"I am convinced we must train not only the head, but the heart and hand as well." Madame Chiang Kai-Shek

This collection of photos was captured on my second visit to Mafraq, a city in northern Jordan. My project with the Syrian refugees will continue until June. On this visit, I accompanied two other volunteers on visits to the refugees' shelters/homes.


The lady pictured with her four children has acute tonsillitis and says her condition is worsening despite the medicine she's taking. Even if she were to consider an operation, she doesn't have the funds. The charity organizations working in Mafraq had given her family a portable heater, but she doesn't have money with which to buy gas for it. As a result her apartment is freezing cold. None of her children have been admitted to school in Mafraq, and her husband works odd jobs to eke out a living. We gave her a food package (25 JD) containing rice and other essentials, as well as diapers.


The pictures of the apartment were taken at the home of a lady who used to be secretary--and whose husband used to be a lawyer--before they fled Syria. Her teenage daughters go to school, but their younger siblings do not. Considering others' situations, their family is pretty well off. They were the most optimistic people we met that day.


The group picture of children taken in an empty room includes a few Jordanian children, neighbor friends of the family we were visiting. The Syrian kids' mother (not pictured) is feeling frustrated because her husband has recently taken a second, younger wife, despite their struggle to make ends meet as it is. They use the 10-JD mattresses given to them by charity organizations as sofa cushions during the day and as beds at night--nowhere near enough warmth.


The shots with the men, the woman holding a baby, and the boy in the doorway were taken in a poor neighborhood. The household we were visiting consisted of several families living together in a large black tent. We had to enter through a iron door. Inexplicably, they have a TV (playing Middle Eastern soaps) but no light source, running water, or any other facilities. The woman with the baby is someone living nearby. She had heard of volunteers coming so she dropped in to ask for food and diapers. She was soon joined by a swarm of curious neighbors, eager to seek aid as well. We could not promise them anything.


The photo of the woman sitting against a wall was taken right outside the tent. She is feeding her baby.


The last place we visited was a house on a street. We entered into a large room with thin walls that did little to keep out the cold. Like the other places we visited, these people only have a small portable heater (also used to brew tea) to keep warm. They are an extended family living together. When one person from our team asked a little boy for his name, his mother said, "Bashar" and burst out laughing, as did his aunts. The boy only smiled, embarrassed. I wonder if he wants to change his name.
(The Syrian president's name is Bashar Al Assad.)

Pellucid

Oreo on a sunny day on the windowsill in my room, looking out and enjoying the fresh air and beautiful sky.

Hope Rising

This collection is from a recent trip I made to Mafraq, a city in northern Jordan. Some of you may be aware that Jordan is how home to hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees fleeing the crisis in their home country. As my senior project, I plan to visit Mafraq periodically and help these people--and hopefully go beyond that too. I helped with distributing mattresses, blankets, portable stoves, bottles of gas, and pillows for five and a half hours with a volunteer team. Although the closest large refugee camp is 15 km outside of Mafraq, there are many families in need living within the city. Those in our group proficient in Arabic would ask the people we visited about their stories. Many of the women are widowed, or away from their husbands who could not come across the border. The kids need schooling, but there are few options available to them. Some of the refugees refuse to move to the large refugee camps because of the chaos, so as a result they rent out apartments with their meager savings until--they hope--they can find a better place and some kind of employment. Being conservative, some of the people we met declined to be photographed, but many warmed up to us quickly and even posed with us. The people who yearn to have their stories recorded and told are the ones that make me the saddest. I am collaborating with the CMA Church in Mafraq, a government-approved distribution center. In turn, the church cooperates with other organizations to help refugees. The pictures of boxes were taken in their storage room, which is filled to the rafters with donations of all kinds--toys, clothes, baby prams, hairbrushes, other necessities, and odds and ends.