Here we go:

After a few years of working in east Amman, I started noticing a trend among the people I work with there.  A  few people in East Amman have the right skills to be attractive to good employers. And by right skills, I mean the bare minimum. Let me give an example here, to clarify things; in one of the projects that I was engaged in, a few years ago, I came across a fabulous accountant.  She had a wonderful eye for details; she was meticulous in organizing documents and files. I would ask her about any random paper and she could hand it to me within minutes. I can safely say she saved the day on several occasions.

Obviously, nothing is perfect, my accountant had one little problem; she had a wandering mouth! She shared numbers and important information with everyone, not because she was a talkative person, nor because she was a bad account. She did, because she did not know any better, she did not know the concept of confidential information. From her perspective, things looked like this: people with whom she worked were her neighbours and friends. They chatted, they supported each other and they gossiped. Sharing confidential information was the common sense in her world.

Ms. Accountant never went to a good high school in which ethics or good practices, or even universal professional principles were taught.  As a matter of fact she never finished her bachelor degree either (reason: poverty); she managed, however, to get herself a diploma from a community college.  So all her brilliance is actually hers alone. A sudden pang seizes my heart, whenever I think of her. She makes around 200 JDs, when in reality her skills would qualify her for a thousand more… I know that if she had the opportunity of any proper education, she would be sought after by the Jordanian corporate world.  In that parallel world, her children would not be deprived of their basic needs including safe drinking water, they would not be malnourished, and they would not go to the same crappy schools that she went to and be condemned to the same lifestyle she leads.

I know it sounds cliché, but I blame our educational system when I make this statement about people who live in East Amman.  Our educational system does not generate qualified or skilled workforce. The assumption I am working with here is that people <madas’ thought>let’s keep it at people I work with and who happen to be from east Amman </madas’ thought>can’t afford to go to good private high schools. <madas’ thought> we all know that high schools are very important to the Jordanian corporate world. In an interview, if two people have the same skills and one is a public school graduate while the other is a private school graduate, the latter takes the job in a heartbeat. </madas’ thought> and so they end up in bad public schools. The Jordanian higher education system is not much better. I mean, we learn technical stuff there, but never the important soft skills. Therefore, if someone doesn’t speak English, they will not learn it at any Jordanian university, if they don’t know how to market themselves, they will not learn how to do so at any Jordanian university, and let’s face it, if they are not presentable for an interview, then they are not learning that at any Jordanian university either.

Is this important?

I am not sure it is important at all. I mean, I truly don’t want to fall in the orientalism trap here.  The west knowing what is best for the east…  All what I am saying is, from a pure anthropological perspective, things there started to feel like a catch 22 situation. If you are poor, you go to a bad school, if you go to a bad school, you end up with a bad job, if you have a bad job you are condemned to live in poverty, and if you live in poverty… everyone knows what happens.

Unless of course, with divine intervention, you managed to invent something spectacular, or you were lucky enough to meet a teacher who would provide you with the proper guidance and help you break free from this vicious cycle. And then, only then, you stop being part of the 14.2% of the Jordanian who live below the poverty line, and your children stop being part of the 17% who are malnourished.

The sun finally smiled today. I am a summer person. I only like the rain, because we need it…just a fleeting thought.

It is usually a pleasure to talk to schools kids. They are smart, funny and honest….this statement comes as a result of the workshop I was asked to give about violence in schools. The whole thing was organized by one of the workers that support us in the project “Citizen in my City“. A gem of a worker really… he is seriously the most useful person.

It is seldom that I pass a nuit blanche, but the night before the workshop, it seemed like settling world’s  troubles was easier than coming up with a creative idea that would keep my 50 young ladies engaged. I realize that the best-equipped adult mind in the world, can’t cope with the peculiar class of questions that originate in a thirteen-year girl’s brain.

The workshop was great. The girls were divided into five groups. Each representing a category in the educational process…. girls, boys, teachers, parents and ministry of education. I read them some of the typical opinions that average citizens in Jordan have, and asked them to comment on them within their groups…. they surprised me… I thought about “the worker”, who was panicking before the session and told me

If you want we can tell them what to say….

I was amused, and asked him to have faith in the brains of 13 year old girls…

Before the workshop, family protection unit gave the girls a lecture, and even though the person who spoke was very charming and smooth… her ideas were scary… highly moral, conservative and self righteous….

Among the things she said is that there is no rape in this country, no harassment, this happens abroad… in our country women are willing participants in the crimes against them… this made me think of the 10+ girls that I work with, and who suffer severe depression because close male kin harass them repeatedly and they have nowhere to go or no one to tell.  I thought of the 100+ women I know and who are so used to being abused; they no longer recognize it as abuse…

I am shocked at how conservative the public opinion is… lately I have been slapped time after time with the morality… Jordanians simply hold each other to higher standards… we are expected to be angels… even though we are all simply humans… it is scary!

On the positive side….  She gave a lot of information, which was wonderful,  as the girls hammered her with all kinds of weird scenarios revolving around sexual abuse… funny, eh?

Anyway… I realize this is a charming topic for Eid… so I will leave you with the video… I think it is cute… by the way, this is my first official video… I loved editing it… it is so amateurish… but I still love it J