While tens of thousands of Syrian refugees are living in camps across Jordan, the reality is that hundreds of thousands more are struggling outside of camps in urban settings.
With an estimated 80 per cent of Jordan’s 600,000 refugees living outside of these camps, it’s difficult for aid organizations to keep track of the health and well-being of many of the families that have been displaced by war.
In Ajloun, Jordan, 36-year-old Rayal lives with her young children. They left Syria more than a year ago.
Before the war she worked as a nurse while her children attended private school. That changed, she says, when her husband was killed.
It’s estimated that nearly every Syrian refugee living off camp in Jordan are below the poverty line, which equates to surviving on about $4 a day.
Rayal is among those struggling to get by. She receives some money from the U.N., but not enough to cover rent and food for her family, she says. It’s at the point where she can’t afford to send all of her children to school.
Dennis Brown, a Canadian working for World Vision, says this type of story is all too common.
“When the money runs out and they have to move, let’s say because they can't make their rent, education is one of the last things on the mind of the family,” he says.
Helping families like this keep children in school, however, is one of his organization’s top priorities, he says.
“We have a program for them to get them to fast-track to try to get them back to where they should be.”
Right now, Rayal’s two daughters are still in school, and Rayal says she hopes to find a job to help support her family. She also says she’s interested in learning more Canada’s resettlement program.
“I want to thank Canada,” she says, “because they have opened the door for Syrians.”
Rayal hasn’t formally applied to move to Canada, though. A new life elsewhere, she says, is just a dream right now as her and her family focus on surviving each day.
