UAE volunteers make a difference at Jordanian refugee camp

Saif Ali Al Dhaheri is director of Emirates Jordanian Camp. Salah Malkawi / The National

Where refugee camps are often characterised by squalor and suffering, the Emirates Jordanian Camp near Amman is a shining example of what geneous funding and dedicated volunteers are able to achieve. Some of the camp's 100 UAE volunteers and staff spoke to Louise Redvers

These are the faces of hope. For thousands of Syrian refugees in Emirati Jordanian Camp (EJC) they represent safety, a roof over their heads, hot meals, proper health care and a place where children can play safe from the guns and bombs.

Since it was opened in April, the camp, about 45 minutes from Amman and just off the main motorway to Saudi Arabia, has become home to more than 3,600 Syrians, about two thirds of whom are children.

Unlike many refugee camps, where people live in tents in overcrowded conditions with poor sanitation, at EJC refugees live in caravans and the site is spotless.

Refugees are provided with three meals a day, along with clothes and other non-food items. The camp also has a well-equipped medical centre, a school, children’s play areas, recreation rooms for men and women, a mosque and a supermarket.

All the money to run the camp is provided by the Emirati Red Crescent, with about 100 Emiratis based there, helping to run the operation, some as staff, but many as volunteers.

The National went to Jordan to meet some of them, and to hear their stories.

Talib Ali Abu Talib

Mr Abu Talib is the Emirati Red Crescent media manager at EJC. Formerly a journalist in the UAE, he joined the Red Crescent in 2001 as a full-time staff member. His first mission was to Kosovo, and he has also been to Yemen and Somalia. “I came out to Jordan in March, it was only supposed to be for 21 days, but I am still here,” he says. “There is a lot of work to do here. We have a lot of visitors. There are 2,200 additional caravans which are ready to house more refugees, we just need to prepare the infrastructure.

“We imagine the camp will be here for some years, but we don’t really know how the situation in Syria will develop.”

While the UAE RC manages the camp, several international NGOs and United Nations agencies also work on site.

“We work very closely with the international NGOs and we discuss a lot about ideas. There is a lot of talking, a lot of communication,” says Mr Abu Talib, who, like the others, rotates betwen Jordan and Dubai, doing 21 days on and seven off.

Dr Saif Al Kaabi

Dr Al Kaabi has been volunteering in Jordan with the Emirati Red Crescent since May. He left behind his day job in emergency medicine at hospitals in Al Ain and Abu Dhabi to manage the Emirati Red Crescent hospital at Mafraq as well as oversee medical services at the EJC. This is his third mission, having previously supported the charity in Yemen and Pakistan.

Explaining his motivation to leave his family and comfortable lifestyle behind to live in a caravan in the middle of the desert, the doctor says: “After being a doctor for almost 15 years, I suppose I was looking for a new challenge.

“When I was studying medicine in Canada, I met a doctor who had spent a whole year in Africa. He had been in the middle of doing his emergency medical training when he stopped for a year to go to Africa.

“At first, I couldn’t understand why anyone would do that, so I asked him and he said that if he didn’t go, there would be no one to help the people there. That really affected me and I thought, if he can do this, so can I.

“I really believe we are helping people here and that is reward enough for me. I believe most people here feel the same.

“This is not something you do for your CV, it’s something you do for others who need your help.”

Passionate about the EJC and the quality of services offered, Dr Al Kaabi says: “This is not like a refugee camp, really, it is more like a town. Everybody knows everyone and there is a good community here.

“It is extremely hard for these refuges who have been forced to leave their countries and live away from home and what they know. We are just trying to support them as much as we can and help reduce their stress as much as possible.

“I believe that we have both a humanitarian and an ethical duty towards these people.”

Dr Al Kaabi expects to be on duty in Jordan until December.

Abdullah Rashid Alzaarbi

Mr Alzaarbi is from Abu Dhabi and has been volunteering at EJC for seven months. He is part of the team making sure there are enough clothes and non-food-items for the refugees. Lorry loads of goods are brought into the camp from the UAE. As well as basic clothes and shoes, there are also special items such as dresses and suits for refugees who are getting married, and extra donations also arrive during events such as Eid.

