I lived my childhood in KSA, I had no idea what the word “volunteer” meant until I became one.
"The training I received on Basic life Skills, Leadership Skills and volunteering have enriched my teen years and developed my personality.
"My parents, who opposed the idea at the beginning, recognize the new me and encouraged my twin brother to join.
"When Her Majesty’s visited us to share our experience, her words motivated us; I will never forget it when she said we rephrased the meaning of the word “Citizen” through our work.
"I felt like a prisoner, today I accept my daughter’s illness, I know how to deal with her, before I used to deal with her illness instead.”
"The desert of Wadi Araba became a green paradise producing only the best, and our community divided one day, is now working together under Qaa Al-Se’diyeen Association.
"I would have had no future if it wasn’t for the program and the support of the Jordan River Foundation.
"I had no idea Suha was going through such a hard time. I could see there was something wrong, but I didn’t know what to do about it. Thank you for helping us
"I come from an area of small farmers who can barely sell their produce to the local market and with the suppressed prices during the high season, the farmers are content if they just break-even… a cold storage and a food processing unit was a dream for us but we never thought that it can become reality.
"Like many, I was occupied with the details of my own daily life. I walked in the neighborhood on a daily basis, it was impossible to avoid the scattered garbage or twisting my ankle when walking over a hidden hole; yet I did nothing, we did nothing to change. It was always easier to blame the authorities. All of this changed once we enrolled in the JRF’s program which taught us the spirit in working as a team.
"I felt so good after that call” said the counselor who spoke to Suha and her mother, “it is live proof that doing what we do can have a real impact on someone’s life. Suha is not alone in her struggle anymore, we made that happen
"I would have never imagined meeting Her Majesty one day, but when she visited Wadi Araba, I realized that we have achieved something to be proud of.
"We were determined to find the space in our compounded school building, and with humble resources we agreed to renovate the old storage.
"My life has changed completely.
"I feel empowered as I became one of two decision makers in my house. I now help my husband around the house, I learned how to drive and bought my first car after three years of work. My husband and I bought a land and a house and we are saving for the education of our three children.
"I knew that this project can change my life... I met many people and have more self-confidence.
"My work with JRF and in the complex enriched my experience and my university studies; it is truly the ultimate prize.
"The smile we draw on the innocent faces of these young girls is the source of our strong-will and determination to continue and expand the work we have started", thank you JRF.
"I continuously talk to my peers and encourage them to enroll in the centers various programs and activities. At school, I stood out in my class as I became more confident and empowered; now I want my younger brothers to join the center so they get the same opportunity I did.
"Through JRF's training programs, Madeline and I are able to identify cases of abuse in school, assist girls through creative and indirect methodologies such as writing and drawing and cooperate with the Family Protection Department in Aqaba when needed.
"I never thought that this experience will change me into a complete different person.
"The beacon that guides the residents towards one goal for the benefit of all.
"We are in a much better place; our voices are heard by authorities after a long time of silence, we know how to deal with challenges and transform them into opportunities.
"We are proud to declare that the Safe Room has assisted more than 60 girls since 2009 and was successful in returning ten dropouts to school again," "corporal punishment have dropped down significantly, and parents are showing more collaboration with our project.
"Both skills and experience that I acquired from the center made me feel that I have a message to share with other women; my work as an educator is just a small token to show my gratitude.
"Working with JRF, I discovered there are no limits to ambition. Working with youth, inspired me even more to develop myself personally so I enrolled in University; something I never thought was possible.
"I am so grateful for your help, I have talked to my mother about what I am experiencing and she has been very supportive since
"“My father encourages me to continue my education after he witnessed my success; I am a changed woman. Today I am a real member in the family; participate in decision making equal to my brothers and full of belief that in order to make a change, you should change from within yourself first.
"Inside us is a new feeling that we haven’t experienced before, the feeling of true citizenship and responsibility towards ourselves and our community”
"The Safe Room is a haven for distressed girls whom we have longed to assist for the past years," "in this space, students can speak freely and confidentially about their deepest pains and fears, seek guidance, and receive support.
"It was a daunting path towards an old and dark storage room, we never imagined that this same space could become a bright, safe and attractive room, it has actually become our favorite spot in the school.
"My dream is to start my own business one day soon.
"I was shy and had few friends; today I am blessed with many friends within my community.
"I want to be popular like other girls in my class”, she complains “why is this happening to me?
"In University, am not Abu Sakher or the head of an association, am just a regular student and my daughter’s colleague.
"I liked to practice what I learned at home, and I had no idea that my brothers and sisters were learning too.
"JRF has transformed me into a Super Citizen
"I was empowered by Jordan River Foundation’s training and worked hard to change, leading my father to change too”
"My experience with JRF changed me, I realize now that the prize is bigger than money; it is great friends and the feeling of pride every time I pass by a school or a street that we helped to change.
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In 2005, JRF established the Queen Rania Family and Child Center (QRFCC) in Eastern Amman, which provides a variety of preventive and awareness-raising programs for children, youth, parents, and professionals. Today, QRFCC has evolved into a comprehensive community based model, offering holistic services which aim to combat child abuse, strengthening the family unit, and promoting a culture of child safety and a training centre disseminating knowledge and expertise beyond Eastern Amman on both national and regional levels, building the capacity of professionals in the field of child safety.
