Nour Al Barakah Garden

The Nour Al Barakah Garden was opened four years ago in one of the 33 public parks in Amman by a group of mothers of teenagers with disabilities. 

I joined the group soon after it was formed because several of my friends were closely involved in the project, which I admired greatly. 

The park is in Rabiah, and it belongs to the Greater Amman Municipality, and, like a public park anywhere, it is for people to enjoy. 

The organisers of the Nour Al Barakah Club (NAB) contracted to pay rent to the municipality to use a section of this park in order to create a centre for these young adults with intellectual disabilities. 

As part of the agreement NAB first made a garden for them to plant seeds, care for the plants, and watch the miracle of their growth.

Soon, the club built a shed for their tools, created a sandy area as a playing and exercise field, and lastly built a small clubhouse with a meeting area, a simple kitchen and toilets. 

All of this was done at the expense of the club and only in the area that it had rented, leaving the remainder of the park untouched and available for the children and families of the neighbourhood to use. 

Soon, young volunteers from schools in Amman came to the garden to teach these young people games, relays, music, and skills involving some team activities. 

All this gave them a chance to make friends and become physically more active. Most, if not all of these young adults, will never find a job or be able to care for themselves because of their disabilities. 

Whatever skills they might learn through these activities would be of great benefit to them and a huge support for their families. I was thrilled to see the interaction of the mothers who came from different backgrounds and neighbourhoods with their children. 

They shared their experiences as well as lovely snacks and cakes, creating a lively social gathering for all. 

Unfortunately and inexplicably, just before the last public holiday, the municipality decided to upgrade the entire garden without asking the people in the neighbourhood or the NAB club, which is of course a tenant that rents space there. 

Apparently, the municipality’s plan was to build a new playground for small children, but instead of installing it in the existing play area they cemented over the sandy playing field that the group had built, thus rendering it useless. 

In the process the contractor removed fences and the existing playground, thus making the remainder of the garden unsafe and unusable. 

At the moment, the garden is no longer available and closed to the public. All previous activities are suspended except for a few NAB functions that can be held at their clubhouse. 

This decision and subsequent action is shameful and certainly a pity for the young people and their parents who benefited so much from this garden. I hope that the municipality will quickly repair the damage and return the garden to its original condition.

Ann Sawalha,
Amman, Jordan