SOS Children's Village

Women2Women Jordan - "Leadership in Action"

About the Conference | SOS Children's Village | 1,000 Voices for the Future | Global Village

SOS CHILDREN'S VILLAGE

Following our theme of “Leadership in Action,” W2W – Jordan participants boarded a bus and headed north toward Irbid where they spent the day volunteering at an alternative orphanage, the SOS Children’s Village. This uniquely designed foster care system, serving 96 orphans, offers children a loving home and a lifelong community support system. The village is comprised of twelve homes each headed by an unmarried woman who has made a lifelong commitment to caring as a mother for 8 children. To prepare for the day, W2W participants broke into groups and designed games and activities to teach the children. The kids were very excited to have new playmates for the day – and loved our cameras!

After several hours of games and activities, we enjoyed a tasty lunch together and were treated to a Depka performance – a traditional Jordanian folk dance. In the afternoon, each group of young women paired up with a family and helped them decorate a keepsake quilt. As the kids were finishing their crafts, conference participants snuck down to the office where tables of gifts they had collected prior to the trip were separated into piles for boys and for girls. With arms full of toys, the groups gave each child a small present to thank them for their hospitality.

The day was a tremendously rewarding experience for everyone involved. The children, who live far from Amman, do not usually receive large groups of visitors. The young women felt both useful and gratified for having volunteered with the families. For delegate Allie Campos, a W2W – 2006 participant, “The best part was spending the day with an organization truly succeeding in creating a loving environment for children. It was the first day at SOS for one of the kids, and it was impressive to witness how welcoming and excited his new family was.” We left tired, but energized by such a wonderful day!

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“I can’t express enough how much W2W has shaped the way that I view the world. I always had an interest in international affairs and foreign policy but the forum and the environment that W2W creates for international discourse for girls…is invaluable…The first thing my mom said to me after I told her about all the amazing things that happened at the ’08 conference was, she said, ‘You are not the same daughter we sent to Boston a week ago.’”

- Lindsey Young from Pennsylvania

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