Distribution of winter clothes in Azraq Refugee Camp

JEN has been planning to distribute clothes in Azraq Refugee Camp and went through a lot of negotiation and coordination with UNHCR and other humanitarian aid organizations operating in the camp to make this happen. (To read about the preparation JEN has conducted, please click here).

On 9-12th and 19th of November 2014, JEN distributed the winter clothes donated by UNIQLO and Lutheran World Federation (LWF) to the whole population of Azraq Refugee Camp.

[Distributing individual clothing packages at the windows of the Replenishment Site. Men and women are segregated by separate entrances and windows.]

Village system has been adopted in Azraq Refugee Camp, and community service centers were set up for each village. Prior to the winter cloth distribution, the schedule had been posted at the community service centers. In addition to the announcement through posting, outreach teams of the humanitarian aid organization running the community service centers went into the villages and verbally informed the residents about the schedule to make sure the illiterate refugees were also well notified.
The distribution dates were set by the family sizes of the beneficiaries: 9th of November – families with 1-3 members; 10th – families with 4-6 members; 11th – families with 7 members and more, 12th and 19th – families who failed to show up on the day they were supposed to.

[A young man poses for us after receiving his clothes.]

[Yousef, a 5 year old boy, sits with the clothes waiting for his father to return.]

[A baby who came to the distribution in his mother’s arm.]

[Right: Ragad, a 9-year old girl who arrived at Azraq Camp 3 months ago with her family consisting of 7 members, happily tries on her jacket. ]

Although JEN received some complaints regarding the sizes of the clothes, most of the refugees responded positively to the distribution. A Jordanian lady from another organization who supported JEN staff during the distribution at the Replenishment Site said, “These clothes are from a Japanese brand, right? They are very nice, and I wish if I could get one of these packages for myself!” JEN hopes that the distributed clothes help the refugees mitigate the impact of the harsh winter they must face while they stay in Azraq Camp.

Supported by your donation, JEN strives to lessen the burden and meet the needs of the asylum seekers residing in Azraq Refugee Camp and the new arrivals.

【JEN is now accepting donations. Your help would be very much appreciated.
DONATE here】

【Click here to know more about JEN 20th Anniversary innitiatives】

Preparation for distributing winter clothes in Azraq Refugee Camp

Temperature started to drop significantly after sunset as Winter is approaching Jordan. JEN has been planning to distribute clothes in Azraq Refugee Camp, which was newly opened on April 30, 2014, and has gone through a lot of negotiation and coordination with UNHCR and other humanitarian aid organizations operating in the camp. JEN is getting ready to distribute winter clothes donated by UNIQLO and Lutheran World Federation (LWF), targeting the existing whole population and the new arrivals to Azraq Refugee Camp.

[Winter clothes have arrived at JEN’s warehouse in Azraq Refugee Camp]


Prior to the actual distribution, JEN’s distribution team opened the bales and boxes, sorted out the clothes by type and size, and prepare individual packages for men, women, children and babies. JEN recruited the Syrian labour residing in the camp to handle these tasks. JEN has called the Syrian refugees registered as candidates for ‘Incentive based Volunteers’ through an organization running the community centers in the camp and secured the required number of volunteers. To support the vulnerable, JEN has focused on recruiting women who were head of households.

[Incentive based Volunteers working in the warehouse. More than half of them are women]

[Samples of individual packages for children and babies]


Unlike Za’atari Refugee Camp, there is no market place in Azraq Refugee Camp where the residents can purchase inexpensive clothes. Neither are the clothes sold in the sole supermarket in the camp are not reasonably priced; therefore, it is said that distributing clothes should have a certain impact in supporting the refugees for winterization.
Since the donated clothes were delivered to JEN’s warehouse in Azraq Camp one week prior to the scheduled distribution, the time left for preparation was very limited. Thanks to JEN’s Jordanian staff members’ hard work and the contribution made by the Syrian labour, JEN somehow could manage to be ready for the distribution.

Supported by your donation, JEN strives to lessen the burden and meet the needs of the 12,000 asylum seekers residing in Azraq Refugee Camp and the new arrivals.

【JEN is now accepting donations. Your help would be very much appreciated.
DONATE here】

【Click here to know more about JEN 20th Anniversary innitiatives】

Global Hand Washing Day in Za’atari Refugee Camp

Global Hand Washing Day is celebrated on October 15th each year to raise awareness that washing one’s hands with soap is a key means of preventing hygiene related diseases – everything from diarrhea to colds and flus.  The first Global Hand Washing Day was held in 2008.

[The Global Hand Washing Day Characters]

Cleanliness is an important part of religious life in Muslim countries such as Jordan and Syria.  However, making sure that kids in Za’atari Camp know the appropriate practices to wash their hands with soap so they can keep themselves healthy is a big part of what JEN team does on a daily basis. This year in Za’atari Camp, North Jordan, JEN celebrated Global Hand Washing Day with the youth.  JEN’s team has centered the messages around the most important times to wash hands with soap:  before eating, after using the toilet, after playing and touching dirty things.

The day was real fun! Kids seem to learn better by being engaged and active than by sitting still listening to lectures.  In two locations kids were invited from the neighborhood to join JEN’s team in playing games about hygiene and hand washing.

The kids seemed to really like when their hands were ink-stamped with colorful pictures of germs.  The next part of the activity was to blindfold three kids at a time and have them use soap and water to wash the germs off their hands.  The one who got the most ink off their hands or who demonstrated the best hand washing technique was declared the winner!

[Girls wash their hands while small boys watch]

The kids also enjoyed coloring and having help making pinwheels remind them of the times to wash their hands!

