This morning STEPS visited 10 families of Syrian refugees and distributed food bags worth about $20. Some of these families have lived here for a year or more and are paying monthly rent for sub-standard apartments full of humidity or safety hazards. Their income is limited to shopping coupons from the U.N. — where eligible — which were recently cut down to $14 per person PER MONTH, and they are not allowed to work! It’s Read more…
Thirty-two boys and girls at Um Salama primary school in Salt participated in our Read Aloud activity. Thank you to Mr. Ibrahim Al Kloub for coordinating the event, to the school for welcoming us warmly, to volunteers Ala’ and Ahmad for making the reading and competitions fun and educational, to Book Loop for supporting us with volunteers, and to our sponsor, Mr. Ala’. A few of the children there were Syrian refugees. We learned that Read more…
Big thanks to the Dead Sea Spa Hotel for inviting 15 mothers from Talbieh refugee camp to a wonderful lunch on the occasion of Mother’s Day. The visit also included time at the beach and a great cooking demonstration by chef Mohammad Farouq. There’s no way to describe how much this meant to these ladies who hardly ever enjoy any outings–not to mention four-star treats like this one! Sponsored by: Dead Sea Spa Hotel
Sports and games were on the agenda for this outing to a park in Rabiah on Saturday March 21st, attended by eight children from Wahdat Camp. Thank you to Lebnani Snack for donating the lunch, and to volunteers Hedaia, Ala’, Tariq and Michael for organizing the children’s fun activities. With support from: Lebnani Snack Society in Wahdat camp: جمعية عندي حلم للمبادرات ألإنسانية
Another fun event to mark World Read Aloud Day (WRAD) and promote the joy of reading among school children. STEPS volunteers drove from Amman to the Southern village of Smakiyah and organized activities at the library of the Latin school for two groups of 15 children each. After selecting a book of their choice and forming two teams, the children read a couple of pages aloud and asked their peers quiz questions about what they Read more…
In cooperation with the BookLoop initiative STEPS organized a Read Aloud activity and quiz for 30 schoolboys in Bal’ama, in the Mafraq governorate. The goal of the program is to promote reading for pleasure and to increase children’s confidence through public speaking and games. Thank you to all those who helped make this event possible: our sponsor Mr. Lu’ai, volunteers Jwan and Ahmad (from BookLoop) and the wonderful people at the school who facilitated it. Read more…
What a wonderful team at the English Club of the Hashmi Shamali UNRWA Prep School. STEPS presented an interactive talk on the topic of Community Service, using motivational stories and songs in English which remind us how we can each do our part towards changing the world. The students – from both the boys’ and the girls’ sections – came to school 1 and ½ hour early in order to attend our meeting before their Read more…
Our second Read Aloud activity of this year took place in Umm Al Jimal (Mafraq), next to the impressive archeological site of the old city known as the Black Gem of the Desert. Two groups of 15 school children took part in fun activities with books, designed to promote the joy of reading and develop self-confidence through public speaking. Thank you to our sponsor Mrs. Dana, to volunteers Omar, Wafa’ and Luzan, and to Canary Read more…
Rajef, a lovely village close to Petra, was the location of our first event for World Read Aloud Day 2015. Thirty boys and girls from 8 – 12 years old participated. Each one read aloud a section of a book of their choice, then asked the other children a question about what they read. Points were recorded as the teams of Scholars and Geniuses competed against each other. No matter who the winners were, everyone learned Read more…
A group of 10 children from I Have a Dream Society in Wahdat refugee camp were invited to another Teddy Bear Clinic event at Istishari Hospital in Amman. The children spent an exciting couple of hours discovering what doctors do during a patient’s visit. Each one had received a teddy bear who served as their ‘patient’. The 8-10 year-old boys and girls visited various stations which had been labeled as Waiting Room, Registration, Triage, Treatment, Read more…
