Leila Younis is Lebanese by birth and Jamaican by choice. She describes herself as fiercely warm and loving and someone who enjoys the simpler things of life, such as playing cards and dancing.

She is married to a powerful businessman, Sameer Younis. Blessed with her fair share of the fruits of the Jamaican land, her main worry was, like most Jamaicans, about the high crime rate. But all that was about to change and her role in the new script that was being written was not one that she herself had crafted.

All of a sudden, the statement that ‘there is no place like home’ would take on new meaning for Leila Younis…that home being Jamaica, of course.

The last time Younis had seen her family in Lebanon was four years ago and she was beginning to feel the urge to go visit them.

“I felt like it was time to go back, I really missed my family,” she told the Sunday Observer.

Sameer Younis, well-known former president of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce, and whose parents were also born in Lebanon, gave in to his wife’s enthusiasm and agreed to take the trip with her. She would stay three weeks but her husband insisted he didn’t want to be away from Jamaica any longer than a week at any one time.

Their good friends, Maria and George Hado, Lebanese nationals also living in Jamaica, decided at the same time to visit their relatives back home and to take their grandchild, four year-old Georgio Hado with them to Beirut.

As they packed their suitcases, none of them could have imagined what would await them. Despite earlier turbulence, Lebanon had been relatively calm and peaceful.

“Lebanon was once called the Switzerland of the Arab world. These people are very hospitable,” Leila offered.

On June 25, their plane touched down on Lebanese soil. Four years away has been too long, Leila Younis thought to herself. “It felt really, really good to be back,” she recalled.

The vacation started off like a typical one, filled with much laughter, hugs and kisses all around. There were no warning signs of the nightmare about to be unleashed.

“The place was buzzing, the tourists were coming and the nightclubs were full,” said Younis, remembering the happy first days surrounded by relatives and friends.

As he had planned, Sameer Younis gave good-bye kisses to everyone and departed for Jamaica after a week. His wife wished he could have stayed longer but she knew his determination.

He was later to tell journalists: “I was happy that I left when I did. I would not be able to deal with what is happening. I would have gone crazy being locked up in that place with all that bombing.”

Ten days into her vacation, Leila Younis heard the first newscast that Israel had launched airstrikes against Southern Lebanon, on grounds that the Shia militia group, Hezbollah – which means ‘Party of God’ – had captured two Israeli soldiers, whom they wanted to trade for Arab prisoners in Jewish jails.

Hezbollah is popular with Arabs because of its spectacular success in driving the Israelis out of Southern Lebanon in 1982. They have since espoused the Palestinian cause.

Leila Younis heard the newscast but it took some time for it to sink home. But every other newscast and the news flashes in between were reporting the bombardment. Lebanon was again at war.

Her vacation was over. Everyone was getting nervous and concerned about their safety. The reports said the country’s infrastructure was being devastated by the Israeli bombs. Civilians were being killed.

The suggestion was made that for their safety, Leila’s group should move to the mountains.

“We were in Beirut and I found that it was getting kind of serious and I could hear the planes above our heads. So we decided to go into the mountains and we were just moving from mountain to mountain,” she said.

Younis did not witness any of the fighting herself, but the television images were graphic. “I did not know that in 2006, you have such savage actions like this,” she said, reliving the moment.

But now she could hear the bombs and each one sounded nearer. “It sounded as if it were next door,” Leila said, recalling being completely shaken up. “I was very nervous.”

She told the Sunday Observer that the sounds of the bombs could not be compared with the sound effects in box office hits.

“It is much worse,” explained Younis. “With the television you can turn the volume up and you can turn it down.”

She said that the graphic images carried by the media around the world were an accurate representation of the heart-rending situation in Lebanon.

“The kids looked like dried-up dolls,” said Younis, becoming misty-eyed. “I do not know what kind of bombs they used.”

She heard that suction bombs were used to suck the air out of the buildings causing them to collapse.

“And the women…,” Younis started but could not continue.

“It was very depressing, we were all very angry and we felt like, my God, this could have been us!” said Younis.

Her mind turned to her family in Jamaica. Luckily, the entire infrastructure had not been destroyed and she was able to make telephone contact with Sameer and the boys in Kingston. That helped her to keep her spirits up. That and the news that the Jamaican foreign ministry was making strenuous efforts to get the four Jamaicans out of the war-torn country.

Together with the Hados, they came up with a plan to get out of Lebanon going through Cyprus. The adults tried to remain calm for the sake of the little boy in their midst.

Said Younis: “We could not freak out with a four-year-old with us. He was very protected at all times.”

The group heard that there were some 20,000 people waiting in Cyprus to get out and it made no sense going there. Younis said she herself began to feel what it must be like to be “a refugee”.

As they plotted their way out of the approaching bombardment, Younis found strength. She thought of the days when she would be back in the loving arms of her husband and the warm embrace of her children in Jamaica and a sudden calm swept over her.

They made their way through the mountains, but each time they felt that a route was secure, they heard that their chosen option had been bombed. Eventually, they decided to go by taxi across the Syria-Jordan border, a dangerous 11-hour trek by road to Amman, the Jordanian capital. They made the journey, tired and feeling frazzled, but out of danger.

“We heard afterwards that the area had been hit,” she said, heaving a huge sigh.

From Amman, they were put on a five-and-a-half hour flight to London where they missed their flight to Jamaica and had to wait one more day to get home. But they were safe at last.

On August 4, the four arrived back in Jamaica to a crowd of family and well-wishers.

“I have learnt to appreciate Jamaica much more,” said Leila Younis with a smile that spread from ear to ear.

Younis said that she was touched by the prayers and genuine concern that the Jamaicans had for their safety.

She believes that following her ordeal, there should be a greater focus in Jamaica on the positives, including things such as crime which pales in comparison to the terrible events in Lebanon.

Leila Younis continues to weep for Lebanon and her main wish is for peace between both countries.

“With war everyone loses,” she declared with conviction.

At Kingston’s Norman Manley International Airport, she collapsed into the waiting arms of her husband, Sameer. His longing, passionate kiss told her everything she needed to know. She was back home and all was well.

Interview by Deanna McFarlane