Aside from some contact with Jordanian kids during soccer the other day, today was really the first time that we got to meet Jordanian kids our age. We traveled to Jerash (northern Jordan) to meet with Mercy Corps, which is a Canadian run NGO aiding with the Syrian & refugee crisis and also the Lost Generation. The lost generation truly focuses on educating and rehabilitating the current youth who have been greatly affected by the conflicts in the area. The center at Jerash was extremely welcoming and there was staff and about 10 or so girls and 1 little boy who welcomed us with open arms. We started with a name game, then an overview of their mission, a conversation, a game of scavenger hunt, then closed with celebrating by dancing dabke (traditional Levantine dance). During the conversation after our briefing of the Mercy Corps mission I absolutely loved getting to ask questions and having the girls ask us questions. I answered the question "why arabic?" and my response included something along the lines of being able to truly understand the people etc. of Middle East and the only way is through the language. It felt so good to have the girl across from me smile so widely. All of a sudden it all made sense. It just seemed so right, all the "why am I doing this?" and moments I wanted to give up on the confusing arabic letters made sense. The director proceeded to translate what I said in english to arabic and additionally I understood some of what he said which felt even more amazing to the point I embarrassingly teared up ever so slightly... It was the best feeling ever. The girls were interested in how to better their english and vice versa for us. This was truly the epitome of the Jordanian stereotype of hospitality. They were so patient, welcoming, and warm hearted. They were so happy we were there and cared and wanted to hear their stories. Honestly, the language barrier was HUGE, unlike any language barrier I've ever experienced... Lets just say there was a lot of smiling and nodding, but that made my desire to have conversational arabic even greater. We took selfies and did normal teenage girl things. I actually got some of their numbers (which hopefully I can figure out how to text on my Jordanian phone) and there were hugs and kisses. And lastly they sang us a song that was so sweet, we then tried to sing "make new friends and keep the old" but it failed pretty miserably. Then all of a sudden we wound up dancing dabke (which I'm doing a project on right now!) which is basically a circle dance (like at bat mitzvahs almost. They are super high energy and was constant smiles. I feel like every time I have met teenagers from another country it is always so incredible how alike we are. How teenagers everywhere are just teenagers. Although, these teenagers have been through things that are unfathomable to me. This cute 10 year old boy that I met was displaced from Syria, I was sort of taken aback. Meeting those Jordanian and Syrian kids completely changed these abstract idea of the Syrian crisis and conflict in the area. Suddenly all the misconstrued news, and the things that seemed unclear to me were not quickly made clear but were quickly made personal. I cared about these kids and they were no longer a statistic of refugees but a face that I felt a connection with. The entire afternoon reshaped how I felt about a lot of issues. The crisis was no longer just news, numbers, and casualties, but kids, families, and lives. It was humbling, eye-opening, and life changing to say the least.
Mercy Corps website: http://www.mercycorps.org/
Photo description:
1st row (left to right): picture with two Jordanian girls and friends, us with a 10 year old Syrian refugee (very cute!), image on walls, the head and the heart
2nd row: nubader on the building meaning initiators, making puzzle piece of Jordan with the Mercy Corps kids, Aikum and I with Jordanian girl
3rd row: my piece of the puzzle, street art near the Mercy Corps building (shbab nubader=intiator peeps)
Mercy Corps website: http://www.mercycorps.org/
Photo description:
1st row (left to right): picture with two Jordanian girls and friends, us with a 10 year old Syrian refugee (very cute!), image on walls, the head and the heart
2nd row: nubader on the building meaning initiators, making puzzle piece of Jordan with the Mercy Corps kids, Aikum and I with Jordanian girl
3rd row: my piece of the puzzle, street art near the Mercy Corps building (shbab nubader=intiator peeps)