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Al Aman: Building a brighter future with orphans

By Maria Weldali - Jan 25,2020 - Last updated at Jan 26,2020

A painting by Noura N., expressing Al-Aman fund’s importance to her

AMMAN — Reaching beyond supporting orphans through providing for their basic needs, Al Aman Fund is close to the hearts of its beneficiaries. 

Al Aman Fund for the Future of Orphans, a non-profit organisation initiated by Her Majesty Queen Rania in 2003, works to equip orphaned youth with the necessary education and skills to keep up with a fast-paced world, by boosting them to become self-reliant and active citizens.     

It offers food, accommodation, medical care, education and counseling sessions. 

Noura, a fund beneficiary, told The Jordan Times during a recent interview that she learned about Al Aman back in 2007.

Prior to that, she lived in an orphanage for 18 years, watching people’s daily lives from a window, while facing mistreatment within the orphanage, she said, “hoping for a better life”.

“I did not know the true meaning of family — what it’s like to have a father and a mother — these feelings which characterise deep affection, loyalty and love were unfamiliar to me,” she said.

After aging out of the orphanage, she was faced with a number of challenges, including finding a place to sleep, food to eat and ways to survive in society, she noted.

Then, in 2007, she made the first contact with Al Aman.

“When I called Al Aman Fund I was hopeless, but the same day, my life changed. I was provided with comprehensive support, and I started my university years with a major in special education, because one of my brothers at the orphanage was with disabilities,” Noura said.

She highlighted the fund’s positive impact on orphans’ lives, citing its care as the reason for her first steps on the path of helping others.

“I beleive that the help I received must be given to others now,” 33-year-old Noura said, noting her concern with saving animals and her participation in volunteer activities and initiatives that work with children.

“The main objective of the fund is quality and not quantity when it comes to the futures of orphans,” an official at the fund who preferred to remain anonymous told The Jordan Times. 

Since its inception, over 3,900 orphans have benefitted from Al Aman Fund, of which 2,639 students graduated, according to the fund. 

The number of orphans currently studying through the fund totals 763, of whom 654 are enrolled in universities, 64 are completing their diploma level and 43 are enrolled in vocational training programmes, while two are completing their master’s degrees. 

The number of beneficiaries from underprivileged areas stands at 990 students.

“Day by day, I almost lost hope. I felt that the whole world was turning against me and that I will never be the well-educated, independent woman that I have always dreamt of being. Until one day, a friend of mine led me to Al Aman Fund,” said Mais, another fund beneficiary, in statements shared with The Jordan Times.

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