If this electronic site were an idea, its creator is Toufic Antoun Mansour Najem Labaki. If it were a passion, it’s Toufic Labaki’s ardent fondness for Baabdat… For years, he thought about gathering Baabdatis spread all over the world together. After all these dreams and longings, he set the basis of the first contact between the Baabdatis in Lebanon and abroad by creating a website that is open to all the Baabdatis and whoever is concerned about Baabdat.

Who is Toufic Labaki?

Toufic Antoun Mansour Labaki was born in Baabdat in 1938. He is married to Saada Charabati and has three children: Rita, Ramez and Carmen.

Toufic Labaki has been very active in the charitable, social, human and patriotic fields. At the age of 21 and more specifically on March 2nd, 1959, he traveled to Brazil and wandered around Argentina, North, Central and South America.

His concern has always been the people of Baabdat. He built cemeteries for the Latins (one of the catholic rite  in Lebanon). Since the Lebanese war in the mid seventies, he founded the Baabdati social body, social center and dispensary to help the people in need, the homeless and the displaced.  He was also active in Caritas-Lebanon which is a humanitarian christian association and in the Maronite (one of the oriental catholic rite  in Lebanon) Planning and Development Committee…

He succeeded in facilitating the creation of new residential neighborhoods such as Shammis and Al Wady and others and highly contributed in solving many real estate problems in Baabdat adding to its development and prosperity.

He is a pioneer in charitable works and he is the one who brought the “Sacrés Coeurs” (Jesuits) nuns to Baabdat where the monastic order built an orphanage and a church in the name of Saint Charbel from Beqaakafra in Northern Lebanon.

In 1994, Toufic Labaki founded a medical center gathering conjoint clinics for general medicine, dermatology, pediatrics, dentistry, laboratory, optometry, physiotherapy, psychological and audio therapies…

His social activities are endless. He succeeded in preserving the inherited rights of the owners of the “Aaraar” water which is the main spring in Baabdat. Nowadays, this spring is the vital source of the village…

His main concern was his village people abroad. He visited them and shared their worries and concerns. He thought about publishing a documented scientific book about the emigration of his village people where lists of names, jobs, country of immigration and many things about the immigrants and their descendents are mentioned. He interviewed some of them as the years passed, took their pictures and drew tens of “family trees”, one for every Baabdati family. He united families by finding relationships based upon documents and data.

Toufic Labaki was deep into the emigration issue of Baabdat. He sent his loving messages to the immigrants and their descendents through the lebanese diplomatic delegations, the clubs and social committees abroad and through mails, e-mails and direct contacts.

The intention existed for a long time. The file of information is getting bigger every day. Baabdat and whoever comes from Baabdat are waiting… Their feelings are stirred. Waiting wakes the emotions even more. Global connection can spread the idea much faster than a book and connect the world each day and every minute. It has no limits and boundaries. The internet is able to unite the network of the families of Baabdat through the distance just by being online…

The son was contaminated by the passion of the father for Baabdat. The fire spread from Toufic to Ramez and they complete each other in developing the idea of the father in the modern times of the son. The latter is working on creating, planning and programming the website. He is carving this wonderful jewel worthy of Baabdat and the people of Baabdat in the village and abroad.

If I had to say, what are the motives and incentives that drove our two honourable and strong willed pioneers to do that work… the spontaneous and simple reply would be:
“Only to love and serve our brothers of Baabdat, residents and descendents, and for the love of our country Lebanon.

Friend Priest Boulos Antonios Nassif
40 years in the Maronite mission in Buenos Aires-Argentina
who knew Mr. Toufic Labaki through his trips to Argentina

Lebanon, 2009