“We don’t have much free time here,” the 40-year-old food-hygiene inspector explains. “There is always work to do. The refugees are coming all through the day, and sometimes the night, for supplies, so we must always be ready.”

This is Mr Alzaarbi’s second RC mission. In 2011 he worked at the RC camp on the Tunisian border, supporting the thousands who fled Libya during the uprising against Muammar Qaddafi.

He says: “I learn a lot on every mission. I know a lot more about how the store runs now. We interact a lot with the refugees. They are human beings just like us and they are our brothers.

“The volunteering has been a good experience from the point of view of what I have learnt, but I do miss my family. I have two children, one is three and one is 13. I’ve told them where I am and why I am doing this but I still miss them.

“It can be upsetting to see people, especially young children, who have clearly suffered. It upsets me to see that because I am a father. I am happy that I can try to help them.”

Dr Hamad Al Dhefairi

Dr Al Dhefairi is the director of the Medical Centre at the EJC.

The 27-year-old started his volunteering stint at the camp four months ago, taking time out from his job as a general practitioner at a government hospital in Abu Dhabi.

“This is my first experience to work abroad with the RC. I wanted to try something new and to have a taste of volunteering,” he says.

“So far so good, I have learnt a lot, particularly how to work with different NGOs and organise different health campaigns.

“It’s very different from my normal job back at a government hospital, but it’s a very rewarding experience to have this chance to be able to help Syrian refugees and be able to help relieve some of their medical pain.”

Dr Al Dhefairi, from Ras Al Khaimah, says: “We rotate – three weeks on, one week off – and I do miss my friends and family while I am away, but if you count the good deeds you do here, then it makes it OK. I think I will probably stay to do a year here, I’m not sure yet.”

The doctor, who studied medicine at the Royal College in Dublin, Ireland, adds: “I would love to do this sort of thing again but of course I hope that no political issues cause such a similar situation to occur. But if something happened, I would be more than happy to participate in helping out.”

While on mission Dr Al Dhefairi lives, like the other staff and volunteers, on site in his own caravan adjacent to the refugees.

“When we are here, we sleep here like the refugees, we eat the food they eat, drink the water they drink,” he says.

“Here at the medical centre on most days we will see about 200 patients. It’s usually more at the start of the week, but it depends.

“This is a family-orientated camp so what we are dealing with is mostly primary health care, looking after young children, and dealing with chronic conditions like hypertension and diabetes.”

As well as a handful of other Emirati doctors, there are a number of medical staff from Jordan, as well as several Syrian refugees also working as doctors and lab technicians.

Proud of the services offered at the EJC, Dr Al Dhefairi, who qualified as a doctor in 2011, says: “Being from the UAE, we like to keep the bar pretty high. I haven’t been to Za’aatri, or any other camps, but I know that we have a very good service here and I hope that we are providing the best care possible.”

He says that as well as emergency room, six different clinics, a testing laboratory, radiology services, a pharmacy and an observation room, there is also an on-site paediatrician and obstetrician.

Saeed Marzouq Harash

Mr Harash, who is from Sharjah, is a water engineer who works in Abu Dhabi. The 31-year-old helped to install a reverse osmosis water-purification system for the EJC and he now works between the supply store and the registration office.

“I do several jobs here,” he says. “First I was involved in the water engineering, but now that is set up, I am helping with the computer system. We have a centralised system so we can know exactly who is in which caravan and who has been given what non-food items. Just now we are finalising a barcode system so people can be identified by barcodes on cards, rather than from pieces of paper.”

The EJC is Mr Harash’s second mission. He has previously been with the UAE RC in Pakistan, helping to set up reverse osmosis machines there.

“I would definitely recommend people to volunteer,” he says. “It can be hard to be away from your family but you get a lot of experience and it is a chance to learn new skills. It is also rewarding to work in the humanitarian sector.

“I think I will be here for a few more months and I will definitely put my name down for another mission.”