House of Curiosity...

Every day is an opportunity to make a new happy ending.  ~Author Unknown

I have been part of the youth development field since as far as I can remember. I got to a point where I started believing that nothing can shock me anymore… not drugs, not sex, not abuse, not unrequited love, not drama and not hidden potential…. 

… then I met Rana

My story with Rana started in January. I was sitting at my desk on a rainy January day totally engrossed in the papers in front of me.  It was busy that day.  I was trying to schedule a time where I can gather our youth to come and attend the skill-building courses that I was planning for them, but since no two universities in Jordan have the same holiday schedule, the task turned out to be more challenging than I originally imagined.  (I have a theory about university schedules. I think maybe the government does not want a time during which, every single young person is on holiday… it would be easier for everyone to keep them busy and apart.)

Anyway, a moment after I started skimming through the document, someone told me that a young lady at the reception area was asking if she could meet me for a few minutes. “Send her in” I said without thinking.  Before I became aware of the interruption I allowed myself, Rana was in my office.

She was a very plain human being.  From a first sigh, there was nothing special about her..  Not her looks, not her conversation, not her personality… actually nothing at all.  However, her troubled face was very touching. She came asking for help.  She was studying at a community college, and it was time for her to pay her tuition. It cost around 130 JDs, but she could not afford them.  She had two choices either drop the course or find the money.  We talked a bit and I told her to call me back in a couple of days and I will see what I could do.

Somehow I managed to find a sponsor for the tuition fee, and therefore asked her to come with me to pick up the money.  As we were driving, she asked me fascinated, ”where are we?”  I told her surprised; “under the Abdoun bridge” and then asked her stupidly “you never saw the bridge?!”

Rana explained that she grew up in Jabal Mareekh, she had never left the jabal until she was admitted in her college. She then started going to Jabal Al Hussein.  She had never visited anything else…all she knew in Amman were Jabal Al Mareekh and Jabal Al Hussein.   I asked her “why not?” and she explained that they didn’t have a car and her household culture did not encourage exploration.   I was surprised at the small size  of this young lady’s bubble… But what surprised me even more, was how small my own bubble was.

I drove around aimlessly; I wanted her to see as much as she could.  Meanwhile we talked. She told me how her parents hated each other and how that affected her life. She explained that her mom spoiled her brothers, because she hoped they would grow up to provide for her and give her the love that she never got. Her love was a bit too much, and the sons, tuned out to be good for nothing. They never finished school; they spent their time experimenting with drugs and Alcohol…

Rana also explained that her mom was harsh with her and her sisters, her father was too strict… and the result was girls “without a personality” to use her term.  Probing further, I realized she had a talent for math. I advised her to seek a scholarship from her college based on her high grades and talents.

We reached our destination, I gave her the money and we parted our ways… I soon forgot all about her…

Today, she came to visit me out of the blue.  She looked completely different.  She was dressed up, she looked radiant and happy.   She told me that she asked for the scholarship and the college did not hesitate. It was the first time in her life she is appreciated for who she really is… and this did wonders to her self esteem.

I had a fuzzy feeling in my heart, seeing that much potential made me feel happy.

I will stop writing now, but i want to add at the end that Rana started making small detours on her way to and from college… she just visited Abdali and she now knows where Shmeinsani is.