Interviews with Najah: Transcript (cont)

Mario: I will talk about that. I want to talk about one particular case in the Wadi Rum area, in the desert area, where this Bedouin girl came out of her shell and started what you may call a shop, in the middle of nowhere in the desert, and she called it “The Flower of the Desert.” This system was against her tradition, against her culture, against her understandings, if you want, against her belief. That was at the beginning of the training course of the Najah Journey. But by the end of the Najah Journey, with her, if you want, new skills acquired and gained during the course, the new personality shaped up, the will strengthened, she started her job, and there she is. And this is an opportunity to invite all the Americans to visit Jordan and come by Wadi Rum and see her in the shop; maybe they will buy something from her. A souvenir from Jordan.

Amy: Not only that, she’s also a leader in her community. And I hear…last time I was down there talking to her, she was telling me, you know, when I get married, this shop is going to be part of my marriage contract; this is mine, and I am going to carry on with this work. And she’s bringing in – in the first month, she sold 800 JDs worth of products, which is like $1200, and in the second month it was over 1,000. And people are coming from all over the area to a shop in the middle of nowhere. So that’s one example.You know, this program is funded by USAID, so it’s really funded by the American people. Rabi’a has been determined to put that on the front of her shop, so you’ll see a big USAID sign on the front. We sent it to USAID, and I think they wanted to feature it. It’s quite a stark example, of how a young woman, who saw very little future for herself, in quite a conservative community, has now become a leader and a role model in her community, and is able to support herself. (Listen)

Samantha: I’ve actually been to Wadi Rum, so I can imagine the challenge she must have faced, and it’s very inspiring indeed.

Mario: You will only get the real feeling when you come again and see her.

Amy: Samantha, you asked about the private sector, and that’s a really important question. The private sector are a key partner in this program, at many different levels. In the classroom, I know Roa’a and Mario bring in the private sector on a regular basis, because in the end they’re the ones who are defining what the skills are, what the attitudes are. They participated with us in some of the training approach development. We do internships for all the youth – they all participate in internships, and so we have to reach out to the private sector. And in the beginning, they were reluctant, honestly…. Sometimes it’s difficult to take in young people who don’t seem to have very clear skill sets. And then they’ve been so impressed that many of the young people have actually been hired by the private sector, because of that internship experience.

And then, now we have two major private sector supporters. Omnia, which is one of the mobile phone companies in Jordan, and Abdali Investment, which is a major urban development and construction investment company that is redeveloping the center of ‘Amman. And then, in the north, we are working with the Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber of Industry; in the south, we’re working with all the new development, both tourism and construction, that is part of the new Aqaba plan. So the private sector is a really important pillar. And we don’t go out to them to say, you know, “We need support.” We go out to them as a mutual partnership. They need employees who are qualified, and those young people need jobs, and we’re simply a support in the middle of that natural circle that happens in any economic development. (Listen)

Mario: If I may follow up on what Amy has said, just to explain that we are not playing the role of an employment agency. We are rather doing the job of simply linking the people together to find common ground by which they can speak the same language. So for example, in our community events, that are totally prepared, organized, and conducted by the youth, and these events that are attended by parents, the local community; we engage the private sector into coming there. So the three pillars of the Najah team – the youth, the parents, and the private sector – are together. They speak a language that is so close with meaning. The private sector understands what kind of expectations and aspirations the youth have. The youth listen and learn from the private sector and see the opportunities. They feel that there is hope for them. And the parents feel kind of safe, and at the same time, they encourage their children, their youth – their sons and daughters – to engage in this process, if you want. So the three are there: the investors, the youth, who will seek jobs, and the parents who need the support. (Listen)

Samantha: I just wanted to ask a question to Roa’a as a young person working in Najah, and just to gain from her perspective… in a sense, her role as a mentor, and her experience working with the youth beneficiaries, who are her peers in a sense, in terms of the age group. Just to tell me a little bit about her experience, and how Najah has played a part of her life, has played an important role in her life.

Roa’a: OK. First of all, it was my first experience in training these youth so that as much as they took from me, I took from them. Self-confidence, training technique, self-control, crisis management, as well as [inaudible] skills. It’s a mutual benefit, if I can say so. As well as, I get the support from my employers, who always have their door open, the same as we act with youth. The sky for them is the limit, and you can expand your horizons, just to try. Don’t ever give up. Everything’s possible. Nothing’s impossible, and we are always here to support you, bolster your strength, and work on your weaknesses. So it was a great, great experience, and I’m so happy, I’m thrilled, joining this great team here.

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Samantha: Is there anything else, Amy, Mario, that you want to add as well?

Amy: I think you asked about the media, and that’s an important point. I just want to elaborate a little bit on that, briefly. The media are really important partners for Najah. Mario mentioned the Najah Success Stories (Qisas Najah) You’ve seen them, and I mentioned to you that they are actually published on a monthly basis. They’re an inspiration out there, not only for young people. I remember – I’m not actually the program manager, the program manager Saba Mubatla, is out of the country training another country office on Najah, in Azerbaijan. But I remember Saba telling me that one of the people who called her was a doctor, a man who was probably in his 50’s, and he was nearly in tears. He said to her, “You know, I’m an excellent doctor. Medically, I know what I’m doing, and people trust me, but my communication skills, my resource management skills, my teamwork, my ability to really make decisions and convince people around me, have always been weak, because I’m a product of this system, and if I had had Najah when I was a younger person, I would be so much more successful as a doctor.”

Now there are hundreds of stories like this. We kind of give up our days, the next two days after Najah stories are published, because we get so many in calls coming in. You know, in this culture, people don’t really call in, in response to an article. And we don’t even invite them to call in. They have to read the fine print to do so. But that particular story – as my father in Arabic would say, Ata’at ‘Albi – it really got to me very emotionally, because it made me realize that this is something that is essential to the growth of - and to the development in Jordan, across the region, and probably in other regions as well. It’s that bit of confidence and skill and ability to say, “It’s OK to make a mistake if I learn from it. I wasn’t born perfect. I have to work hard on myself to develop who I am, because success isn’t only about the 90% mark I get on my tawjihi exam. Success is really about being able to connect, being able to find an opportunity, and being able to take that opportunity.” And that’s really what Najah is about. And the media plays an important role, because, just like you, they’ve taken a big interest. They often come out with us. They’re often interviewing Najah staff –we’ve been on radio programs, we’ve been on television, we’ve been in the newspapers. And Her Majesty Queen Rania has supported this program from the beginning.

So there’s visibility. We’ve tried to stay low-key, because this has been a piloting phase, and we’re developing as much as the youth are developing. And we’re now looking at the next phase, hopefully in partnership with USAID again. We’re looking to expand this to thousands of Jordanian youth, and hopefully across the region.

Mario: This is great, really. I would like to share a couple of short stories with you, success stories. One, a girl whose family conditions did not permit her even to express her opinion at home, before she started the training. And by the end of the training, the trainers spotted the potential of this girl. And this trainee has now become a trainer within the program in the southern region of Jordan. Her name is Sanaa; she’s one of our trainers in the South now.

Another trainee, in central region-Amman here, a divorced mother of two beautiful children, has become also a Save the Children staff [member]. She works for Save the Children in Amman.

Even to me myself, as a parent, Najah has taught me a lot. And it kind of became a new mission in my life. This is not bragging with words. This is really living the principles you believe in. This is Najah.