Open day of activities brings Jerash camp children to Amman

AMMAN – In an effort to bring a sense of normalcy to the lives of children from the Jerash Refugee Camp and celebrate the spirit of Ramadan, a local initiative brought 100 children to Amman for a day of fun.

For Mohammad Kamal, Saturday's open day was a chance to see the capital and make new friends.

The 14-year-old was running, smiling and shouting as he joined a number of Jordanian volunteers who were all interacting with great excitement and jubilation. 

"I was so thrilled to play in Amman, especially with the various entertaining games we participated in," he said with a smile. 

Kamal was among 100 children from the camp who participated in several activities organised at Amman's Modern Montessori School by the Basmitak Ha Taalem (Your print will leave a mark) initiative.

Lina Milhem, a member of the initiative, said Basmitak Ha Taalem holds these activities every year to raise money to continue its projects for the support of Palestinians in the camp, some 48km north of Amman. 

"It was founded by university students who worked hard to make it ongoing," she told The Jordan Times.  

Milhem said the initiative has been active for five years, providing the camp's residents with services in the education and health sectors. 

"The goal of the initiative is to provide camp residents with projects that enable them to depend on themselves and not on donations," she added, noting that Basmitak Ha Taalem holds five iftars every Ramadan, inviting 100 children who are joined by 100 Jordanian volunteers, one responsible for each child. 

"We have covered 20 families with our projects and thousands of people have benefited from our charitable iftars," she added. 

Milhem recalled that when they first started, mothers of the initiative's members used to cook for the children. 

"Now, we get the meals from restaurants, which provide them at affordable prices or sometimes free of charge." 

Milhem said they chose the Jerash camp because the Palestinian refugees living there are facing a difficult situation.

A total of 600 families benefit from charitable food boxes every year and this year the initiative distributed boxes worth JD 9,000.

The Jerash camp hosts more than more than 24,000 registered refugees and was set up as an "emergency" camp in 1968 for 11,500 Palestine refugees and displaced persons who left the Gaza Strip as a result of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, according to UNRWA.

The agency says camp residents suffer from poverty, overcrowding and high unemployment. Moreover, around three in four shelters are not suitable for accommodation because of structural problems.

To participate in Basmitak Ha Taalem's open day, each volunteer buys a ticket, with the proceeds going to the initiative's projects in the camp, according to organisers.  

Nour Al Deen Abbas, 23, said he felt that he has a duty towards these children.

"I feel happy when I help them, but I feel sad because at the end, children are happy for a few hours, and then return to the same difficult situation they were escaping," he added, 

Another volunteer, Farah Abdul Jawad, said she sought to bring Ramadan joy to the children.

"They know Ramadan but they don't feel its joy, so I wanted to give them that feeling," the 15-year-old added.  

For Dana Jaabari, her participation was a special volunteering experience.

"These events are unique because there is a kind of interaction between volunteers and beneficiaries, as you talk to the children, listen to them, play with them and share an iftar."