More than two million refugees in Jordan are from Palestine. Refugees have limited access to essential services such as water and sanitation, education and healthcare, mainly because of insufficient funding from the United Nations and its implementing partners.

With the relentless bombing in Gaza only 150km away, many Palestinians are stressed and worried about their relatives. Despite Jordan having achieved its target of universal access to primary education, children with disabilities and refugees are still marginalised.

Orient Spirit Development

Orient Spirit Development, a testament to peace and understanding, is a school in Amman for young people with special needs. You don’t need an ethos checklist to evaluate this school – the people in it live its ethos every day.

It was Ted and Nancy Sizer who said: “To find the core of a school, don’t look at its rulebook or even its mission statement. Look at the way the people in it spend their time – how they relate to each other, how they tangle with ideas. Look at the contradictions between words and practice, with the fewer the better. Try to estimate the frequency and the honesty of its deliberations.”

What an incredible place. A sense of quiet overwhelms you as you enter through the welcoming wide door.

Sami Nasr and Falasteen Awad established Orient Spirit Development in 2006. Their vision is to serve disabled young children who were generally excluded in society, and to create a place where they would be welcome and fully engaged.

Nasr explains: “One of the greatest challenges faced by persons with disabilities is acceptance by their surrounding community; a challenge that greatly inhibits their development and often leaves many of their remarkable abilities undiscovered. This is one critical area that we try to address through our various programmes, working with parents, employers, physicians and other specialists to create a self-sustaining system that allows our students to integrate and gain acceptance from their peers and other members of the community.”

The school initially started with three students and now has 45. A key criterion in selection is that students should be able to find a work placement in the programme when they leave the school. Students stay at the school from two to nine years and several students have found work placements around Amman. They shared the story of one student who has cerebral palsy and discovered his ability to learn another language on a trip to Japan. He now works in translation at a company in the city.

A lot of emphasis is placed on developing life skills. The young people are taught to articulate their feelings and to work with one another.

The school values an atmosphere of love and acceptance. One of the main aims is to teach children to communicate in everyday situations, and this is a challenge for many, as only a few of the students have been engaged in everyday society daily.

As they say: “We use a variety of science-based rehabilitation and education programmes, and strive to help each individual to discover and develop their talents and aptitudes, and to develop them into practical tools for income generation.”

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The students work in small groups, and the timetable takes each group to different stations such as sewing, embroidery, mosaic, woodwork, gardening, music and yoga class in a day. The teachers are committed and often sit side by side with the young people and help them to create beautiful pieces of work. A lot of the students’ work is sold in the school’s shop.

This is what one promotional piece says about the products the students produce: “This is more than just a product. This is a symbol of equality and a testament to the many unrecognised talents of persons with disabilities. Every product sold through Orient Spirit was crafted with love by an individual with special needs.”

A student works on a sewing project. (Photo: Supplied)

The yoga class is taught by a volunteer who creates a mindful atmosphere. The young people had no difficulty in focusing for 45 minutes, and there was great delight in being able to dance at the end of a session.

A lot of emphasis is placed on developing life skills. The young people are taught to articulate their feelings and to work with one another. Once a week the entire school goes out for breakfast and this is an opportunity for the young people to put their social skills to the test.

Lessons to be learnt

There are several lessons to learn from a school like this:

It’s very important to create a safe, caring and welcoming environment.

Students can work on focused projects for longer periods.

The improvement of social skills in the day is an important dimension.

The value of work in the students’ lives must be recognised.

The curriculum must offer variety and be interesting for the students.

A cleverly constructed timetable can allow students to work in small groups through a rotation system.

Orient Spirit Development is an incredible place where young people are valued for who they are. I learnt that, even with limited resources, if care is prioritised then young people can only benefit. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R29.

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