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Finally after two long week was I on the way back to Jordan a country I left two weeks earlier after spending five months as a youth leader at our Jordanian partner. Jordan quickly became home to me so I have been so excited about going back. I am especially excited to work with the Jordanian group under different conditions than I have been used to. It is no secret that my work as a youth leader was difficult most of the time, as I did not feel the group in Jordan was developing or moving as much as I hoped. So I left Jordan with a felling that this project identification seminar would be very important for our future cooperation and if we were able to keep the two groups together. Luckily things turned out great. Before we arrived the groups in both Jordan and Denmark had been working hard to prepare for the seminar. The Jordanian group surprised me with their dedication and extremely hard work up to our visit. I got several e-mail every day with questions and updates on the progress. So I had high expectations while at the same time being prepared to face some of the same problems I experienced during my youth leader.

Maren and I left Denmark the 15 of April the same day, which the ashes from the volcano moved closer to Denmark and eventually closed the airports. We got out in time and after a long day with transit in Istanbul we finally arrive in Amman. The second day in Amman was also the first workday and I who have become custom to Jordanians knew that everything works in Jordanian time. Again did the Jordanians surprise me when Aya, the Jordanian youth leader, call me 20 minutes to ten asking if I was on the way because everybody was present up and waiting for me. The first day was amazing everybody was working hard, participating full of ideas and open towards all the new people and suggestions. The Jordan group had found three new members who turned out to be the most wonderful hard working girls. I am so impressed by them and how they naturally became a part of not only the Jordan group but also our big group consisting of both Jordanians and Danes. We quickly made progress the first day as everybody came prepared and with knowledge about our two ideas. It became apparent that all of us agreed on a project idea, namely to open a homework café in Amman. We talked about the target group, where to implement the idea etc. We really accomplished a lot the first day much more than expected and we were all happy and exhausted after the first day.

The third day we worked in WE Center and it was nice to be back in the small office where I had spend many hours working. Again we had a very productive day where we made the longest plan of action we ever made. We also made a couple of SWOT analysis, brainstormed on the next steps and the next application and agreed on the tools and skills needed in order for us to implement the project in Jordan. We discovered in the Danish group that it is productive that we lean back some times and let the Jordanian who in the end are the once who will implement the project talk without our interference. A lot of crazy and very good thoughts were created and we gained a lot from talking and dreaming big. The day ended with a visit to City Mall the closes thing to Europe you can get in Jordan.

Fourth day was rough, everybody was tired and the energy level was at the lowest point so far. We still had a lot of work to do but we were also all of us happy for all the work we had done so far which was really more than expected. We started working on our project description, which was difficult when ten people are coming up with ways to write it down. The Jordanian group had arranged a field trip where we would visit a potential partner for the project in an area in East Amman. East Amman is the area we have chosen to focus on as this area in general is poor and people can not afford any extra help for their children. We arrive in this neighbourhood that turned out to be a refugee camp. The Jordanians felt very uncomfortable and we Danes were talking about the area being too rough for them to implement the project in. The organisation turned out to be an UN organisation, which worked with disabled children. The meeting was difficult as the lady only spoke Arabic and us Danes was left out. But the things they did translate concerned us much and we were prepared for along battle with the Jordanian group afterward to convince them that this was the wrong partner for us. The lady told the group that they had to chose between working with orphans or disabled children and let her know within a couple of days. We felt that the group were pressured into something that was too much for them. But it turned out that the Jordanians had become so overwhelmed that they did not control the situation and it that way was taken over by this lady. They luckily agreed with us and we used the visit as a good learning experience especially as practice for the meeting the next day.

The last day of the seminar was hectic. Maren and I realised that the airports in Denmark were still closed. We therefore had to skip a meeting with Save the Children Jordan to call Turkish Airlines, Gauda etc. But we had Kristian as the Danish representative so we were completely safe in this situation. We solved out our practical stuff while the others visited the organisation and solved out some of their internal problem. So when Maren and I meet the group again they had a new project leader Aya, which we were very happy for. The last day was strange, as we all knew this was the end. We were tired but everybody agreed that is has been a great seminar and how amazing it had been to be around so many wonderful people.

For me personally it was amazing to finally see a Jordanian group functioning and taking responsibility. In many ways this is what I have worked so hard for during my five months without achieving what I wanted. But the group had worked hard to prepare for the seminar; they turned up well prepared and came on time for the first time while I worked with them. I was so proud of all them and so impressed by the new members who participated as they had been in the project from the beginning. I have returned home with a feeling that this project will be amazing and that out two groups finally overcome all the problems we faced before.

This entry was posted on tirsdag, maj 4th, 2010 at 18:21 and is filed under Jordan-projektet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.