QRFCC Principles:
QRFCC Objectives:
QRFCC Approach
QRFCC beneficiaries
QRFCC Services and Programs:
Children Programs
The primary goal of these specialized programs, which target children and adolescents, is to spread knowledge and awareness on child safety, as well as to empower these individuals to protect themselves from various risks, through interaction with real life experiences and situations. Through interactive mediums, children are provided with edutainment programs such as art, drama, sports, music and information technology, that are founded on the fundamental concepts of self understanding, self expression, the privacy of the body, discovering abilities and unleashing capacities. Using developmentally appropriate tools and methodologies, children’s programs are based on a participatory approach to learning where they are shown how each of them can be a self-learner, capable individually of deducing knowledge.
QRFCC offers 6 Interactive Mediums targeting children and adolescents:
The interactive library is a child friendly model of an environment that would replace the traditional criteria and specifications of children’s libraries and the traditional pursuit of knowledge therein. The space within the interactive library aims to fuse communication with reading, playing, conversing, writing and expressing through various forms of art and play. Adults in the interactive library primarily cater to the needs of children, through children’s areas of interest using developmentally and culturally appropriate means. The main activities of the interactive library include; “Together We Build our Country”, “We are Different but yet Alike,” “Stop Bullying” and the “Aflatoun: Child Social and Financial Empowerment” Program.
Drama is a significant educative medium through which children can get in touch with their inner self and realize their capacities. The main objective of the drama workshop is to help children realize and connect with their inner selves and consequently reach a level of harmony between the child and him/her-self. Activities of this workshop encourage children to understand and express their inner thoughts and feelings through sound (words) and movement (body). Two main activities are conducted in the drama workshop which includes; one with children “Who am I” and the other with adults “Being Intimate with Your Child”.
For children who are at risk of being abused or have experienced abuse, trauma or loss, drawing helps to externalize painful emotions and events that are difficult to verbalize and is an effective mean through which children are able to convey the complexities of unspoken fears, anxieties, painful experiences, repressed memories or guilt. Drawings expediently bring out issues to the surface, thus accelerating the helping professional’s ability to prevent at-risk children from being abused and to intervene and assist troubled and abused children.
Through the programs designed for drawing exercises, children learn that painting and everything their pencils and crayons illustrate have value. This approach further fosters their self-confidence and allows them to master a skill through which they can, without limitations, communicate and interact with others. Children active in the Arts Workshop are also given the opportunity to participate in national, pan-Arab and international competitions and exhibitions, thus appreciating their work and enhancing their sense of achievement.
The IT training program does not only include learning computer skills and the use of various computer programs, but also uses the computer as a tool through which children and youth learn how to interact positively with each other within the group, to express themselves and to think creatively. The IT training program includes learning about the different parts, processes and functions of this machine as well as learning to use Microsoft Office and the various programs which would promote self expression and emphasize the learning process.
Different than other IT centres, the main objective of this IT lab is not only to teach children basic computer skills and applications, but rather to express themselves verbally, pictorially and symbolically in a fluent manner through the use of new technology.
This workshop offers a wide variety of indoor and outdoor recreational and physical education opportunities to challenge and stimulate young girls, hence contribute to their physical and psychosocial well-being. The gym is equipped with the finest machines and aerobics classes are also conducted. Trainers use a variety of methods to encourage girls to develop such aspects of physical fitness as flexibility, agility, co-ordination, strength, balance and, especially, cardiovascular respiratory endurance. In addition to the actual physical exercise conducted throughout the sessions, the Fit for Life program also conducts a variety of health related lectures. Depending on whether the target group is a mother or young adolescent, specific awareness raising lectures are offered during every session. Examples of lectures include adolescent female development, physical activity and healthy body posture and healthy eating habits during adolescence.
The Music workshop is part of the ongoing activities delivered on daily basis at the Queen Rania Family and Child Center (QRFCC) of Jordan River Foundation (JRF). The workshop introduces music to underprivileged school-aged children (8 - 18 years) residing in Jabal Al Nasser and aims to teach children music as a medium of self-expression, contributing to their overall well-being and their self-confidence, thus empowering them against any violations of their rights and safety.
The Melodies of Safety Workshop uses music, rhythm, note reading and expression to contribute to children’s overall well-being and self esteem. QRFCC’s objective of empowering children is thus realized through the music workshop.
The Salhouf Tales Series:
“Salhouf Tales Series” is a pioneering awareness and self-protection tool used to empower children as well as parents and teachers using various forms of art (puppetry, music and drawing). Launched in 2004, the project produced in partnership with Save the Children and more than 200 children, 11 scenarios that portray 11 situations of child abuse at home, in school and in the community. Salhouf workshops were designed to include in addition to the show, a discussion session, and a drawing session, during which risk and protective factors are discussed and emphasized. In line with raising the awareness and self-protection skills of children, parents were involved through awareness raising sessions, and teachers were also targeted through a training program on concepts of child protection.
