Beirut in stained glass: Rebuilding a broken city

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After a 30-year career, Maya Husseini had planned to retire. She was Lebanon’s first female master glazier, she’d worked through civil wars and overcome sexism to create masterful stained-glass windows in churches and buildings across her city and abroad. Then the 2020 explosion in the Beirut port shattered almost everything. Retirement plans were shelved and Maya got back to work, bringing together a team of women to rebuild, and restore her beautiful creations. The Argentinian capital, Buenos Aires, is home to more than 60 carousels but one man keeps them in fine form: Leonel Bajo Moreno. Outlook’s Colm Flynn went to meet him. This interview was first broadcast in 2019. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producers: Olivia Lynch-Kelly and Helen Fitzhenry Interpreter: Olivier Weber Voice-over: Mounira Chaieb The clip of the explosion is courtesy of the Associated Press and Alaa.H Saad. Get in touch: [email protected] or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707 (Photo: Maya Husseini working on one of her stained-glass windows. Credit: Courtesy of Maya Husseini)