Benevolent teenager helps Jordan Valley community bring bread to their tables

AMMAN — When Amman Baccalaureate School’s 10th grader Rakan Al Alami was filming a documentary on poverty for a school project, he felt it could have been an easy A when the final product is submitted. But something was not right deep down in his heart. 

His mother and supporter Rasha Al Alami recalled that when Rakan was making his documentary, he felt that showing poverty without providing help did not mean anything, so this was why he decided to expand his school project into something that would add value to humanity. 

In the final outcome, he helped start a bakery in an underprivileged community in the Jordan Valley where the beneficiaries are now working. 

To Rakan, what he did was to teach them fishing rather than giving them a fish.  

The 15-year-old contacted Sharhabeel Bin Hasna Charity that is mainly concerned with helping persons with disabilities to support people of Kraymeh in Northern Shouneh. 

He wanted to give to the beneficiaries and the charity all they need to start a bakery.

“I wanted to find a project to help people in the area, and with the help of my mother I was able to contact the charity," said the student.

Alami collected donations from the public and students to provide kitchen supplies, flour, an oven and all the necessary equipment, and renovate the space provided by the charity, in order to offer the best work environment for the workers, who include women, some of whom are widows struggling to make ends meet.

The plan is to support the bakery for a while until the project can stand on its feet and run on its own.

Rakan and the other donors will be remembered for generations for their distinguished contribution. 

“What Rakan did is distinctive and he deserves to be honoured for his initiative and for the smile he drew on the faces of the charity’s children; you should have seen them”, said Sanaa Al Bakri, a president of Sharhabeel Bin Hasna charity.

According to Bakri, Rakan is the youngest person that made a contribution of such size to the charity that is facing a hard time finding funds to sustain its services. 

“Some children with disability end up dying because of lack of funds, especially since medical care is too expensive” Bakri said.

Bakri stressed that bread prices are going up and Alami’s project came at the  right time, because the charity is surrounded by extreme poverty.  

The proud mother said that due to Rakan’s personal traits as a “tough young man who can almost perfect anything he puts his mind into”, the project went on smoothly with no obstacles. He soon has the potential to do more, she said.

“I’ve always felt like he had something to give to the community and help people,” Rakan’s mother said.

To share his experiences with the world Alami created a page on Facebook under the name “Feed” (feedjordan), but his future ideas go beyond food provision. 

“I want to fix caravan zinc tops in refugee camps and provide medical help for disabled children at Sharhabeel Bin Hasna.”

He is sure that his mother, family, friends and Jordanians at large would be on his side.