Relief Assistance for Syrian Refugees in Jordan

As JEN announced on 25th Dec. 2014 that we had been under the process of assessing all public (the state owned) schools in Jordan since December, we completed this after four months in April.

According to the list from the Ministry of Education, the total number of the school was 3,658. However, our assessment found out 23 schools dropped from the list, resulting in a total of 3,681 schools. To judge our result of the assessment; one of our partners, UNCEF made a surprise inspection, and concluded 95% of the result was correct.

JEN has run a project for Syrian refugee camps in Jordan at the same time as the project that accepted both the Syrian children and Jordanian children in the Jordanian host community.

The Ministry of Education in Jordan offers an education opportunity for children who evacuated from Syria. They accepted these of who are children in the public (the state owned) schools in Jordan. This is because there is no end to the conflict in Syria since it was five years ago. The number of the Syrian children in the Jordanian public schools has been increasing. Therefore, the space of the schools, and the capacity of the water and sanitation facilities in schools appear to be insufficient for accepting the increased number of the students. This is especially the case for the border districts with Syria and Amman districts where the capital is located, more and more public schools began to have two shift systems of classes in the morning and in the afternoon to cover the increasing amount of the pupils.

Furthermore, since families of Syrian refugees are suffering from the high prices in Jordan, those of who move on country sides to big cities are increasing. We can say that the burden of the Jordanian government and people who accept Syrian refugees are becoming heavier. On the other hand, the Ministry of Education cannot catch up to grasp the needs of the public schools in Jordan entirely.

In order to implement assistance promptly, adequately and efficiently based on grasping the needs correctly, it is necessary to cooperate with related agencies such as the Jordanian government, UN and NGOs. JEN will share the report on the assessment with them, and through these processes, we will bring the assistance for the schools in all of Jordan.

Recycling Clothes is Unlimited Creativity

One of the changes in living one’s life as Syrian refugee women was that they have a plentiful free time in Jordan, but they did not easily have the time when living in their beloved homeland Syria. As women, they would like to use such the free time in a way that they feels beneficial and useful; even though they are nothing to do creative things in Jordan. Due to the fact that they know they are very much productive human beings.

This is one of the JEN’s projects that we proposed an idea to the women in the camp and they were producing recycling clothes. The group of the women liked the idea, therefore, they decided to work together with other groups of women in this regard.

At the first, a supervisor of the project demonstrated ideas how to recycle old clothes and to transform them into carpets and bags.  Then each one of the ladies selects pieces of clothes depending on what she has in mind and what she has decided to do. Some of the ladies prefer to take men’s shirts, as the texture is the best for bed covers and curtains. Almost everyone already knows how to braid and the rest of the process is simple to learn.

The group of women is 30 those of who form the essential core of the “Recycling Cloth” project, and there are more women who attend weekly gathering from different districts of the camp. The group members want to fill their free time doing useful things for their families in a way that increasing their creativity, energy and sense of fulfillment in the life.

The group can use their products or decorate their own caravans instead of buying materials from the market. All of the members feel proud of what they have produced. In the future, the members would like to develop a business so that they can sell the products inside the camp; and if possible, outside in Mafraq and Amman.

“Water means life, health and prosperity,” said a young participant at a three-day campaign on the occasion of World Water Day on Sunday, March 22nd World. “I believe this event tackled an important issue to those who live in the camp whether we stay at Za’atari camp or go back to Syria,” he explained.

The awareness campaign, organized by JEN, was launched at Za’atari camp for Syrian refugees with the theme of water and the need to protect and conserve water. The campaign included the publication of two main messages: “For better health, we need clean water. Let’s keep the water clean”, and “Water is for you and others; don’t waste it”. The campaign targeted males and females from three age groups: Adults, teenagers and children. Three different methods were used to deliver the above messages in accordance with each age group.

For Adults: Group sessions were held with refugees from both genders. During those sessions, awareness messages were discussed with the refugees through two key points: Ensuring that water is always clean and the knowledge that the share amount of water is 35 liters per day per person. Also they were informed about how to save water by re-using the drainage water after cleaning the dishes to clean the floor. During the sessions, trainers received positive feedback from the attendees regarding the value of saving water, especially when someone referred to the issue of water shortage in Jordan compared to Syria. They also realized that water resources in Jordan are not as abundant as they used to be in their own country, which reflected positively on their behavior in daily water use. In addition, the process of water testing for safety and cleanliness in the camp was discussed. Attendees indicated that they are confident of the water quality provided to them.

For Teenagers: Many group sessions and activities targeted 14 – 18 year-old teens. Activities included a contest that aimed to raise awareness for water conservation by letting them pour the water from a big bucket to many cups without spilling any water on the floor. The winner won a site visit to the water borehole inside Za’atari camp to see the borehole operation and filling the water into the trucks.

For Children: Many games and activities were played to deliver messages in the simplest ways to the kids. The games and activities that were held were face painting, a play performance, songs and drawing.

Most of the refugees who attended this event said that such activities had positive influence on their children and encouraged them to adopt new habits concerning the usage of water.

Menstrual hygiene sessions for women in Za'atari camp (Part 2)

The Community Hygiene Promoters invited 8 -10 women to participate in the session. Sometimes the sessions are held at JEN’s community center and sometimes at the hygiene promoter’s household. Generally one or two of the JEN staff attend the sessions to support the hygiene promoter.

During the sessions, the women learn much new information. There are a lot of myths and misconceptions about how they can care for themselves in a hygienic way. Many women began to understand the workings of their bodies each month for the first time. They also inquired many questions that went beyond our hygiene sessions, so we referred them to the doctors in the camp. The women were extremely interested in learning about this topic.

At the end of the session each woman received a hygiene kit that was donated to JEN by UN Women. It contained many supplies that can be used for self-care and also items used for house-cleaning.

What are the most surprising things we learned through creating these sessions?

Originally we thought that women would not be interested, and that they would already know everything we had to offer. However, we quickly found out that some of them had numerous questions. One interesting myth that came up is related to food; some women thought that eating certain foods like lemon, onion, or coffee would be harmful, and they also tend to stop cooking during menstruation fearing that the food would be spoiled for their families. The CHPs have become experts at uncovering myths and providing facts.

What will we do next?

The menstrual hygiene topic was so popular that many more women have asked to volunteer as Community Hygiene Promoters with JEN. Two weeks ago, we conducted an orientation session with 16 new volunteers. Now they know the general topics of how to communicate, how diarrhea spreads, and how to hand wash properly. The women who are already giving menstrual hygiene sessions are also seeking other topics to discuss. We have already begun developing training sessions for them about dental hygiene and after that we will decide on the messages about water conservation.