Relief Assistance for Syrian Refugees in Jordan

Since the beginning of November 2015, we have become the members of JEN and have been working in Za’atari Refugee Camp as field assistants. At first, we were shocked by environment of the camp. Even now, we learn a lot of things every day.

Our main job is to secure appropriate environmental hygiene by improving access to the water sanitary facility. We monitor water distribution situation every day and keep our eyes on to make sure that each person could receive 35 litters of clean water a day. Another important work is to monitor and retain the public water sanitary facility. Infrastructure of the camp is improving gradually. We are retaining this by cooperating with the members of the community. Right now is a transitional period for it to be set up to each home.

Furthermore, to prevent the spread of disease in the camp where the environmental hygiene is low compare to its high density of the population, we are delivering hygiene promotion message aiming to strengthen people’s knowledge. We make house-to-house visits, do group sessions and do hygiene promotion events in some cases. We do cleaning activities with the members of the community every month. These activities are good opportunities to promote the whole camp community to make an effort to create healthy environment by themselves. Believing that they will gain power to become self-reliant in the future, JEN recommend participation of activities. These activities include those of water and hygiene committee which retain hygiene enjoyment of the community.

Currently, expecting that flood caused by heavy rain and snow in winter will occur again, we are discussing about the contingency plan. In the meantime, to make people recognize that all refugees in the region have responsibilities to their own households, we are sending message to call attention to them. Recently, we heard difficulty of using freezingly cold water from the people in the area. We want to respond to their needs.

Looking back over the past three years, the camp seems to have become more stabilized, but nobody knows how long their life in the camp will be. We want to contribute to create a better environment for them.

JEN has continuously been working on improving water and sanitation environment at the Za’atari Syrian refugee camp. So we have meetings with other NGOs on regular basis. At the meeting, a new interesting idea came up by our senior staff. “Let’s organize a football tournament, where a sports event and hygiene promotion activity could be organized, with passing invitations to both of the local community and NGOs operating at the Za’atari Syrian Refugee camp footballers”.

The idea expected to bridge between the communities. “The gap between the local community and the NGOs community at Mafraq governorate is obvious, so the event could be one of the methods we can use to facilitate a joint understanding towards both of the communities”. JEN sponsored for all of the equipment required for the event, in a way that shows our commitment towards the local community and organizing such events for further integration process between the different targeting communities.

On Thursday October 8 2015, the football event was taken place. Eight teams attended the draw for the tournament. The participated teams were: JEN; International Relief and Development; and UNHCR teams; 4 teams from the local community, and one team from the Za’atari Syrian Refugee Camp. They all had one goal to enjoy the day with colleagues who they had not  had a chance to meet before.

For one of the purposes of the event as a hygiene promotion, the fifty children aged from four to five years old from the Za’atari Charitable Association came to join the event with their teachers. Previously, they had been invited by JEN’s hygiene promotion specialists for the sessions, role plays and activities that was targeting to get them familiar with the daily hygiene practices they should follow on daily basis while they were in school or at home like hand washing and teeth cleaning. The event concluded with distributing personal hygiene kits to the children. The excitement rose rapidly during the event and everybody seemed to have a great fun. All of the players were supported by the audience and it is the same as the players were joining international football matches with traditional songs, clapping or dancing over and over.

By the end of the event and after the final match, JEN honoured the winner of the tournament, the second place and the tournament best scorer. After announcing his name with the total of eight goals he scored during the three  matches, the best scorer Yazan’s smile was pretty. It seemed that he was proud of achieving a personal goal. This is because he was one of the main players to lead his team to the first place in the tournament.

After the closing ceremony, everybody agreed that we should organize such the event again in different villages surrounding the Za’atari Syrian Refugee Camp as it had a positive effect on all humanitarian operations that the NGOs were organizing. The host communities will also feel good when they are well supported by international NGOs even by simple activities like this tournament.