|
|
|
|
|
 On Tuesday 12 August a group from
JOHUD went to Ruwwad to meet with staff, volunteers and community members.
We wanted to share experiences and to bring back some new ideas for our own centres.
|
|
Ruwwad and JOHUD - building alliances
Ruwwad, based in al Natheef in Amman
is an independent NGO, funded by a private sector foundation under their
corporate social responsibility commitments. We
met at the invitation of Raghda Butros,
who is the Director at Ruwwad. The JOHUD
group was led by Deputy Executive Director Eman Nimri, with JOHUD's strategic advisor
Winkie Williamson and five staff, interns and volunteers.
The youth mentor project
JOHUD and Ruwwad are already working
together on a youth program: Ruwwad volunteers are teaming up with
vulnerable kids in care homes, and beginning to develop a program like the US 'Big
Brother / Big Sister'. It's part of a project supported by the Noel
Foundation, to use creativity as a way to empower young people at risk.
This project's just started, so the visit was a chance for us to learn
more about each other and the way we approach our work. To read more about JOHUD's 'Creativity and Empowerment ' project, click here
Strategic partnerships
Raghda, Eman and Winkie met to
discuss ways that the two organisations can work together on key strategic issues,
and to strengthen the networking between like-minded civil society
organisations. The rest of the group went and had specific meetings to
look at projects – and then we all met over (delicious) lunch to review our
findings and plan future actions.
Outcome mapping
From the strategic discussions we
identified a shared interest in developing outcome mapping as a way to make
sure that our actions actually have a long term positive impact on our
community partners. So we will be meeting to follow that up very soon.
Ruwwad centre is full of active kids having a great time. The atmosphere is energising
|
Ruwwad website: click here
We particularly liked the way the KG
was decorated with very bright colours and lots of visual stimulation.
It gives the place a feeling of energy and spontaneity... great for
kids
|
 All through the day there were people
coming in and out of the Ruwwad centre - boys, girls, youths, students,
mothers, fathers... It's a hive of activity |
|
The
kids at Ruwwad make corporate gifts for their sponsor: ARAMEX .
We like
the way that the public - private partnership gets kids involved in
creative enterprise which develops their potential.We also like the
fact that the corporate gifts were engaging and fun.
|
Community based housing
One immediate area
of strategic interest was to look at the issue of community based housing
for the poor. Ruwwad are already working on a pilot housing project - and with
Entity Green Training, they have set themselves the target of affordable
apartments - as cheap as JD15,000 for a 75m2 home for a small family. We at
JOHUD are interested, because if their model succeeds, we might be
able to replicate it in other communities where we have a JOHUD CDC.
|
We loved the brightly painted walls everywhere in Ruwwad - all
done by the local children and youth.
There are some very creative
artists there.
We will encourage them to do an exchange with our
project in Mansura in Irbid - and maybe have a kite competition.
|
|
The high cost of marriage
From the JOHUD side, we updated them
on the initial findings of a research programme we are doing in Sahab - where
we are looking at the high cost of marriage and the important role of housing
in family relations. From our research, we see that younger women want to have
their own home: they do not want to live in the extended family. This
is putting pressure on young men - they have to have a job and to save all
their earnings so they can afford the rent or even the cost of an
apartment.
In the current economic climate -
that's going to be really hard. Men are delaying marriage until they are
in their mid thirties. At the same time, the parents of young women are often
choosing a husband for their daughter only on the basis of his financial status
- regardless of whether he will be a good husband. This is not a healthy
situation.
|
Kindergartens at Ruwwad provide an early start for young girls to feel confident and aware that they have equal rights with boys.
|
|
Early marriage for girls
While at Ruwwad we found out
that they also meet with similar problems in al Natheef. Raghda
Butros told us that she had observed
that parents are marrying their daughters off at a very early age, simply to
reduce the household budget. There have been instances where girls as young as
thirteen have been pushed into marriage, even when the authorities have stepped
in officially to try to prevent it. As she explained: "This is a tragedy
for the young girl - at thirteen she is still a child and has the right to
expect protection from her parents, the community and the
authorities." Raghda has worked in the area for some time, and
considers that the situation may be getting worse: "in one week, I visited
two homes in which girls had been married off at age thirteen. Imagine how many
there must be that we don't get to hear about".
As such cases increase, it
undermines the social solidarity: devaluing respect for one child undermines
the future for every child. So, together,
we are looking at ways to reduce the high cost of marriage - whether through
encouraging group weddings, promoting a culture that values simplicity
more than spending. |
"in one week, I visited
two homes in which girls had been married off at age thirteen. Imagine how many
there must be that we don't get to hear about".
Ragda Butros, Ruwwad
" devaluing respect for one girl child undermines the future for every child
Eman Nimri, JOHUD
|
|
Promoting productivity for men
The strategy to reduce the cost of marriage feeds into our
strategies to tackle another major challenge: that of urban poverty, rising
prices and lack of employment opportunity. We looked at the ways that each
organisation can develop pilot projects to help people to economize and also to
promote productive activities for men. We both face the same challenge – that it
is more difficult to get men involved in our programmes.
Vocational training for the construction sector
We also think there is an opportunity to link low cost housing with vocational
training for men – first in basic construction skills, then in trade skills
such as electrician, plumber, roofer etc. We want to carry out a program to raise respect for such workers - they can gain core skills and have a potential to deliver high income. In countries across the world - for men, a route out of poverty is to get on the first rungs of the construction employment ladder. We need to help young people in urban communities make that first step.
|
| JOHUD's strategy: Building alliances and advocating with the poor
The visit contributes
to our overall strategy to form alliances with other organizations that share
the same visions, values and objectives. Only by working together can we
create the necessary critical mass to achieve long term social change. We are
looking forward to taking the Ruwwad team out to visit one of our centres.
|
|
|
|
|
|
