Facebook page urges people to donate JD1 to help couples tie the knot

AMMAN — “Donate one Jordanian dinar and help young couples tie the knot!”  This is the slogan of a Facebook campaign that was launched by two young activists on Saturday.

By Monday, the page “Pay a Jordanian dinar to help married couples prepare for their wedding” garnered more than 17,000 followers, according to one of its founders, Alaa Amri.

The 23-year-old mechanical engineering major said he and one of his classmates at the Jordan University of Science and Technology — computer science student Dina Nakchbandi, 21— came up with the idea as part “of our duty to serve our society”.

“The idea behind the page and our campaign is to help men who want to get married but cannot afford the expenses to tie the knot without having to worry about the heavy burdens,” Amri told The Jordan Times.

He said the page asks its followers to press like and “by pressing like, people morally agree to pay at least one Jordanian dinar to help couples who want to tie the knot”.

The Facebook page addresses its visitors in a colloquial language explaining its aim and urging people to donate money “to ease financial burdens on men who want to start a family”.

“We are seeing moral deterioration in our society because people are not getting married and we are hoping that our campaign will help people get married instead of engaging in immoral relationships,” Amri claimed.

At the same time, he added, marriage expenses are high and many families ask for expensive weddings and high dowries.

“We want to reach out to families and convince them that high marriage expenses are pushing people away from tying the knot,” Amri explained.

He added that 100 individual have already contacted him “via the Facebook page to volunteer in the campaign”.

“We have already formed taskforces to visit universities and raise awareness about our campaign, and once we start receiving money we will have a committee that will examine cases and help marriage bidders according to their needs,” Amri explained.

The link to the page on Facebook is https://www.facebook.com/events/821591224615225/.