On Migrant Working Women

I came across an interesting piece of news about a Forum for Migrant Working Women that took place in Amman. The news article focuses on what Prime Minister Maarouf Al Bakhit said in the forum;

During the opening session of a regional forum entitled “Female guest workers — trade in humans and amending labor regulations,” the premier said women continue to face many pressures in their working lives, from family pressures and the so-called culture of shame to lower wages and discriminatory laws.
…
Bakhit underlined the country’s keenness to join international efforts to develop legislation related to labor issues, noting that Jordan and the International Labor Organization (ILO) signed a memorandum of understanding in September last year to implement the Decent Work Pilot Program (DWPP) in the Kingdom.

Source: Jordan Times

The forum brought together participants from 21 countries, representatives of regional and international organizations as well as human rights centers attending the two-day event, organized by the Ministry of Labor and UNIFEM. This got me wondering if there were female migrant workers attending the forum, presenting real cases and advocating their issues. I think one of the things that make me somewhat skeptical of such forums is the degree to which they involve the actual stake holders, and I mean really involve. You don’t want this to be another do-gooder program!
That said, I wasn’t at the forum and I’m in no position to make assumptions. I hope Jordan’s participation in this would involve assessment of those agencies that get migrant domestic workers in the country… we all know stories of how managers of these offices treat the workers and abuse them, and it’s time something is done about that!

When legislation is the key though, Parliament comes to mind… and one wonders…

"An Inconvenient Truth", and other cultural events in Amman this week!

Academy Award-winning documentary “An Inconvenient Truth”, about climate change and Global Warming, directed by Davis Guggenheim and presented by former United States Vice President Al Gore, is screening tomorrow March 28th, at 7:30 pm at Makan (tel. 4631969)

While you’re at Makan, check out the Photography exhibition of Eyad Obeid, titled “Construction”.

Meanwhile, for classical music lovers, two concerts are taking place at the same time tonight (Tuesday March 27th), at 8:00 pm. One is part of a new program that the French Cultural Center is organizing, called Amman in Music, and presented on the last Tuesday of every month by French Chamber Orchestras. Tonight’s concert is by the Eiffel String Quartet (playing Mozart, Glazunov, and Strauss), at the Union Bank Concert Hall in Shmeisani.

The other concert is by Tania Tamari Nasir (soprano), Agnes Bashir-Dzodtsoeva (piano), Temur Ibragimoff (violin), Nabih Bulos (violin), Ahmad Ali Hamed (cello) at Zara Expo — Grand Hyatt Amman Hotel Tel: 4651234, organized by Instituto Cervantes and the Embassy of Spain.

Although it’s a bit late now, but I still want to write some impressions of the Madaba Jazz Festival that took place two weeks ago… (I just need to figure out who downloaded the pictures from the camera and where!!)

And speaking of cultural events, Samer started a brilliant new section on his blog for events in Amman, so make sure to keep an eye on that :)

Jordanians on the Power List... what do you think?

ArabianBusiness.com compiles an annual list of the World’s most influential Arabs, called the Power List. It includes 100 people from very diverse fields; business tycoons, entertainment figures, intellectuals, journalists, media gurus, and others. Now I don’t know about their criteria, and many people commented in protest as to how the list was compiled and some of the figures on it or missing from it, but what drew my attention is that out of the 100, only two were from Jordan; Rima Khalaf Huneidi (32), and Fadi Ghandour (82).

Palestinian film director Hany Abu Assad came in number four on the list, for what his film Paradise Now achieved. Waddah Khanfar, director of Al Jazeera Network, came in number three, while Al Jazeera reporter and presenter Ghassan Bin Jiddu came in number 24.

I was wondering… what, in your opinion, is the reason there are only 2 Jordanians in the list? And if you were to think of a Jordanian who should be in the list of the World’s Most Influential Arabs, who would it be?

On the USC Documentary Workshop

The past week has been insanely hectic, and this starting week is not going to be any different; but I’ve been enjoying a great learning experience at the Documentary Filmmaking Workshop given in partnership between the RFC and the University of Southern California, at the RFC offices near first circle.

