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3 April 2003 by Marina Penderis, Jordan Red Crescent volunteer, in Ruweishid; pictures by Tanya Habjouqa, JRCS volunteer It was Zamzam's 25th birthday, but she wasn't expecting a party. She had just fled war-torn Iraq and was spending her birthday in a camp for displaced people in Jordan. However, her tent mates, who had also fled the conflict, felt that she should celebrate. So did the Jordan Red Crescent Society (JRCS), which established the camp with support from the International Federation. A JRCS representative went to the nearest town, Ruweishid, to buy cake, candles and a small birthday present - batteries for her camera. "We celebrated in a modest and simple way. We wanted it to be a day she could remember. At least she could feel she is still with family and friends," said Dr Mohammed Al-Hadid, the JRCS president. "Did you make a wish? Did you make a wish?" her friends urged as she blew out the candles. Someone put on some music, a cassette of the Backstreet Boys that one of the girls in the tent had brought with her. Zamzam left her native Somalia four years ago to study art in Baghdad. In February she staged her first exhibition. Now she has left 54 of her paintings behind in Baghdad, not knowing if she'll ever see them again. Zamzam's friend, Hiba, remembered the day they left: "We only decided to go two hours earlier. We went because we were afraid. Eight of us travelled in one little car. It was five o'clock and we were on the highway when we heard Baghdad was under attack. We felt very bad." She also described the mixed feelings they experienced as they crossed the border. "We felt happy because we had survived and we felt very sad because we had left behind our friends. We also felt very lost, because we didn't know our future." In Jordan, the JRCS accommodated the girls in a camp set up to look after third country nationals - people who are fleeing Iraq, but who are citizens of other countries. "The Red Crescent helped us and we feel they gave us a home," said Hiba. She spoke of her fear of never receiving the education she was hoping to get in Iraq. "All my friends in Somalia had dreams, but they gave them up. I didn't give mine up. I went to study in Iraq but now I am afraid that everything has been lost," she said. Hiba will, however, be able to stay in the camp, where she can wait to find out if it will be possible to resume her studies once the war is over. Dr Al-Hadid explains: "Most third country nationals leave the camp within 24 hours, once arrangements have been made for them to return to their own country. However, some need to stay longer. These include people who cannot return to their country because of war there. They can also include students who are waiting for the war to end, so that they might continue their studies." Sara had a different concern. A Sudanese mother of five children aged between three and 15, she felt as though she was alone in the camp. During the routine medical screening at the border, her husband was identified with a respiratory problem. He was taken to a hospital in nearby Ruweishid for treatment. While he was there, all her Sudanese friends left the camp to go back to Sudan, leaving Sara alone and worried. She was also concerned that her children would not have sufficient warm clothes. The JRCS drove her to Ruweishid to see her husband and arranged additional clothes for the children. Medical assistance is also provided inside the camp. Doctors from the Jordan Medical Association run an on-site hospital, complete with operating theatre, in a tent in the camp. They treated one-and-a-half year old Aqual for a burn on her hand. Leaving the makeshift hospital, Aqual's Sudanese mother, Halema, smiled for the first time in several hours. Related links: Iraq humanitarian crisis Jordan: appeals, updates and reports Make a donation |
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