JORDAN FIELD REPORT - COVID-19 RELIEF PROJECT

WCF has been sending Mobile Medical Teams to the Middle East region for many years, but much more since refugees began fleeing Syria around 2013. In 2019, WCF sent Medical Teams to various Middle East countries including Jordan where we served the refugees in Amman and Zarqa.

Jordan was one of the first countries in the Middle East that began a full lockdown in March.  This meant that all schools, universities, non-essential businesses and governmental agencies were shutdown.  Banks were allowed to operate only 2 days a week and even vehicles weren't allowed.  Although this did contain the COVID-19 outbreaks to a relative minimum, it also led to severe hardship for most people.

Prior to the lockdowns, Jordan had more than 630,000 registered Syrian refugees in addition to other refugees from Iraq and Yemen. 

The real number of refugees may be more than 1.4 million people.  About 10% of these refugees ended up in official refugee camps such as in Zaatari which are administered by the UNHCR.  However, the rest of the families ended up in very poor urban neighborhoods because it was the cheapest rent they could find and they are left to fend for themselves more or less.  Before the pandemic, thousands of these families were surviving on one simple meal a day since they were exhausting their savings.  The pandemic lockdowns dramatically increased the level of hardship for the refugee and the poorer Jordanians.  The few that had day laborer jobs lost those jobs.  The government was barely able to help their own Jordanian citizens let alone the refugees. 

WCF worked with different ministries to provide Food and Hygiene Care Packages to 2,500 families covering all the major areas of Jordan.  Our friends had received many calls and messages from many desperate refugee families.  We were able to help refugees from Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and South Sudan.  We additionally helped others in difficult situations such as Palestinians, Egyptians, Jordanians and others stuck in-country such as South Africans and Filipinos.  Our packages included rice, beans, oil, pasta, flour, sugar, powdered milk, tuna cans, sanitizer, soap and toothbrushes.  In some cases, we gave out food vouchers that could be redeemed at nearby grocery stores.

A 58 year old Yemeni refugee, Khadija, was very touched by the continual care given by our friends so she became a volunteer on the distribution team. Others such as Esra'a from Syria, who suffered injuries in the Syrian war before they fled, was so grateful for the love and care she received.

Thank you for your part in touching the lives of so many who have already suffered so much.