NEWS DEEPLY (26/3/2019)
Humanitarian aid organizations tend to view men as more capable of coping with hardship and often overlook them as a vulnerable population of refugees, writes Marta Vidal. One group in Jordan is trying to change that.
Each week, a group of 15 or so refugee men meet at a community center in East Amman and sit in a circle. They laugh and cry together while sharing stories they always divide into two phases: before and after the war began.
War and protracted exile have stripped them of their traditional roles and identities as their families’ protectors and financial providers. This group is a safe space in which they get to be vulnerable. They realize they’re not alone – but most importantly, it’s a chance to be heard.
One longtime member, Salem,* fled Syria in 2013. When he settled in Amman, he hoped to find opportunities to start a new life. Instead, his concerns about safety were replaced with worry about not being able to find a job to support his family in Jordan.
“I feel so sad and guilty because I can’t do anything for my family. I’m responsible for them, but I have no money to take my wife to the doctor, or to buy the expensive medicine she needs,” he says, looking down at the floor. “My daughter just finished high school, and she wants to go to university to study pharmacy. But education is so expensive in Jordan. I can’t afford it.”
Humanitarian aid organizations tend to focus their resources on the populations they consider most vulnerable, such as refugee women and children. So programs like this one, which targets men, are rare.