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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE December 29, 2006
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| December 5, 2006 |
Aqaba, Jordan – Does Anybody Care About Us?--Life in a Refugee Camp |
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| A woman waits outside to receive medical treatment a clinic in Baqa'a refugee camp |
They fled from their villages by the millions, clutching the keys to their homes in the hope they could return to their peaceful lives tending olive trees and livestock once the violence against them had passed. More than 50 years later, 3.6 million Palestinians are still living as refugees in camps around Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. When—or if—they can ever return remains unclear. What frustrations, what memories, what hopes build inside such a camp? Peace Boat organized a Homestay Programme to Baqa'a, the largest of Jordan's 13 refugee camps, to allow participants a chance to see and hear for themselves. |
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| The Palestinian flag flies high over the crowded camp |
“At first we lived in tents,” explained one refugee, “then we started living in houses such as these,” he said, pointing to a square of concrete dotted with patches of tin sheets. Over the years, Baqa'a turned into a refugee city of 150,000 residents, complete with two-storey homes, schools, shops and clinics. Today, its main streets swarm with children heading to school, honking buses and taxis, and street vendors selling everything from persimmons to kerosene lamps and head scarves. “Baqa'a is peaceful, but it's so crowded,” sighed one woman. Most people deeply long to return to Palestine, even though many were not born or raised there. “I have a nice home and my own business here in the camp,” said one of its more well-off residents, “but I wouldn't hesitate to leave behind everything and return with nothing to Palestine.” |
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| From tents, refugees moved into concrete shelters like this one |
Crowded conditions in the camp mean that schools must accommodate children in two shifts, either morning or afternoon. Clinics, too, teem with people who must wait for hours to receive a consultation. Many homes are so cramped and cold that all family members sleep together in one room, and laundry is often hung on clotheslines in the streets. Poverty and high unemployment rates remain problems in the camp as well. To contribute to improving these conditions, and to promote solidarity for Palestinians in both the West Bank and the Jordanian camps, Peace Boat has initiated a fair trade programme – the Sanaa project. Through this, handmade goods such as traditional embroidery and olive products are purchased through fair trade from local people in Bethlehem, and then sold onboard the ship. The profits from these exchanges are then used to support the camps in Jordan. As part of this programme, participants on the 55th Peace Boat voyage delivered dozens of blankets and heaters to some of the most impoverished homes in Baqa'a camp, and were showered with hugs, kisses, and cries of Shokran! (Thank you!) from the recipients. |
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| Trailed by a friendly and curious crowd, a Peace Boat participant walks through the camp |
In the evening, participants talked with families over plates heaping with hummus, pita bread, and falafel balls. “I had so much fun playing with the kids in my host family,” reported one participant. “They taught me how to dance, and how to say words in Arabic.” For many participants, it was their first time to stay with Muslims in an Arabic country. “I was so surprised by how warm, kind, and generous people were,” said one young man. “I realized that up until now, I was biased against Muslims.” In another home, participants listened to the frustration of a man who was born and raised in the camp. “Where did these camps come from? They didn't just fall out of the sky,” he said. “They're here for everybody to see, and yet the rest of the world doesn't care. Most Americans only care about the price of gas. They don't care about the life of a Palestinian child.” The world runs on money and media power, he added, “and Palestinians have neither.” |
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| Peace Boat participants try on traditional Palestinian wear at their hosts' home |
The camps sprung up after World War II, after Palestinians were forced out of their villages to make a homeland - present-day Israel - for Jewish people fleeing the Holocaust. Many other countries had refused to accept the Jewish refugees. “We didn't burn the Jews,” said one refugee. “The Europeans did. So why are we suffering for it?” Refugee camps in Jordan are managed by the Department of Palestinian Affairs (DPA), which can be reached at dpa[at]tedata.gov.jo, or at PO Box 2469 Amman, Jordan. |
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