“The bitterness of war bloomed with Hope”
“Eman is a Syrian lady aged 40 years came to Jordan from Damascus countryside in 2013 with the intensification of the crisis in Syria.
When I came to Jordan, I thought I had fled from the tragedies of the war and its risk after my house was shelled and I could leave with my husband with a miracle and decided to leave our country after we lost most of our lives and suffered many disappointments. But when I came to Karak, began a suffering of another kind — How will we start a new life and we do not have the financial and not even social components our relationship with the community is still very limited.” Eman says;
Eman is one of about one million refugees who have come to Jordan since the outbreak of the Syrian war and about 17,000 refugees in Karak.
Eman heard by chance that a center in Al-Thaniah district of Karak, which cares for Syrian children and the less fortunate Jordanians, is a project in partnership between the German Vision Hope International organization and Branches of Mercy charity. Here, Eman expresses her feeling by saying: “I felt a ray and glitter of light entering my dark life perhaps enlightening it. Yes, there is hope that I will work in this place, especially my studies serve this kind of work, and I have actually contact with the center’s management and pass the interview job ‘Vision Hope and Branches of Mercy’ is the beginning of hope for a life full of work and change.”
She has started working with Branches of Mercy Association in 2014 as an educational volunteer. She is one of 22 employees of the association.
In 2014, Branches of Mercy Association in partnership with Vision Hope International Organization established the kindergarten which aimed to help Syrian and less fortunate Jordanian children to integrate and engage in an educational environment that is interested in learning through play. About 300 children aged between 4 and 5 were accepted, of whom 151 were Syrians, 179 were Jordanians and 7 were Egyptians.
In 2016, an agreement was signed between VHI and Branches of Mercy for the establishment of the Family Center in Karak with the support and funding of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Up to 2019 children reached to 180 between the age of 6–12 in the post-school program, providing assistance to children in school assignments, as well as sports and educational activities such as painting, handicrafts, theater and recreational trips.
The Center also provides trainings for girls and women with life skills and other skills that help them and their families in the formation of income, psychological support program for all elements of the project to overcome the trauma caused by the war in Syria and addressing the various problems experienced by the beneficiaries such as domestic violence, fear, lack of self-confidence, early marriage with the target group of 110 girls and 110 women participated 79 girls and 90 women until March 2019.
“The work at the Family Center was the beginning of a qualitative change in my life. I do not mean the change of material aspect only. Yes, I benefited from the amount I was getting for my volunteer work and considered it a support for me to help my husband secure our expenses, but it was also a unique and rich experience. Since my work at the Family Center we have been subject to several trainings to increase our expertise and practical, behavioral skills such as how to get rid of the trauma and deal with it, in addition to a large number of courses to increase the skills of education.
Briefly my experience with VHI and Branches of Mercy Association is a very rich experience difficult to convey its great impact, I have completed the fifth year in this wonderful project until it became an integral part of my entity in Jordan. The work in the Family Center has become a big family incubator for me. My relationship with my colleagues and managers is based on brotherhood, while my relationship with the children is the most beautiful and the most wonderful, they are my children.”
