Today is my last day in Amman and I spent it this morning at the Jordan Womens Clinic. The woman in charge is named Alia and she is a gem. This organization is supported by private donations and they are in the area of Camp Hussein, which is where the Palestinian refugee camps used to be, and now this is changed to the Syrian camp. When we went today there were about 15 children of all ages inside and then more started to come with their mothers. By 10:30 am we had about 50 children – they started to draw and play games and at one point started to sing songs about Syria. One of the youngest got up on a chair and started to sing about freedom and peace and unity of the people – he was about 7 years of age. I gave some money to one of the women that worked there to get some candy, drinks and cakes for the kids, and she did and then came back and handed them out to the kids. There was no fighting for it or anything, the children just sat in their seats until they were served, some asked for something for another family member that was not there and we gave it to them.
Earlier when I had arrived I had brought for the clinic a bunch of baby formula and diapers that were distributed to the families that asked, and the rest was put into storage for later usage. I got enough for about a two month supply. But they will need more.
I spent about three hours at the clinic watching the children and their interactions with each other and with us as visitors. They did not want to talk about their experiences but they would repeat a lot of what we are sure they heard at home about the fighting and the killings. I think it is good that they do come out and away from home for while, the only problem is convinving the mother to drop them off and let them be with other children instead of sitting in their dark damp rooms with nothing to do. A number of them talked about wanting to go to school, but they need to get registered and need money for books and supplies.
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