Return to Entity Green

This week Nayab, Will and I returned to the site of Entity Green for a more extensive tour and meeting with Philip about our flourishing partnership. We have decided to start with relatively simple projects to ease our community into forming good, sustainable habits. Two rather innovative projects are the collection of bread and hangers.
We will collect bread from our dining hall and dry it out in the sun- it can then be sent to Entity Green and sold to farmers to feed their animals.

We will collect the wire hangers from the laundry service, gather them in groups of 25 and deliver them to Entity Green, who will sell them for 1 JD/bundle to go towards the costs of transportation for employees and trainees.

It was unbelievable how much had changed at the site since my last visit. They have built a garden, with which they nourish with their full functioning and impressive compost system, and have reorganized the “stations”, where all of the sorting takes place

My favorite station is where they house the glass bottles. In the large, open space, and glistening in the hot, desert sun, the bottles look like an installation of artwork. They are truly gorgeous.

I am continually impressed with Philip’s creativity, dedication and hard work, and I am so excited for King’s to adopt some of his models and methods.

Ruwwad

Nayab and I have been working on creating a partnership in the realm of community service and outreach between King’s Academy and Ruwwad, a privately funded non-profit organization founded in 2005. Ruwwad runs a series of programs including, but not limited to, provision of scholarships, rehabilitation, and the creation of libraries and community centers in marginalized communities. Ruwwad aims to help under-privileged communities help themselves through sustainable development.

Ruwwad’s influence is particularly evident and successful in a community in East Amman called Jabal Nathif. This area is actually an unofficial refugee camp that has been very poorly constructed and maintained due to the lack of recognition and support from the government. The entire area suffers from high population density, crowded living conditions and lack of important public services. The area suffers from 50% higher unemployment rate than the national average, and 50% fewer higher education graduates.

When Ruwwad first came to Jabal al-Nathif, they spent the first year gathering information about the neighborhood and determining priorities by listening to residents. The residents prioritized projects according to their needs, and then worked with Ruwwad to create the necessary changes-which ranged from creating a children’s library to cooperating with the government to open the area’s first post office, police station, and public health clinic. Ruwwad brings dedicated, hardworking volunteers into the projects by providing university and college scholarships to 250 students from the community.

Upon being introduced to this organization, we were thoroughly impressed. We are developing ways to bridge the Jabal Nathif and King’s communities together in a working partnership. This past weekend we took a few students from King’s and visited the site. Upon arriving, Ruwwad volunteers shared heartfelt stories about their experiences and took us on a tour of the facilities. The faces of the buildings were painted bright colors, and the concrete walls covered with beautiful, folk style murals. They showed us the nursery, playground, administrative offices, crafts rooms and computer lab with pride and admiration for all they have accomplished in just three years. Seeing a thriving hub of activity involving engaged kids and adults alike, I was reminded of my days spent at the Lawrence Boys & Girls Club as a coordinator for my project working with young girls.

After the tour our students separated according to interest and worked at the library, creative arts workshops where they were making collages, paper and ceramics, and in the nursery playing with young children. I walked around and documented the trip, followed by a herd of wonderful children eager to show their community off.

We then had lunch and reflected on our day and brainstormed ways in which we could be involved and provide Ruwwad with seriously committed student volunteers. I look forward to further investigating the possibilities and working closely with Ruwwad this year.

Alistair Visits!

A dear friend of ours, Alistair, who worked at King’s for a brief period, recently came through Jordan a couple of times between trips to Iraq and the West Bank. Georgia, Eliza and I were fortunate enough to see him on each of his visits and hear all about his wild adventures in the hot bed of activity. He spent a few days traveling in Iraq- during which Obama was elected president- before retreating to Turkey for security reasons. It was really fascinating to hear about his impressions of the area- and troublesome to hear that his hope for the future has diminished. Coming from a pretty realistic, and sometimes cynical person I was surprised when he told us he had gone there with “too much optimism”.

It was really fun for me to speak with him about his trip to Israel/Palestine because I had just returned from the same places he visited. We were able to relate to each other’s border stories, observations and emotional responses to the divided territories. It is truly incredible to be in this region of the world where so many people are traveling to once seemingly distant and impossible places, and discovering parts of themselves along the way.

We took Alistair out to dinner at a famous dive restaurant downtown called Hashem. No plates, no utensils, no fuss- they just bring a pile of warm pita, a heap of falafel and bowls of ful and hummus to your table immediately upon arriving. We then went to one of our favorite spots, a traditionally decorated and cozy café, to sip on mint tea and listen to music. Jordan is truly a social hub where people take the time to relax and the priority is to enjoy the company of good friends and family.