Two instructors have come from USC –Lisa Leeman, an award-winning documentary filmmaker herself, and Professor Michael Renov, who is specialized in Critical Studies – along with two teaching assistants. We’ve been given lots of great references and reading material, we’ve screened and debated some very interesting documentary films, and we’ve been working intensely on our projects. Each of the 14 participants is supposed to make a 5-10 minute documentary film; there were many brilliant ideas but many of them had to be scaled down to fit the 10-day duration of the workshop… the project would have to be researched, planned, shot, and edited to produce a final cut for screening in less than 10 days. I personally had a hard time settling on one idea, but then I figured that this workshop really is a starting point and that I can work on all the other ideas that require more time and effort later on. It’s mind boggling when you think how so many stories we have here that can be the subject of a documentary film.

The weather proved to be an interesting challenge; we actually went to the RFC and had our editing tutorials on the day of the snow. It was amazing to watch the snow fall on old Amman from the RFC terrace (and my camera’s battery died on me!). Many of our film ideas were supposed to be shot outdoors, and Thursday was supposed to be the first shooting day – which of course didn’t happen!

Yesterday was a long day of shooting in the rainy weather… my arms are still aching, but I loved it and I have a lot of thoughts and reflections to share about it in an upcoming post.



More to come…

Sign of Thyme, Jazz Event at Madaba, and More...

From Sign of Thyme: Yacoub Abu Ghosh playing Bass Guitar, Ahmad Barakat playing Oud, and Nasser Salameh on percussions will be performing Live at Jafra (downtown, across from the Jordan Post building), this coming Tuesday March 13th, at 7:00 pm.

The guys will also be participating in a Jazz event at Madaba, with American Jazz ensemble Alvin Atkinson and the Sound Merchants, as well as pianist Omar Faqir and his Jazz band. It will start at 3:30 pm, at the Madaba visitor center.

Alvin Atkinson and the Sound Merchants will also be playing at Zara Expo on Thursday night, at 8:00 pm, free entrance.

While we're at it, the Amman Symphony Orchestra are having their first concert tomorrow after their launch at the end of January. It will be at the Hussein Cultural Center, at 7:30 pm, tickets are for 5 JDs. They play some of the favorite and most renowned Arabic classics.

Speaking of concerts in Amman, I attempted to go to the Flamenco dance show at the Royal Cultural Center last Thursday, and you just wouldn't believe the number of people there. We arrived on time, to find over 100 people standing at the door unable to get in. The Spanish Cultural attache apologized saying that the auditorium, which normally seats 300 people, had 500 people inside. I guess the RCC wasn't the best venue for the show. It was quite interesting to see so many people opting to go to such an event on a Thursday night; less than five years ago, you'd barely see a few rows filled. Now I'm looking forward to that Opera House they're planning to set up in the place of the old tobacco factory, as I recently heard :)

Running in Amman

I’m starting a new weekend habit and I’m loving it; driving out to Sports City at 7:00 in the morning to enjoy a refreshing run on their brilliant forest track (well it’s not quite a forest, but what do you call dunoms of pine trees?)



I had always heard about that track, but it was thanks to Mariam that I finally gave it a shot, to realize that it’s what I was always hoping to find in Amman – a place where I can run outdoors, without having to dodge trees, zigzag between the asphalt and the pavement, and put up with car honks and occasional verbal harassment!

I know that the Hussein Park is another good place to run or walk early in the morning before it gets too crowded, but given the choice, I’d rather not run on asphalt!



So, back to Sports City… what is so refreshing is to find out that not all Jordanians sleep in on Friday morning and then get out of bed straight to the Falafel queue at Abu Jbara in their pajamas ;) it just brings a smile on your face to see all these people, young and old, men and women, couples, families… you name it… coming in before 8:00 am on Friday for some fun exercise. What’s also cool about it is that, unlike most gyms where people are of similar social and economic backgrounds, you see a lot of diversity.

This is reclaiming public space, and Amman needs more of that.

Media Opportunities, Culture Buzz, and a bit more...

It’s 4:30 am… I woke up something like 2 hours ago, and I’m in a very jolly mood, eating strawberries and listening to Syrian group Kulna Sawa, trying to get myself to start working on the article that I will be discussing with my editor later in the afternoon.

