Volunteers Working for School Rehabilitation in Jordan
The Volunteer Team Visits Petra at the End of the Volunteer Trip
“I wasn’t sure what to expect from Jordan. I was a little apprehensive because I had traveled to Jordan before and the experience wasn’t the best, to say the least,” says Fahad, talking about his feelings at the start of the trip.
supplies for the day, and they would just give us tea. They didn’t even charge us for it. Of all the things I love Jordan for, I think the best among them is their generosity with tea!”
“After some initial hiccups and delays, we did finally reach the hotel and I think that’s where things really started to unravel. After settling down in the hotel room, we went down for orientation and to meet the rest of the team. It was a mix of people from Kuwait, Lebanon and Jordan as well. As you can imagine with a group that diverse, you really don’t know what to expect, and so you tend stick to the people you came with.”
During the seven-day trip, five days are dedicated to renovation of a local public school, rebuilding of a football field and other related tasks. The idea for LOYAC is to enable people to extend help in places where it is needed the most. “We would reach the work site by 9am and would continue to work until 5pm. Post which we would come back to the hotel, rest and then maybe socialize with each other,” says Fahad while talking about how they spent their days.
Given that LOYAC has over the years organized numerous such trips, they understand the importance of having ice breakers, where members can finally get over the initial hesitation and start to communicate. And that is exactly what happened, over a friendly game of Mafia the walls started to break. “Oh man! Mafia was so much fun. I will never forget it, I guess the format of the game compels you to speak to others without being intimidated,” says Fahad, who is obviously in love with the game.
Although volunteering is a rewarding experience, it isn’t always easy. There were times when the going would get tough and Fahad would find himself wavering. “It was hard work; it wasn’t a touristy thing. After working sometimes your body gets sour, the sun is beating down on you all day. I would come back to the hotel and sometimes wonder why I was doing all this. Why I just wasn’t on a normal vacation. But then I would remind myself, as to why I was here and it would be okay.”
However, there is yet another thing Fahad is truly, deeply, madly in love with – that thing being tea. “They just gave us tea, we would go to small restaurants and cafes to get
“Giving money is very easy. There isn’t actual physical discomfort in it. But going there, putting in your time and effort, that’s very different. Very immersive,” adds Fahad.
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