Children’s Psychosocial Services
Offering psychosocial counseling and case-management services for children residing in Eastern Amman; these services are interventions tailored to improve the psychosocial well-being of children victims of child abuse and distressed children and their families.
Our intake procedure:
Youth Programs:
QRFCC provides programs that empower youth; strengthen their sense of identity, increase their awareness, enhance their skills, and activate their participation to become leaders in the field of child safety in their individual communities and society as a whole. The programs aim to empower youth from a psychosocial aspect and aspires to engage them in awareness raising process amongst their local communities as well as promote their participation in different Peer to Peer awareness raising programs on Violence Against Children and Women and in creating child friendly safe spaces.
QRFCC implements an annual Youth Summer Voluntary Program – YSVP; in which youth volunteers from different parts of Amman, participate in and identify a particular community services project that they design, lead and implement.
In 2009, QRFCC also launched its Leadership Program which aims to engage youth from across the country towards becoming active and responsible citizens in building a better future for Jordan. The program which is implemented during numerous phases focuses on various leadership skills relying on both theoretical and practical components, such as decision making, team building and management as well as communication skills.
Parents Programs:
These programs are designed to complement the QRFCC prevention activities by offering parents with training programs that promote improved child-rearing practices and positive family dynamics. The parenting programs model culturally appropriate practices rooted in community needs and challenges in Jordan. Activities also rely on international best practices in early childhood education and child safety practices.
The parenting programs aim to increase parents’ knowledge and alter the attitudes and perceptions of parents on child rights and child development by offering specialized and applied workshops which equip parents with necessary skills to better meet the needs of their children.
Examples of Parent Training Programs include:
Parents Programs: Psychosocial Counseling
Women’s Psychosocial Counseling Services
Provides compassionate and comprehensive case management services to women survivors of violence such as:
Specialized and trained team providing psychosocial counseling services
Offers women a safe and confidential space to share their stories
Respects their right to self-determination
Provides access to services within the same location by establishing partnerships with different organization
Safe Schools
Safe Schools is a national initiative, which aims to turn schools into safe environments for learning by working holistically; with students, teachers, administrators, parents and the local community, raising the awareness on the topic of child abuse and aiming to turn schools into safe environments for learning. Through this initiative, QRFCC aims to integrate its prevention tools that are in line with the educational system in schools, in order to shape the different components of the school setting; that includes developing the capacity of staff, increasing the awareness of students, implementing co-curricular programs and activities, and enhancing linkages with the community including parents and families.
Local Communities
The Community Mobilization Unit aims to enhance the level of community awareness about child safety and activate the role of local communities in preventing child abuse. This is achieved through formulating peer education networks amongst; mothers, fathers, youth, and religious leaders, increasing knowledge and understanding of the concepts related to child safety and child rights.
Out Reach
Training and capacity building for professionals;
Launched in 2006 as the first regional training unit specialized in the area of child safety, the Queen Rania Family & Child Center Training service ( of the Jordan River Foundation) aims to enhance the capacity of national and regional professionals in addressing child abuse and promoting child safety in their own fields and communities.
Under capacity building, the service provides training programs to individuals and organizations in various areas that are not limited to the ones developed in-house. The service provides two categories of training programs: administrative and technical training programs. Examples on administrative training programs include strategic planning, proposal writing, and monitoring and evaluation. Training on technical topics includes Child Safety, Risk Assessment, and Parenting Programs. Since its inception in 2006, the Training service has conducted over 1,300 training programs building the capacity and challenging the negative attitudes and perceptions of decision makers, professionals, paraprofessionals, parents, university students etc…
We provide a variety of services as follows:
1. Conducting Training & Capacity Building Programs - provides training programs to individuals and organizations in various areas and sectors that are not limited to the ones developed in-house. Two categories of training programs are offered: Administrative and Technical. Examples on administrative training programs include Strategic Planning, Proposal Writing, and Monitoring and Evaluation. Training on technical topics includes Concepts of Child Safety, Risk Assessment, and Better Parenting.
Professionals in Social Work, Psychology, Counseling, Community Work, Education, and other fields related to child and family work are among the target groups addressed through the unit’s programs.
2. Consultancies - organizational consultancies are also provided nationally and regionally to family and child related organizations. Organizational consultancies range from consultations on specific areas of the organization’s work, initiating a new service or program and emulating the models and activities of the Child Safety Program to those organizations.
3. Develop New Training Manuals - the service develops tailored training manuals and packages in the areas of child safety, youth empowerment and family dynamics and welfare that meet the requirements of the target groups addressed and the topic at hand. The service benefits from the efforts and outcomes of other JRCSP components, which include awareness, prevention and intervention efforts, hence provide training packages that are based on international best practices, yet tailored to the national scene.
The Service also cooperates with a network of consultants from various professions that are consulted and included in the service efforts to develop training material, hence ensure the quality of its manuals and packages. Partnerships with similar international organizations have also been established. A memorandum of understanding with NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty against Children) in UK, to allow for exchange of knowledge and know-how related to training in the area of child protection and safety.
