Fighting Stereotypes and Culture to Gain Resilience
The ACCTS Irbid community Center (ICC) had the pleasure to graduate ladies from different backgrounds who finished the basic engineering training, offered at the center.
29th March 2018
Irbid, Jordan (ACCTS/AWT)- ACCTS Irbid Community Center celebrated the graduation of ten ladies who decided to challenge the shame culture and join the plumbing & electricity training which started on January 9th until March 29th. This program aims to equip beneficiaries with basic engineering skills such as sewage, water, and basic electrical maintenance. This should minimize their need to seek and commission external vendors and service providers to conduct relevant basic maintenance works at their houses, which in return supports their resilience as they can save some money to secure some other basic needs.
The participants were brave and courageous to confront stereotypes and culture. It was very much encouraging to witness the determination, and their assurance that nothing can stop them from learning to do what men can do. They surely deserved to be celebrated and by the end of the ceremony, they received their certificates along with a lovely gift.
For a lot of the participants, coming to the trainings is a lot more than just learning a new skill, it’s a hiding place. Enas; a beneficiary of the plumbing training, found out on March 27th that her twenty-five-year-old son has a big mass on his brain. On the same date, her pregnant daughter had an electric shock. After hearing such bad news, her father got a heart attack. Thus three of them were admitted to hospital. On the next day, we were surprised to see Enas coming to the center in bad mood. The manager of the center talked to her about the family situation, and she said, "The community center is the best place for me to spend time in times like this; it is the place where I feel comfortable."
All of us in the center were touched deeply by her note for two reasons: Firstly because of the severe situation she suffered, and secondly it made us feel that ICC has such a great impact on people. It is much more than a training center, and we hope and will work to make it stay that way.
