By E. Pickett | CBR-Project Manager
The many home visits made by the team during the wintertime gave a better contact to the children with disabilities and their families. It also made an impact on the community center where the activities have continued as usual during the spring semester.
The community center is called Al Ro'ya and is located in the village of Umm ar-Rasas. Local parents of children with disabilities took the initiative to make the center in 2018 and now the children meet here and grow through activities that promotes social, cognitive and physical development.
“We are happy to see that there has been an increase of 25 percent in the number of children coming to the center this spring, and I think it is related to all the home visits we made during the winter time. We are encouraged to see the work becoming more and more known in the community and gaining a good reputation,” says Emma Pickett, who is the Project Manager.
Right now, however, due to the month of Ramadan*), all the activities for the children at the center are on hold; only the training of the volunteers will continue.
“But right before the Ramadan started, we decided to hold an Open Day at the center,” says Emma, “and we invited all the kids in the community together with the children with disabilities to come. Games, songs and laughter from more than 50 children filled the place during that day and it was such a joy and an encouragement for us to see inclusion happening.”
*)
Ramadan is a month of fasting for Muslims, and from the beginning of May to early June the Ramadan has changed the rhythm of daily life in the Jordanian society a lot: The working hours are reduced, there is almost no traffic in the morning, shops open late and many people use their off-days and holidays in order to rest during the day while fasting. From around 4 a.m. to around 7.30 p.m. - sunrise to sunset - people are not eating, drinking or smoking. But when the calls from the mosques are heard in the evening, the families gather for abundant and delicious meals at home or in restaurants. They are having a joyful time together, the children stay up late and play, the shops are open till midnight and streets and private houses are decorated with lights in many colors.
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