon, they put the Lebanese flag. And it’s like this… They keep switching.
26.06.2024