In this morning’s cybercast of thoughts live as they are happening in the mind of yours truly:

- A very interesting opportunity for young filmmakers, to attend an all-expenses paid documentary filmmaking workshop in Dubai, and make a documentary with Al-Arabiya. Submit your detailed proposal (check out guidelines) no later than March 15th, and get the chance to be one of 25 young Arab filmmakers attending the workshop and getting funding to make their film over a period of 6 months. More info here.

- The BBC NewsMaker contest. Share your news from Jordan with English speaking audiences around the world. If you’re between 20 and 30 years of age and have an interesting story that you’d like to tackle, submit your idea in no more than 250 words, by the 31st of March and be one of two lucky winners who will get to produce and present their own report. Check out the website www.bbcworld.com/newsmaker

Culture Buzz - If you’re looking for something that is not the typical Thursday-nightish outing (who needs reservations and cover charges while doing nothing but eating or drinking??), you have some pretty interesting choices today;

- French musician Guillaume Roussille will be launching the Luweibdeh Carnival with a wind-pipe performance, today Thursday, at 6:30 pm at the French Cultural Center. Entry free of charge.

- Flamenco Dance Show at the Royal Cultural Center tonight at 8:00 pm, entry free of charge as well.

- And, on the occasion of the International Women’s Day, Al Balad Theatre is screening some very interesting international films starting today and until the 11th of March. They start at 7:00 pm, and again, entry is free of charge ;) Tonight's is a Sundance-winning film from Afghanistan. Click below for details.



Speaking of the 8th of March, well… I don’t think I can describe myself as a feminist, but I’ve been doing some self-reflection on womanhood, and what it’s like being a young woman in this part of the world… the person who lives in my mind, and the person who lives on the ground – where they meet, and where they come in conflict. I might write about this in another post, but I’ll leave you with a well-written column by Nermeen Murad in the Jordan Times the other day, about one of the disturbing unconstitutional laws that Jordanian women continue to suffer from! (think - regressive Parliament!! I don't want to get started on that! Ahhhhhh!!!)

Ammani

I promised I would write about my favorite session of the CSR Forum; Neighborhood Talk, probably because a lot of the points discussed and shared during that soulful, open, and informal discussion tapped on certain chords in me that had been in tension for a while, waiting for that vibration trigger, if you know what I mean.

A while back, I read this column by Yasser Abu Hilaleh, where he was talking about Amman. Ask anyone who lives in Amman, and who hasn’t lived anywhere else, where he or she is from… what are the chances they would answer, Amman? People trace themselves back to the remotest city or village, in Jordan or outside, rather than claim Amman. I’m not saying people should deny their origins, and where their parents are from… but it seems intriguing that out of two million people living in Amman, very few people claim it. When I was very young, I used to say that I am from Amman, then eventually, I started taking pride in saying that I am from Madaba… until, recently, I realized, that as much as I love Madaba, Amman is my home, and it is to Amman that I truly belong…

Abu Hilaleh eloquently describes Ammani’s relationship with Amman as a secret marriage that remains hidden in fear of the first wife. He describes Amman as a vibrant alive city made up of a rich blend, a city people might have sought out unwillingly at first, but eventually would not replace. “Alive cities are open cities,” he states. He writes that Amman might not be as dynamic as Cairo or as glamorous as Dubai, but that it has uniqueness that neither Cairo nor Dubai has… very subtle uniqueness. “This city of immigrants is not a hijacked city without color or smell.” The challenge, as he puts it, is to understand the character of Amman and its spirit. If you can read Arabic then I think you should just go read what he wrote… I would second every word he said.

This brings me to what I wanted to share about the CSR forum; the Neighborhood Talk session started with Fadi Haddad’s video, “in heaven as on earth”… an intimate work of art exploring the little details that characterize Amman as a place; starting with the ground… the streets, the pavement tiles, then going up the myriad of stairways connecting Amman’s old hilltops with its center, moving into the sky, shooting the pigeons that fly in circles above the skyline of the city, then zooming a little bit lower, between the sky and ground, to film colorful kites that make their pleasant appearance in the spring. The richness of visual details gave such a feeling of warmth… little things that you relate to very strongly, that you hadn’t thought of before.

