First, sorry if this post seems a bit detached from my normal love for my village. I have been at a training in Amman for over a week and so I'm slowly getting back to the swing of things...
After several subtle, and many not-so-subtle hints from my
mother (the final one being, “you know someone has a reminder on his computer
to check your blog every two weeks…”) I suppose it is time to update. I have
had a few requests in terms of catering my blog post toward the recent hike in
refugees, daily interactions, and some small scale NGOs that I have encountered
in Jordan. These requests actually come at the perfect time, as I have had
recent experiences on all of these fronts.
Some major events have been happening around the Middle East
region, many of which you may know more about than me. We have seen a large
influx of refugees from Libya and Syria since my arrival last October, but
refugees are not so strange to find in Jordan. I have provided some links at
the bottom of this blog to show you the numbers of refugees in Jordan. The number
of Palestinian refugees in Jordan is astounding. My entire village, well most
of it, is made up of Palestinian refugees. In fact, we have one of the one 5
schools in The Jordan Valley area that is was created by the UNRWA (United
Nations Relief and Works Agency- for Palestinian Refugees). I didn’t know any
of this until that lovely road trip that I wrote about in the previous post. Above
and beyond the Palestinian refugees, there are people from from Libya (medical
tourism- to seek medical care in Jordan), Syria, and Iraq. While the amount of
people in Jordan has greatly increased, there is little noticeable difference
in my village. My daily life is the same; however I know this is not true for
my friends who are serving in larger cities, namely in Mafraq. The city of
Mafraq has had a huge swell of Syrian refugees lately, which is one of the
reasons, I believe, the organization Operation Smile chose it for a regional
mission.
If you are not aware of the Operation Smile organization, I
have provided a link to their site. Five volunteers, myself included, had an
opportunity to assist with one of the recent missions in Mafraq. This mission
focused on helping Syrian families living in the area to receive free surgeries
for cleft lip, cleft palette, and other facial deformities. Some of the volunteers
were able to play with the children while they were waiting to hear if they
were able to have the surgery. I, on the other hand, sat in the room with the doctors
as they conducted prescreenings for the surgeries. We were one of the first
steps of the screening process so I saw both faces full of hope as they
received the pass to the next room, and devastation as they were forced to go
home. I understand the need for prescreening, but it broke my heart each time a
mother left in tears. Overall the experience was amazing. Knowing that these
lives were going to be changed and to be a part of that was uplifting.I wish I could give more information as to how the refugee increase has changed Jordan, but to be honest, it hasn't changed much in my village.
More recently, I attended a training alongside all my
volunteer friends for educating Jordanians on water awareness. As you may know,
Jordan is the one of the most water-poor nations in the world, meaning Jordan’s
water resources need some serious attention. During this training we learned
about some exciting new initiatives taking place throughout Jordan to address
the water problems. One in particular caught my attention because it is based
in the Jordan Valley, where I live. The Friends of the Earth-Middle East
(FOEME) created an EcoPark close to me in order to teach youth sustainable
choices, as well as help illustrate possibilities in Jordan. Another project from
the same organization is to have summer camps involving Palestinians, Jordanians,
and Israeli youth in an effort to education about environmental/water issues,
as well as promote peace throughout the region. You all know my love for camps,
so of course, I think it sounds
fantastic! I will include a link to the blog below for you to look at if you
would like. Water shortage/ sanitation is a very real issue in Jordan,
hopefully working with the youth to explain the issues and to promote idea
development will aid in finding sustainable methods to preserve the water here.
I will hopefully be visiting the ecopark in the coming weeks and will report
back on what it is like and how to get involved if you feel so inclined.
I apologize that this blog is less anecdotal than most, but
I wanted to make sure I was able to provide some of the information asked as
well as not make it agonizingly long as I have been in the past. Soon (hopefully)
I will be posting about the 12-hour field trip, as well as possible upcoming
projects at my center (read: possible things you can help me with).
Speak soon! Oh and if you have something you have been
waiting, patiently, for me to write about, please let me know and I will try
and include it!
helpful links!
