What is Jordan actually offering?
I was at my friend's spending a morning basking and swimming. Having everything we want on luxurious standards who would think we'll be discussing such a topic.
I've been very irritated lately by things in the society, especially that now they are affecting me.
I think my country abandoned me on the very first day I was born, and everyone else to be precise. I have nothing that can guarantee to me that my life wouldn't be flipped upside down have I not the money, physical health, or family heritage to support my 'was6a' depending existence. YES I mean every single word I said, especially if you add to the facts that I'm a female, this increases the chances to my sayings.
Tell me, if I gave birth to an abnormal child, would this child actually be able to live life to the maximum of her potentials without having to depend on another person (like a mother, or a sister or) or without having to stick to a special needs association (and God knows how the standards or environment there is), or without staying at home being totally useless and productiveless, simply living to eat, change clothes, shower and sleep? oh wait a second, so many Jordanian normal healthy girls LIVE like that until God brings prince charming, or dad forces her to a prince charming maybe. Does Jordan offer my abnormal child good living standard chances?
If I am as healthy as I'm now -except for the pain of my growing wise teeth I think I'm in good shape- and I had a certain accident, lost a leg or two. Am I capable of climbing the stairs to my lecture class at school? Yeah maybe if my family is rich enough to hire me a personal assistance who would carry me to class I can continue. Does Jordan offer me any solution?
Does public universities offer services to people of special needs? people of lost peripherals? people who are anything but 'normal'?
the questions can be further directed to public schools, public jobs, street infrastructure, malls, you name it.
You heard the Prince Hamzeh Hospital thing, don't you think many people actually lost their lives, or became sick just by being simply entered to public hospitals. Tell me what should these people do? I REALLY want to know. What will happen to me if I don't have money to cover up for my existence, what should I do? Live on prayers? Live on waiting?
How about education in public schools? I am a private school graduate, one of the finest. Although with the supposedly good education, and the healthy environment I was in, I came across classmates or schoolmates who grew up into characters with racism, with fake pride, with certain ideas that were against the school's principals. The environment is such a strong impact on little growing Jordanians. I was in an environment that showed me the exact right from wrong that I see now, but I'm sure other schools don't, and I'm sure the public schools are in much worse shape. Yes some openness to the society is taking place, so slowly, and the upcoming generation(s) isn't promising because the roots aren't being worked on.
Name me one Jordanian who's actually free? Maybe in your closed family you are, but in your society you are not, try an extreme behavior and get yourself an eye opening situation.
Work chances? You have to have two or more of the following qualities:
optimistic, smart, educated, fluent in English, manipulative, liar, was6a, daddy's money.
Or is willing to have a dump job for low wage, or work for several years, save your money, get married then live on debts.
I will try to wear the optimistic hat now, will try to blind my eyes from how my people think, try to hope I don't get into any problem that might cause my activities to diminish or might cause me to depend on another soul.
ma ba3raf.
ps. The Prince Hamzah Hospital story is in the green box on the right (links and stuff) under occasional favorite links
8 Response(s) to "What is Jordan actually offering?"
You raise a very serious point about how the disabled are being totally neglected in Jordan. IT doesn't take lots of money to make them more active in the society but they're really being treated as totally useless people which is very sad.
Maybe part of it is our culture which regards anyone with any illness even diabetes as an incompetent person
I know how you feel on this. I can tell you from experience, both of my brothers are above average with intelligence but both of them have learning disabilities, which in the eyes of people in jordan they are stupid because they can't read or write properly. Imagine what my mother wanted to do when a university recruiter told her that there is no way in this world that my brother is studying what he is studying now in university because of his "dis"ability, which makes her and all of us soo thankful he's studying in canada and not jordan.
By the way, what's this Prince Hamzah Hospital thing? is there a link I can read about it?
Hi Lubna
Since you posted your thread, I came here 3 or 4 times to write something .. but always thought this topic needs more than just a comment to discuss.
You raised two important issues: how can people afford to "survive" in Jordan, and the second one, how people with disabilities are treated in Jordan. For each one you need hours and hours to handle
I will just tell my experience about the second part: in the university where I study and work, there is an office dedicated to support students with disabilities. The office provides different kinds of services:
easy learning tools: class materials and text books are scanned into computers and read into cassette recorders to enable visually impaired students to read/hear it. Manpower support: provide people to accompany disabled students between home and university, accompany disabled students to class in order to take notes for them, and move them between classes.
Finally, the appropriate environment, like separate classrooms for exams.
I have worked as volunteer with this office for two years, and thats how most of the work is done: students help students.
I don't see something like this happening in Jordan in the near 100 years. Why?
People can just manage themselves to live (as you mentioned) !! How would you expect them to manage it for others with disabilities?
Liane:
this is the link to read about the accident, Lubna is usually late :-)
http://www.who-sane.com/
Where in Canada did you brother study?
Faris, there's a huge blame on the culture for sure. People are 'the change' at the end, but the most expensive at the same time! depressing.
liane, yes i know about your brothers and you should know that you're so lucky to have your mom as your mother. At school i was so happy that God decided that she gets elie and yousef (if i still remember his name right)because no other mother i know deserves them.
The Prince Hamzah link is provided by Amjad below, and i'm updating my post with the link too.
Amjad, I know my post is got so many points mixed together, and i know that it's not easy to actually reply cuz it's all distracting as much as i am distracted with the many flaws and gaps i find in Jordan.
Great you worked as a volunteer, i know many young jordanian potentials can be invested for such reasons but aren't.
I don't know what to say, it's too wide. And hey sorry for being late in replies:P
There are always potentials .. but you need motivations ... motivations ... motivations ... motivations ... motivations ... motivations ...
instead we have obstacles and distractions .. very sad
Your post is nice :-) .. because it is what you feel
"It" won't leave you alone "if" that happens. Ever checked out the gift wrapping stands at Safeway?
That's the extent of job help you'd be getting though. And the occasional person who signs at the 9 o'clock news!
What are the jordanian citizens offering ? How many people you know are willing to major or work in special education, long term care, social work out of a passion for it? in a public institution people work for low wages in exchange for short hours, many holidays and no accountability. we all heard about the work ethic of the nurses in prince hamzeh's hospital.
many gradutes refuse to work in public schools and would rather remain unemployed cause the job "mish mistahleh el sha7sha6a" those same people will slave away at a private corporation cause mad3oos 3a ras.hom, and completly slack off on the job for their government serving their country !!
Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country JFK
we are a poor country, our major resource is the educated people who have proved to be unmanagable and have bad work ethic. and it's not just unemployment, the disabled, ethics and social responsibility ...it's also the simple acts like littering your own country then complaining about how bad municipal workers are ..you know the egyptians who are building and cleaning YOUR country cause you don't want that job!!
sorry about the rant ...narfaztooni