Interview with Jordan’s Zikra Initiative Founder

How did the Zikra Initiative start?

When Zikra was launched it was a charity drive, I had learned about  a “dusty community” discriminated against because of their skin color. They had been taken advantage of by loan sharks and now couldn’t pay the loans back.  So their land was taken away. This community doesn’t have high positions in government. We donated mainly household items and camp food at first. After awhile it started feeling awkward, it created a giver/receiver relationship, as if we the givers were the heroes. In reality we were learning a lot from this community. As a city-man I was not exposed to my traditions or roots as much. I started to see how rich “poor” people were and how poor “rich” people were. Each community has their own deficiency. One was rich in culture and tradition while the other had financial security. That was when Zikra  changed into an exchange concept.

Amman is full of influential people, it has become very westernized, and we don’t really know the country. They are ministers, they are the future of country – yet don’t know country, its people, or the roots and traditions that have shaped Jordan. I wanted them to visit the rural areas without them being the heroes and going to “save” the area and community. Rural communities have just as much to give and teach, it is an equal relationship.

Explain the Economic Impact of Zikra

We are using tourism as a tool to solve social problems. We wanted the trips to be cool and relevant to everyday life. We use social media, YouTube, and the like to get the message out.

The Exchange Tourism process is created through an attractions program between the urban and rural community. The Zikra Initiative creates trips for the urban community to travel, participate and experience Jordan’s heritage and roots in an interactive workshops led  by Ghor community. The visitors learn traditional skills and crafts such as making organic eye-liner , weaving baskets, tassling hatta, and cooking traditional dishes like Gallayet Bandora or Tomato-in-a pan. In exchange  visitors pay a nominal fee that is channeled into a microloan in addition to other economic and social development projects. People pay JD 25 which will support the ladies of Ghor Al-Mazra’a.

We don’t view our exchange as a business or an attraction, we honestly want to overcome what years of racial discrimination have done to this community through breaking different stereotypes we may have about one another, allowing rural communities to develop pride in their culture and generate fund invested in marginalized areas

Are most of the participants from Jordan? If not, where are they from?

About 65% are Jordanians. Jordanians can only come weekends, foreigners are able to come on weekdays, usually they find us through travel agencies, travel alone, through their embassies, or they come with other Jordanians. We mainly target Jordanians in an effort to connect and shatter stereotypes in both communities.

People in Ghor al Mazra’a think people from Amman are selfish while many from Amman see rural communities as backward or uneducated. The government tells them they are poor and have nothing to offer, we search for and highlight their treasures and assets. Fish don’t know about the water until you take them out of the water. This community had a hard time seeing what they could offer, so we helped point it out.

Ghor al Mazra’a is an expert in recycling and growing organic food – teach are able to teach the Amman community how to be responsible because they are responsible by nature. Who said they are poor? do they consider themselves poor, perhaps financially. We need to redefine the word, we need to create equal relationships and stop looking at things from only one perspective.

Have the revolutions and violence from surrounding countries affected program or volume of participants?

Not as much as other organizations, most of our participants are from Jordan and understand the level of security in our country. The revolutions and image problems have affected other organization who cater mostly to foreigners.

However there is a close parallel to the revolutions here. Accoridng to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, self-esteem is needed for motivation and self-actualization. Tunisia motivated other countries who didn’t think things could change. If you tell communities that they have things to offer, that they are worth something, you have the capability to change lives. Motivation so important for economic development and self image We judge people by one criteria but need to look at the big picture, it’s not just about money or level of education.

What are your most popular programs? What do you think spurs it’s success?

Exchange Tourism is the most popular. We come up with new ideas all the time, it’s never the same program. We do a lot of team building activities for businesses or theater programs. At the end of day participants can say, “We learned something, we saw something new. We took and gave in return.”

Is Ghor al Mazra’a unique in its situation or are there many communities who face similar challenges in regards to discrimination, unemployment, and poverty?

Most of Jordan is the same, my friend Raghda Butros says, “There is no such thing as a poverty pocket, only rich pockets.” All of Jordan is poor, it is mostly made up of villages. What makes Ghor al Mazra’a a special case is that it has had a history of racial discrimination.

What did the community first think about this project? Has that changed?

It changed how they looked at themselves, they realized they had a lot to offer. At the beginning they thought it was weird that people from Amman would come to learn from them. They thought, “how silly.” But it has truly helped them appreciate who they are.

We also do many cultural activities, using culture to build identity. Culture brings people together, it gives them self-esteem and pride. Now we have begun to participate in different festivals. At TEDxDeadSea, on of our community members, a 16 year old girl, sang. But her father supports her. It was a shock for Amman and Jordan which is very conservative, women don’t usually sing. Her songs talk about her village and way of life. This was the first time that someone actually from the community was there to represent the Dead Sea community.

I don’t like the word “voluntourism” , although l respect and encourage volunteering, for what it stands for and does for the development of communities , but unfortunately nowadays the perception of volunteering  has become a reflection of a giver-receiver relationship or a hero-victim relation.