The village of Kfarsghab lies
in the north of Lebanon. Its people are of modest means but
they manifest great spirituality and a love of their
Christian faith. They come from a long line of Maronite
Catholics. The village itself is situated in what is
regarded in the north of Lebanon as a very holy and
spiritually dearly held location – the Valley of Kadisha.
The Lebanese, in terms of
their history, and in respect of the Christian population,
have seen very hard and very pressing times with sustained
persecution and economic hardship.
Kfarsghab is the birthplace
of our forefathers and currently home to our close relatives
and friends who did not immigrate. Kfarsghab is nestled in
the northern mountain region of Lebanon approximately 1350
metres above sea level. The warmer months of the year are
spent by our community in Kfarsghab because of its pleasant
weather conditions in its elevated position. Our ancestors
have been known to reside in the area since 1450.
Our village expanded in the
1500’s when our ancestors bought a parcel of land in the
Morrh which is approximately 300 metres above sea level and
is situated at the foothills of the mountains in North
Lebanon. It is approximately 20 kilometres away from our
summer village but is considerably lower. Being in a lower
altitude the snow does not reach the village and weather
conditions are milder during the cold winter months thereby
escaping the heavy falls of snow that invariably occur in
the winter months.
The Lebanese Kfarsghab are a
peace loving, non-political Christian Maronite community who
number 20,000 worldwide. Whilst 95% of our people live
outside Lebanon, it is rare to see any of our ancestral
lands sold to outsiders. It is still 100% owned by our
Kfarsghab people throughout the world. We are known to be
very protective of our birth rights and our lands. Our
forefathers had the foresight many years ago to educate and
encourage our children to do well so much so that today it
has paid off handsomely whereby we can boast of the
abundance of scholars and business excellence that we have
inherited today. It is a proud achievement and a testament
to the faith and trust of our fore generations.
Australia has in particular
nurtured and fostered a multi-cultural atmosphere and
environment. With this incentive and in these ideal
conditions our Lebanese Kfarsghabi community has grown,
adapted to, adopted from and implemented to the extent that
there has been a real cooperation between our Australian
comrades and our own people to enable an interaction of
lifestyle and yet an ability to keep our separate identity,
which we culturally cherish. In such an environment.