[Kids are reminded about the times to wash their hands with soap.]

Other highlights of the day included walking tours by staff members dressed as the Global Hand Washing Characters in JEN’s camp districts.  This live show has demonstrated to be a very effective approach to visually disseminate hygiene messages while playing with the kids. The disguised staff members have also showed freedom from social conventions or traditional ideas for being unrecognized animators while spreading the hygiene messages in the camp districts.

[ Children show of their clean hands with the Global Hand Washing Day Characters]

JEN’s other event, and perhaps the most popular, was to host football games:  “Soap” versus “Germs” with the kids.  Kids were given blue “Soap” ribbons and brown “Germs” ribbons to identify the two teams.  JEN staff refereed the games. Unfortunately the “Germs” won two out of three games!  However, JEN staff was very quick in overcoming the situation by presenting the lesson that “If you use soap to wash your hands, next time the germs won’t win!”

[ The "Germs" team gets the ball]

[Girls race to get the ball first]

The football matches were fun for spectators and adults as well.  Lots of kids cheered for their team.  Several community members stopped by to clap and cheer too!

[ Girls cheer for the "Soap" team]

And, at the end of the afternoon when all the community activities were finished the JEN staff lined up to take penalty kicks with some of the adults form the community!

 

【JEN is now accepting donations. Your help would be very much appreciated.
DONATE here】

【Click here to know more about JEN 20th Anniversary innitiative】

Hygiene sessions for Parents and Teachers Associations (PTAs)

After summer holiday at the onset of the academic year, JEN’s hygiene promotion team and trained teachers have conducted dedicated sessions for students’ parents.

Educating PTAs is important because of providing appropriate hygiene environment at home where it directly affects the students’ health and well-being.

[PTA training session]

Principals and teachers called and/ sent invitation mails to parents. Also, JEN’s hygiene promoters distributed invitations to students so that many parents and neighbours would be able to participate in every session. Unexpectedly, the attendance rate was high which emphasized the importance of involving parents in projects related to schools.

Not only mothers who most pay attention for students but also fathers and neighbours who participated in cleaning mosques in the neighbourhood have also joined the PTA sessions.

[JEN’s hygiene promoter clarifications to PTA]

JEN’s hygiene promoters and PTAs focused on the issue of breakfast. JEN hygiene promoters strongly emphasized that children should eat healthy breakfast. This is because some children come to schools without eating breakfast and then they would be compelled to eat unhealthy food bought from unlicensed vendors.

JEN hygiene promotion team and trained teachers will continuously conduct hygiene session and discuss with PTAs or relatives to protect children’s health.

[Students delighted with clean school yard]

【JEN is now accepting donations. Your help would be very much appreciated.
DONATE here】

【Click here to know more about JEN 20th Anniversary innitiative】

First Visit to Azraq Refugee Camp

As September comes to an end, weather is cooling down in mornings and evenings and Jordan is starting to see a hint of autumn.  While this is a welcome change for us, the transition to winter is a difficult time for many refugees, especially for those who recently arrived to Jordan without adequate preparation for the cold weather.

In order to assist the refugees in overcoming the winter months, many agencies provide relief items deigned to keep people warm, such as blankets, heaters, and clothes, as part of UNHCR’s coordinated winterization program.  As part of this program, JEN has donated winter clothes received from various entities, with main contribution from UNIQLO, a Japanese retailing company, to residents in the Za’atari refugee camp during winter of 2012 and 2013.  In total, JEN has distributed a clothing packet, which includes a jacket, a top and a pair of trousers to over 150,000 individuals.  JEN’s clothes distribution program is very well received by the refugees as they provide warmth in their harsh conditions living in tents and caravans.

As JEN considers organizing a clothes distribution project in Azraq Camp, JEN staff members made their first visit to the camp in September 2014.

Here is a look at Azraq Camp:

[Rows of transitional shelters in Azraq Refugee Camp.]

Azraq Camp was opened on 30 April 2014 to accommodate additional Syrian refugees entering Jordan　as Za’atari Camp had reached its capacity.  According to UNHCR official data, Azraq camp　spans across 15 square kilometers, hosts over 14,400 refugees, and it has the capacity to accommodate up to 130,000 refugees.  Azraq camp is located approximately 90 km from Amman, in the middle of the desert, making the living conditions in the camp difficult during harsh weather conditions.  During the time of JEN’s visit, there was strong wind blowing constantly and the sun beating down on an area that has very minimal shading.

Azraq was designed based on the various lessons learned from Za’atari refugee camp.  One of the significant differences between the two camps is that Azraq Camp has ready-made transitional shelters where refugees can settle instead of living initially in UNHCR-provided tents.  The shelters are organized in clusters of several families living in a block, sharing toilets and water points. This design allows the refugees to have a sense of ownership over their facilities and avoid the problem of refugees not taking care of the communal facilities.

[Transitional shelters in Azraq Camp]

[WASH facilities allocated for families for one block.]

Azraq also utilizes several creative ways to maintain the camp.  Learning from the widespread informal connections refugees make on the electricity line in Za’atari Camp, Azraq Camp does not currently have general electricity service, but uses solar light system for street lighting.

[Solar lamps line the streets for safety and security]

Based on the dire needs of the refugees to prepare for winter, JEN is in the final stages of discussion to begin the clothes distribution targeting the current residents as well as refugees newly arriving to Azraq camp in partnership with UNHCR.  JEN Jordan hopes that the support from the people of Japan will contribute to improving the refugees’ lives in Azraq Camp!

【JEN is now accepting donations. Your help would be very much appreciated.
DONATE here】

【Click here to know more about JEN 20th Anniversary innitiative】