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Hello, my name is Laure Delacloche and I’m a journalist working in Lebanon. Recently I had the privilege to fly to Jordan and to report about Beit Mariam for ONE magazine. Beit Mariam means the “House of Mary” and is located in an underprivileged neighborhood in Amman, the capital city of Jordan.
The center welcomes vulnerable Christian Jordanian girls. They come five times a week to have lunch, do their homework and receive psychological and religious guidance.
In contrast with Lebanon and other countries of the region, Jordan tends to be less reported on by international media. The media, especially outside of the Middle East, think of Jordan as an island of stability in a highly unstable region.
During my stay, I started to understand how fragile this stability is and how the Jordanians face incredible economic hardships. Amman comes across as a highly developed and functional capital city, but the taxi drivers told me that it was actually pretty difficult to make ends meet.
Beit Mariam girls also presented very well. They were wearing nice clothes, and they truly had the best smiles. But poverty is having serious consequences on their education, their access to health care and their mental health. It’s also straining their family’s internal dynamics.
One of the difficulties I faced was interviewing children. It’s usually very hard. They nod, they answer questions by yes or by no. I really struggled to get good quotes. Sister Rabha, who heads the center and who had been listening to some interviews, told me that many things the girls were telling me about their families was actually not the truth. We paused. And we came to the conclusion that these little girls were telling me what they wished was the truth, like being close to their grandmother or receiving attention from their father.
It was a surprise for the both of us and an interesting coping mechanism to observe. On the second day, a girl came directly to me and gave me a hug, which I returned. Many of these little girls were craving attention and affection, and I was happy to see that Beit Mariam can provide a safe space where they can have this need met.
Hour after hour, I realized how much this whole community is grappling with poverty and unemployment. Take Lorice Haddad, the caring supervisor of Beit Mariam. She retired early but had no other choice than looking for another job, as her pension was too low to be able to repay loans that her husband, who was a carpenter, had contracted to keep his business running when the economy deteriorated.
These few days in Amman showed me that we should absolutely go past the narrative of the political stability of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and shift the focus towards the struggles within the Jordanian society.