A little cedar of Lebanon in my heart, testimony of a true and durable friendship, By Dr Romain Blum

Last year Dr Romain Blum and his wife Hanan of Echternach, Luxembourg, attended a play written by Wajdi Mouawad,entitled “A bomb in the heart”, presented by the “cercle Libanais de Luxembourg“. The play was followed by a discussion, Dr Blum was invited to express his views: 

” I would like first to thank the actors for their unique performance, also those who contributed to add more warmth to this intense event tonight.  It reminded us the flash backs of the regrettable and  catastrophic Lebanese civil war with its broken hearts and broken  dreams. Sincerely, as a Luxembourgian,  I would like to share with you a confidence, and tell you  why all those memories still have a special  place in my heart.



In  the late 70, as a medical student in my first year in the dental school, I have met many international students, but what struck me the most at this time, was  8 particular Lebanese friends who impressed me with their dynamic attitude, kindness, vivacity,and generosity. But to be frank with you, I will never forget the bizarre setting, specially  when they gathered together, talking loud in their Lebanese dialect and in Arabic, a language that was  completely strange to me at that time.



Meanwhile, in the university lab, I have met one Lebanese, who gradually became my best friend until our graduation, and he remained as my best friend until today, his name was Nakhle Nicolas Kahwaji.


I recall that during the short breaks between the classes, I was lucky to have him as a free tutor teaching me the Alphabet, with some sporadic Lebanese poems and song .Since than, and  until today, and whenever I  mingle or speak with  people from the Levant, they automatically recognize my Lebanese accent instilled in me by my friend. I may  have lost most of it, but after I have met recently a Moroccan lady, who re introduced me to this rich and poetic  language, I started enjoying the beauty of what I have learned, but this time with a new tutor, who became later my wife !


After graduating in 1981, we all separated, and  each one went in a different way. Dr. Kahwaji of course  returned to his lovely (LIBNEN). But with the bad news from Lebanon, we rarely heard any good news from him, the smell of death was everywhere, shelling, car bombs, mutilate and burned bodies of men, women and kids littered the streets everywhere. One day, when Dr Kahwaji was on a red light, one bullet missed him by a millimeter…At that critical point, we insisted on him and his wife Pascale to come and spend Christmas with us, I had the chance to see him again,during christmas 1988, far from the daily  Lebanese hell.
After spending time in the  New Year with his brother in Brussels, they returned to lebanon. Nine month after, in 1989, Dr Kahwaji was pushed again  with his pregnant wife out from his beloved Lebanon to Larnaca Cyprus and then to Canada, his elected home ever since.
Dr Kahwaji was successfully accepted on the board of dentists in Canada, and had to rebuild  his professional and family life again from scratch.He became well known as Dr Nick Kahwaji . To this Last October, it will be our third visit  and encounter with him in the last 33 years.’
Tonight, I feel that our friendship has flourished , with the feeling of having planted  forever a little cedar of Lebanon in my heart !


 Dear friends, it is with great honor  tonight we decided, my Moroccan wife and I, to join the prestigious “Lebanese Society” in Luxembourg as a  testimony to our lifetime  friendship.


We pray  God to bless and help  restoring Lebanon to its old  glory with peace, love and happiness.”

Lear more about Dr Romain Blum:


CURRICULUM   VITAE 





Name :   Romain BLUM, Docteur en médecine dentaire



Date of birth :  11.07.1955 in ECHTERNACH, Grand-Duchy of LUXEMBOURG



Nationality:                      Luxembourgish




Office address :               25, rue Rabatt, L-6475 ECHTERNACH
                                      E-mail : [email protected]




EDUCATION:       


Diplôme de fin d’études secondaires, section Latin, Sciences ( Lycée classique d’Echternach, 1975)
Studies of medicine and dentistry at the universities ULB Brussels (B) and  Bonn (D)



PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY:



Since 1982      general dental practice in Echternach (L)


Since 1987      concentration on Periodontology


Since 1992      concentration on Laser treatments, daily experience with 5 different wavelengths



NATIONAL ACTIVITIES:



Member of the Executive Board of the Luxemburgish Dental Association (1990-1998)



Member of the Executive Board of the” Société Luxembourgeoise des Sciences médicales” ( 1988- 2005)



INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES:



Member of the European Comité de Liaison in Dentistry (1990-1998)



Foundation member (1999) and member of the Executive Board of European Society for Oral Laser Applications (ESOLA), now SOLA. 


Former Secretary General of SOLA 


Foundation member of SOLA-ACADEMY 


Foundation member of SOLA-Benelux 


International privileged invited SOLA lecturer, coordinator and chairman at congresses, events and workshops for practitioners: Austria, Arabic Emirates, Belgium, Germany, Great-Britain, Italy, France, Luxembourg, Mauritius, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Slovenia etc. 


Scientific reviewer of  Journal of Oral Laser Applications



Contributor to Journal of Oral Laser Applications by Quitessenz-Verlag / Germany 



SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS:



Co-author of  “Orale Lasertheraphie”, Quintessenz-Verlag, 2006, German and English version.


“The effects of a pulsed Nd:YAG Laser on subgingival bacterial flora and on cementum: an in vivo study”  (Journal of Clinical Laser Medicine & Surgery, vol 14, no.3, 1996, pp 137-143)



“Restorative dentistry with the Er:YAG Laser” (Journal of Oral Laser Applications, vol 1, no 1, 2001,pp55-58)



Aesthetic Dentistry with Smartbleach: an overview of clinical cases (Journal of Oral Laser Applications,vol 2, no 2, pp129-134)






 

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