Caring, giving thrive amid pandemic struggles

AMMAN — The pandemic has sparked the need for more charitable work and kindness among communities, which can be seen in the establishment of many organisations and initiatives that have spread on a large scale across the Kingdom.

“By the time the pandemic spread widely, we as a group saw the increasing number of domestic violence cases in society which presented a motive for establishing our initiative,” said Farah Al Khazaleh, one of the first founders of the “Mawadda” initiative (means intimacy in English).

Khazaleh told The Jordan Times on Saturday that the initiative started in the Mafraq Governorate in January 2021, while most of the administrative body members were from other governorates.

“We started organising virtual awareness sessions with the participation of doctors and experts due to COVID measures at the time. After that, we officially joined and registered our initiative with the Crown Prince Foundation’s [CPF] Naua initiative, and then we started organising on-site activities for orphanages in Amman and Mafraq,” she noted.

She expressed her contentment over public reaction regarding the idea of the initiative. “People were very responsive as the idea of our initiative affects our society positively and seeks to change abusive behaviours that might exist,” she noted.

Referring to the importance of charity work and positive initiatives, Hussein Khozai, a professor of sociology, described the act of volunteering as “a civilised, religious, social, humanitarian behaviour that is of great importance to the community as it reflects cohesion of societies”.

“The person who participates in charity work is the one who volunteers and works to serve others without waiting for something in return,” Khozai noted.

He pointed out that volunteering enhances societies’ social relations and makes them capable of facing any obstacles and challenges.

“Volunteering and charity work is of great importance for future generations as it instills the values of selflessness, collaboration, giving, and enhances their sense of responsibility,” Khozai added.

In regard to community service that is considered a compulsory requirement for graduation for university students, Khozai pointed out that the fields in university are unlimited, as the students can feel others’ needs while developing friendships at universities.

He also urged to instill “the concept of volunteering” within families and households, saying: “Parents should be an idol in giving, whom sons and daughters should follow.” 

Charity initiatives may also start from a small idea of two people until it reaches hundreds of volunteers and beneficiaries, as is the case in the Sona’ Al Khair initiative (reads Good Makers in English).

“It all started when my friend Zaid and I were at university thinking of establishing our own initiative once we graduated. We started our initiative in July 2021,” said Laith Barbarawi, one of the founders of the Sona’ Al Khair initiative.

Barbarawi pointed out that the initiative includes a variety of activities, one of which was collecting donations for winter clothing for vulnerable families that included more than 500 volunteers, in cooperation with the charity Clothing Bank.

“It feels good to serve others. I have been engaged in voluntary works and activities for over five years, and I truly believe if societies are built on the values of volunteering, it would increase the positivity and enhances communities’ relations,” he said.

Dalia Kokash, a Jordanian citizen, said that volunteering has changed her personality and life in general. “Helping people who are really in need and drawing a smile on their faces were the biggest motives for me to join voluntary work,” Kokash told The Jordan Times.

“Charity work enhanced the concept of leadership, collaboration and self-confidence in me. I learned to be more responsible and to not let down people in need of help,” she noted.

The “Charity, Development and Relief” initiative is also among the initiatives started during the pandemic.

“We started small, collecting donations of little amount to secure medicines, financial aids for underprivileged families, but now we are working on more than 10 programmes including providing scholarships for students and winter campaigns,” Ashraf Saleh, founder of the “Charity, Development and Relief” initiative, told The Jordan Times on Saturday.

He added that one of the biggest programmes they are currently working on is eye treatment and surgeries at Shami Eye Centre, in cooperation with the Goodwill Campaign (GWC), which is chaired by HRH Princess Basma, as the total number of surgeries conducted now exceeds 160.