Cyber City Refugees

UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) oversees the refugee camps in Jordan.  LDS Charities has worked closely with them for the past few years during the tremendous influx of Syrians and Iraqis into Jordan.  We don't do large projects, but we do fill in the "gaps."  An example is when the camps were being set up on muddy ground LDS charities brought in several loads of gravel.  Later when a tragic fire was caused by faulty electrical systems, we came to the rescue and had it repaired quickly.  Initially we made some very significant contributions of clothing and other items.

LDS Charities has not been heavily involved since the initial set-up of the camps so this week we decided to check in on UNHCR to see if there is anything else we can do.  The meeting was held in a place called Cyber City, an industrial park near Ramtha.  Inside Cyber City in a secure guarded area is an old office building that houses 264 families--Syrians and Palestenians.  UNHCR has an office in a portable building located on the grounds.

264 refugee families live in this building.  

We were not allowed to take pictures, but we got this one from the internet.

In order to get into the area we had to pass by a Jordanian police guard who wanted to know what we wanted, and why we were there.  It wasn't easy for us to make him understand, but after we showed him our business card (one side in English, the other in Arabic) and he made a phone call to UNHCR to confirm the appointment the gate was opened and he let us go in.

The young woman we met at UNHCR was the senior field assistant with responsibilities for Cyber City and King Abdullah camps in the Ramtha area. She offered us hot breakfast sandwiches of pita bread filled with melted cheese (delicious!).  During our conversation she told us that the people living in the building are Syrians and Palestenians.  She explained that medical care and schooling is available, but the people cannot work or own land.  There is a lot of security in the camp that is overseen by Jordanian police.

In an article published in the Jordan Times one refugee says "a few months ago, if you arranged it with the right people (in Syria), you knew you would arrive in Jordan safely.  Now if  you try to flee, there is a 50 percent chance that you won't make it."  She said she decided to take the risk in order to receive emergency medical care for her husband, whose legs were severed by loyalists last month for what they believe was retribution for his cousin's participation in pro-democracy protests.  "If we stayed there was no question we would die.  If we fled we knew we had a chance to survive."

Others were not so lucky.  Syrian forces opened fire on the couple and some 20 other civilians accompanying them on their journey around 5 kilometers out from the Jordanian-Syrian border.  At least two of their party were killed.  "We have no money, we have no home, we have no idea where we will go," she said, "but at least we no longer have fear."

We hope they can find a home somewhere and we wish with all our hearts we could do something more to help them.

Letters for Ramadan

We just received word that Elder Holland will be sending Happy Ramadan letters to LDS Charities' Muslim friends in Jordan.  How cool is that??!!

Ramadan begins around the 18th of June, depending on the stage of the moon or something.  It lasts until the middle of July.

Missionary Meal

This is what we eat for dinner almost every night.  Grilled cheese.

If anybody would like the recipe, just let me know and I'll be happy to share.

We Can't Believe Our Eyes

We couldn't believe what we saw in Amman...Costco!! (under construction)

Something tells us it won't be quite the same . . . . .

What? No Gunshots?

Yesterday was Jordan Independence Day and all was quiet--no loud celebrations, parades or fireworks.  We were a little disappointed.  Lynn was excited because there wasn't a lot of traffic.  Most people were home eating and sleeping.

A Rockin' Good Time

The North Jordan Branch really knows how to party. Whenever there's an activity everyone comes because they know that there will be plenty of food and we will do something really fun.  Yesterday was no exception.

At 8:00 a.m.  a bus started picking up people in Irbid and worked its way down to Al Husn.  When they arrived at the Church the bus was full, so we had to take our van.  There were 33 people total, and 16 were non-members.  We don't get too excited about the number of non-members, because the same ones have a tendency to only come for the activities and don't come to church.  They all have a good excuse.  We still love them and include them.

From Al Husn we traveled south to the Ajloun area to Tel Mar Elias.  Tel Mar Elias is a small hill that has long been identified as the birthplace of the Prophet Elijah.  The remains of an ancient church can be found here.

Note:  the Bible Dictionary gives an excellent comprehensive description of Elijah.  We suggest you go there and read about Elijah--one of the greatest men in the history of the world.

Stone steps going up to the top

The remains of a church built at the site about 600 years A.D.  

Beautiful mosiacs still exist and are out in the open for all to see.  The lack of security for ancient artifacts is amazing to us.

The people put the grapes in the slot by Morad's shoe, pressed them down with their bare feet and the juice poured through a slot into the larger pool.

We thought Morad was teaching about the prophet Elijah, but later we found out he was actually telling an old love story (in Arabic of course).  The meeting began with prayer, so it probably qualifies as a spiritual event.  

Sometimes we just have to laugh.  Most of the time we don't understand a thing that's happening.  We just smile and nod like we do.

"The Wishing Tree"--It's a local tradition to write a wish on a piece of paper or cloth and tie it to the branches of this tree.  If you do, your wish will come true.  We haven't a clue what this has to do with the Prophet Elijah, but it's kinda fun.

From here we thought we would be going to a really nice park for lunch and spend the afternoon.  What we didn't know was the park was on the other side of Amman, and took us about an hour and a half to get there.  We also didn't know that we were going to an amusement park.

We had a wonderful picnic with lots of good Jordanian food.  We brought our tuna fish sandwiches but left them in the cooler when Huda invited us to join their family for chicken and rolled grape leaf  "things."

Sister Tolley and the sisters danced to the Arabic music....

The young people went on the Kamakazi.....

The older ones sat in the shade.....

 And Brother Tolley rode a camel.  Yee, Haw!!
(He says he's in training for the 2016 Spanish Fork Fiesta Days Rodeo)

Gardens for Syrians

Everyone knows that donating food to the Syrian refugees cannot go on forever.  Many people, including us, have been trying to come up to a solution that will help the people become self-sufficient.  I suggested that we donate some goats for them to raise, but was told they would probably eat the goats.

Our friend Baseem in Ramtha told us about his idea of providing a parcel of land located near one of the refugee camps for the Syrians to use for growing food.  We asked him "what about water?" He replied that he knows an engineer who is willing to help set up a system to recycle the used water from the camps and run it into a drip system.

The crops would be planted in a pistachio tree orchard, in between the trees.  

This area is very near an old abandoned building that houses 311 Syrian refugees, most of whom were chased out of their homes and not allowed to take anything but their clothes on their back.  

the Church is not satisfied with any system which leaves able people permanently dependent, and insists, on the contrary, that the true function and office of giving, is to help people [get] into a position where they can help themselves and thus be free.” (The Church Welfare Plan,Gospel Doctrine manual, 1946, p. 77.)