One of the many social problems faced by refugees – when parents cannot work and children cannot go to school – is boredom.
To help curb this problem for Iraqi refugees who have been in this situation in Amman for a year, STEPS launched a mini version of what is known in some countries as Ludothèque, or Toy Library.
Thirty-four games and toys were purchased with funds from various donors. Thanks to the help of volunteers Martina from Italy and Mirjam from Austria, the games were catalogued, Arabic instructions were provided for all game rules and strategies, and a sign-out book was set up.
Thus was born STEPS’ first ‘Lu’bati’ (My Game) initiative for refugees in Hashmi Shamali, where little ones can now borrow puzzles and building blocks, and older ones have access to chess, Scrabble, Monopoly and more.
A noteworthy addition came from Amit who generously donated a large carrom board, a strike-and-pocket table game commonly used in his country of India.
In order to introduce the game to the refugees, Amit spent a fun afternoon with them to show them how it is played. We were amazed to see how fast they learned to play and score.
With support from: individual donors
