Stories from the Field

Jordan hosts around 500,000 Iraqi refugees among which about two thirds are children and youth below the age of twenty four. A large number of them are known to be physically, psychologically, and/or economically vulnerable. In the poor neighborhoods of Amman deprivation and the limited availability of resources create tensions between low income Jordanians and poverty stricken Iraqi refugees. This dynamic often leads to the stigmatization of these refugees and makes their struggle to survive even harder. Children are especially vulnerable to the negative mental health outcomes and general social disadvantage that may result from this. HCI believes that young people’s voices, perspectives and participation are all necessary and critical resources that are able play a key role in shaping their communities’ future, so since 2007 together with our longtime local partner, New Development, we have been working to bolster social cohesion and empower these vulnerable communities to unleash their potentials in order for them to establish themselves and help their families and their overall communities, while securing much needed necessities through relief aid.

A group of underprivileged Iraqi and Jordanian children have been meeting after school to rehearse for a play called “The Happiness Forest”; this play is one of the many projects HCI’s multifaceted Aid for Change program plans to implement. The play serves as a safe and effective space for the children to learn lessons on peaceful coexistence, pluralism, gender equality, tolerance and non-violence. Research has shown that having groups of children cooperating and working together towards a common goal is one of the best ways to break down negative stereotypes and stigmas, and build a sense of community. This is very evident in our group; during rehearsals we witness these children from different backgrounds interact with each other like one big happy family. Although they are still young, with their efforts they are already changing the way that their society functions; they represent a new generation of Jordanians and Iraqis, coexisting and supporting each other in a community where everyone is in dire need of help. This is the essence of what Aid for Change aims to accomplish. “The Happiness Forest” will debut on the 15th of June on the prestigious Royal Cultural Center in Amman.

“Aid for Change” is unique because it is specifically designed to help impoverished refugees and their neighbors while taking into consideration the reality of their situation; when every day is about finding enough food, water and other basic necessities to survive: widows cannot afford to send their children to school and pay for their learning materials, when they can barely manage to survive on occasional in-kind assistance from their neighbors; farmers cannot afford to risk trying new agricultural methods, when they can barely manage to survive on a small patch of land; the unemployed never have a chance to learn new skills if they spend all day making a living on the black market; and, poverty-stricken communities are too busy looking for food to rebuild infrastructure vital for redevelopment. This consideration is key to the philosophy of Aid for change; we cannot expect a person that survives day to day to give up his daily work to attend a workshop; imagine a group of mothers and widows learning about first aid and hygiene, unsure about how to secure food for the day, yet determined to lift their families out of misery and offer them a decent life by gathering much needed life skills. This is not the case with the workshops conducted by HCI; these women do not need to worry about basic necessities since they are provided with essential supplies individually selected for each family based on their actual need.

Since the first phase of the program was launched in February, 300 vulnerable families have received basic aid supplies, such as food items, first aid kits and basic hygiene kits that they would normally be unable to afford yet are in need of. In addition workshops that address several issues such as first aid, food safety and child care have also been offered to 150 women. “The information from the classes was as helpful as the items they later gave us; I discovered a lot that I wasn’t aware of; things like the vaccinations my children needed and the proper way to prepare and to store food” Marwa a young Iraqi mother of two tells us during a coffee break at one of the food safety workshops. “I am glad I came, I think it is a good idea to offer aid items after the classes; I was a bit reluctant to come to the workshop at first, I have to work… but I was motivated when I heard that food and supplies would be offered afterwards, as you know, we need all the help we can get”.

In the next phase of the program 50 widows will be assisted to develop viable home-based businesses. They will be compensated with basic necessities to devote time and energy to develop such businesses, 100 Iraqi children will be given much needed educational materials and 50 people with special needs will be taught new skills in a series of workshops to put them on their way towards developing viable micro businesses that will help them build sustainable futures for themselves.