Enhancing the Capacity of WASH committees

Summer is coming to Jordan with over 35 degrees Celsius during day time and a strong sunshine in the desert, Zaatari Camp. As the temperature rises, risk of spreading water-borne diseases increases as well.

Following the participation in the camp-wide hygiene promotion campaign led by UNHCR and UNICEF in the beginning of June, we organized a hygiene awareness campaign to enhance the capacity of the WASH Committees in the camp from the 26th of June. The uniqueness of this campaign is that the main actors include the WASH committees, and are not just international aid organizations like JEN. We design the campaign with WASH committees and committees will spread the message after they gain knowledge through our hygiene training. Currently, we see lots of members attending our trainings.

In addition, our field team visits all WASH facilities (around 500) in the camp on daily basis with WASH committee to monitor the condition of facilities.

Hygiene and health campaign at Zaatari refugee camp

A multi-sector camp-wide campaign supported by UNICEF and UNHCR was conducted in Zaatari last first week of June. The activity aims to increase people’s awareness on diarrhea following the increasing number of diarrhea and bloody diarrhea cases in the camp. The situation is aggravated particularly in hot weather conditions in summer.

During the campaign, JEN’s WASH committee members worked together with hygiene promotion team from other agencies as well as community nurses selected from the Syrian population, visiting each tent or caravan to prevent, detect and treat diarrhea cases in Zaatari. The diagnosed diarrhea cases were treated with Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS). Some severe cases, including bloody diarrhea, were referred directly to the camp hospitals.

Situated in a desert terrain, Zatari camp becomes so white and dusty during the summer.  Despite the extreme heat, the WASH committees continued visiting each tent and caravan to give hygiene education.

One of the street leaders who also member of JEN WASH committees admitted that his participation in the campaign is because his 5 years old son was suffering from diarrhea. “My son was hospitalized for few days until he is recovered. I just found out the diarrhea can be deadly. So I hope this campaign can make other parents aware about it”.

UNHCR mentioned that during one week campaign, more than 4,000 cases of diarrhea were found in children aged 0-5 years old. This multi-sector campaign is expected to be useful in carrying hygiene and health messages to each family across the camp.

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Clothes for victims of fire in Zaatari Refugees Camp

Zaatari camp was first opened in July 2012 and originally built
to accommodate 60,000 refugees. As thousands of new arrivals coming every day,
the camp population has grown exponentially ever since. The camp is currently
housing more than 100,000 people and becoming Jordan’s fifth largest city. As
the populations have swelled, safety and security have degenerated with theft
and fires commonplace.

Almost every day, one or two tents catch fire. The incidents were
often caused by cooking gas cylinder explosion, theft or short circuit. Fires
left some refugees with nothing but the clothes they were wearing.

Rana is one of the victims of fire in Zaatari last March which
torched more than 30 tents. She has been living in the refugee camp since January
2013 with her husband and seven children. But the fire that hit Module 1 last
March incinerated her tent and its little belongings inside. “It was happened
around 12 o’clock in the afternoon. The fire spread out very fast until it reached
my tent and burnt down everything. Thank God, no one was hurt because the tents
are so close together”.

To response to this situation, JEN provided emergency
packages of clothes to 90 families in Module 1 who lost their tents and belongings
due to fire. The distribution was implemented by JEN in collaboration with
street leaders and camp communities.

Trisa Lusiandari (Program Officer)

School celebration with JEN’s achievement

Suhiab Alrumy, a primary school for boys located in a rural area in Mafraq province,
has invited us to attend a celebration of our work in the school, expressing their thanks for WASH facilities rehabilitation and hygiene promotion.

The celebration was under the auspice of the director of the DOE, and a welcoming sign for JEN was hanged at the door of the school, they prepared an interesting
performance which included a speech thanking JEN and songs, also they gifted us with traditional souvenirs to show their appreciation.

So thanks for Japan Platform and all our members and contributors for supporting our humanitarian mission and spreading the spirit of joy, happiness and cooperation in these schools.

Program Assistant / Salwa Aljama

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WASH committee in the camp

JEN has been working together with UNICEF to establish WASH committee all ten areas of the camp and support their activities.

It has been three months since we established first WASH committee in the camp and
discussion among committee members become active these days. One of the hot issues discussed during meetings is how to maintain and clean WASH facilities as vandalism/ looting is still on going. At the same time, we provide several trainings to members in terms of hygiene awareness, organizational and financial in order to increase their capacity.

Currently meetings are chaired by JEN field staffs, however soon those meetings will be chaired by committee members.

Sanitary situation of the camp become worse and worse as temperature of the country is increasing. We cooperate with other WASH colleagues and committee members to tackle the issue and spray hygiene message to people in the camp.