Think Unlimited

Last Saturday I went to a meeting of a new project/initiative that is starting up revolving around helping Syrian refugee youth that are not currently in school in Jordan obtain alternative education. One of my friends here found out about this new project going on through a friend of her's and knew that I'm interested in refugee youth and have worked with them in the past as well, so she recommended I go.

I went and it was very enlightening and interesting. It wasn't what I expected, but I also didn't have too many expectations because I truly knew extremely little about what was even going on in the first place. Basically, its group of passionate people (both American, Jordanian, and others from within the Middle East) that are working on this project to do needs assessments and understand what are the real big issues related to Syrian refugee youth and why are they not going to school.

Its very complicated and there are many reasons why Refugee youth are not in school now even though they have come to Jordan. Such as, extreme overcrowding in the schools, too many children and not enough resources (supplies, shelter, teachers, etc.), stigmatization from Syrians about Jordanians and vis versa, parents fear letting their children leave their sides, children being too traumatized, etc.

The new project is spearheaded by the Jordan chapter of an international organization called "Think Unlimited" and is is currently affiliated with Save the Children International. Its i the very beginning stages now as it is still just brainstorming, taking surveys, trying to get approval to go in to the refugee camps, etc. It was very cool to help explore all of the new ideas and put all of my Brandeis Conflict Resolution and International Development skills to good use. Helped me feel like the insane amount of debate that I will be in for the rest of my life might have actually be for a good reason (I was hoping that day might come!).

I was able to help a lot and explain a lot of what needs to be done to really ensure they help the refugee youth and don't cause any accidental harm to them by approaching them without knowing the "proper" ways to ask a question or address traumatic issues in a sensitive way. They are extremely caring and smart individuals but it seems that non of them have a background in conflict resolution....so there are so many things that need to be addressed and understood before interacting with the refugees.

Its fascinating to me to really watch something start from nothing. I've done that with the MTV grant a bit, but this is a big level and involving possible global donors, so its so cool to really get to watch how things work and need to work. Its good insight for me. I don't know how much I'll be involved though because between having class in the morning then going to Mercy Corps for my internship and then home by dinner time to spend my nights doing Arabic homework/studying, I basically have no possible time to add this one right now as well. However, they meet right now on Saturdays, which is a day I don't have school so I think for right now.

I'll keep going to the meetings and help do research as well as help them with resources to aid them in finding their way if they need. I really want to see how this plays out and I think this could be a great learning experience!

Think Unlimited Website: http://thinkunlimited.org/