After the video, Dr Sari Nasser started the session, in a very nice casual setting of couches, with people sitting in groups and sharing their thoughts and experiences. His starting point was the story of a woman, who spends so much time cleaning her house, and then throws away the dirty water outside her door step. He initiated a discussion about people’s sense of a belonging to something beyond the boundaries of their homes… belonging to their street, their neighborhood, their city.

Taghrid Fakhoury, who is in charge of the municipality’s project “Amman, a children-friendly city”, talked about her experiences when she was checking out the municipality’s parks and asking why people keep destroying and breaking the facilities there… most of the answers she got revolved around the lines “the Municipality has a lot of money… let them fix it!!”

Someone said that people have a lot of pent-up frustration and anger, which they seem to take out on public property. People don’t seem to feel a sense of ownership towards public property.

This project that Taghrid was talking about is very interesting; where they are involving young people and making them feel responsible for their neighborhoods. They had organized elections in 77 schools, to elect student representatives to work with the municipal council. Students are focusing on areas like public libraries, and spaces for children…

The forum shed more light on some of the new initiatives that Mayor Omar Maani is working on with the GAM team, to tackle a lot of the challenges and issues in Amman. He was very much involved in the sessions and different discussions, and one could sense his openness, and his passion towards what he is doing.

I could keep scribbling incoherent thoughts brought forth by that dialogue and subsequent reflections, but I guess what I want to wrap up with is how refreshing it is to meet more and more people passionate about their city, and determined to do what is in their capabilities to make it a better place. Me loves Amman!

Discussion on Arts and Culture at the CSR Forum

It’s day two at the Corporate Social Responsibility Forum, at the Hussein Cultural Center at Ras Al Ein. I wanted to write yesterday about some of the very interesting debates that took place, but it was such a long day (last session ended at 7:45).

To me the most interesting session today was on Culture, Arts, and the role of CSR in supporting it. It was moderated by Lina Al Tal, and the panel had artists, like Elia Khoury (of Nawazen), and Samah Hijjawi (who is a painter and instructor at the Faculty of Fine Arts and Design at UJ), people from the private sector who are strong advocates of art and culture, like Hani Rabie, and Hazem Malhas.

One person that really stood out on the panel with his wonderful presentation was Sheikh Suleiman Ammarin, from Beidha, in Little Petra, were he spoke about the great authentic grass root projects done by the Ammarin Bedouin tribe; through the Ammarin Bedouin camp, the heritage museum, and Al Samer Performing Group of Bedouin music.

It was such a beautiful model, of an initiative led by proactive local people. Sheikh Suleiman kept saying how important it is for people here to talk less and do more.

While some brilliant ideas are presented here at the forum, it’s frustrating to hear some of the comments which are really just buzz words and jargon.

Some of the very critical points presented during this session on arts and culture related to support of independent artists. Elia Khoury stated very openly the challenges facing performing artists in Jordan; mostly lack of funding for production, and the ignorance among people towards the effort and time invested in art performances, whether music, dance, or theatre; he talked about the conferences where he is asked to play, where thousands of JDs are spent on different aspects of the conference, but then when it comes to the performing artists, they’d be expected to do it free of charge, under the pretext that they’re getting “exposure”. Elia also stressed how frustrating it is that people see a 30 minute music show, and don’t realize the hard work it took to get to this point and to be able to play this half hour of music.

An independent photographer in the audience commented that what is most needed is recognition of independent artists as people who do this for a living and a profession. Banks and organizations do not consider an independent artist as someone who actually works and makes a living.

It was refreshing to listen to how some individuals take it upon themselves to invest in the arts and to support artists in different ways, but one would hope for this to go beyond the individual initiative.


Samah Hijjawi talked about something that worries her a lot, which is how artists are asked to produce works that fit certain requirements and topics in order to get support, which restraints their ability to produce the art that reflects what they want to express. Elia also touched upon this when he said that there are certain agendas and themes that attract support, and anything that doesn’t somehow work within these themes doesn’t stand much of a chance.

I really need to share that the gentleman sitting next to me is not only asleep, but snoring loudly!! We’re in the final session of the forum; a pitching session where different entities are presenting their initiatives to open channels for discussion and find more ways of getting support.

What I want to write about, in an upcoming post, is a great truly organic session that took place yesterday evening under the title: Neighborhood talk; my home, my neighbors, our backyard…

Over and out.