In Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, a young woman collects goat’s milk for cheese. Photo by Stephanie Preston, ©2007 Endeavors; click to enlarge.
Life in Bekaa Valley
by Margarite Nathe
In Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, a young woman collects goat’s milk for cheese. She belongs to a family of more than twenty, including three generations of extended family.
“They were very traditional, especially when it came to gender roles,” says Stephanie Preston, who was taking pictures in the valley for a newspaper story (See “Bombs over Beirut”). “Their homes were large, comfortable tents, where the men would sit while being served by the women. And then the women and children would wait outside to eat the leftovers. The women did most of the work making the cheese, cooking, and cleaning, and the men’s roles seemed to be herding and preparing the meat.
“In celebration of us being their guests, they killed a lamb, which they regard as a holy animal. They served it first raw to the men and some of the female guests — I was the only girl curious enough to try it — and then cooked the rest for dinner. This was by far my favorite story that I got to cover.”
