As they sat on the Etihad flight waiting to fly to Jordan, the seven young women from Zayed University felt an understandable mixture of excitement and trepidation.
Carefully chosen from a total of 600 who had volunteered for the trip, they were heading for Murjeeb Al Fuhood, a refugee camp close to the border of Syria and Saudi Arabia and the closest any of them had come to a war zone.
For their families, letting their daughters travel abroad alone, let alone so close to a conflict, was also difficult.
“Before I went, I was extremely worried and scared. My mother too, was worried and said no in the beginning. Only after she had a call from the university and told her we are always going to be with mentors and looked after, that she said yes.” said 21-year-old Al Onoud Al Kendi.
Making sure all went well, were Shamsa Al Taei, the head of the delegation from Zayed University, and Fatheya Al Nathari from the Emirates Red Crescent. It was their job to guide the volunteers duringthe trip, down to the smallest details.
It began at Abu Dhabi International Airport, when the volunteers were issued with vests identifying them as both from the UAE and the Red Crescent. It felt strange at first, the seven volunteers said, to be walking through the airport in their abayas in such a public way, but they soon realised they were ambassadors for their country.
Before flying to Jordan, the students had planned workshops with refugee children to make their lives a little more bearable. Among the activities were puppet shows, henna painting and bracelet weaving. This last activity was popular among all age groups, with even men making bracelets as gifts for their wives and daughters.
Another workshop involved potting up plants that could then be planted around the camp. “It was the vision of Sheikh Zayed to always care about plants,” said Hanan Al Hashemi, 21, and a third-year student. “We wanted to keep something there to remember us with.”
Ms Al Hashemi also helped the refugee children to present a play using puppets. “All the children in the camp were engaged. It put a smile on their faces,” said Ms Al Nathari.
It was the first time, the Red Crescent had taken university students to the camp, she added: “And they did a great job in comforting the children through the workshops.”
Among the refugees were 70 orphans who were celebrated with their own special day. The students helped some of the children express themselves through a drawing workshop.
“Some of the girls drew dolls houses, a watch or a dress,” said Ms Al Hashemi. “A boy drew an iPad.” Working with the children, she said, helped her understand that the camp was not just providing material comforts, but also the support they would get from a family.
As well as refugees, the volunteers met Haadi Al Ka’abi, the camp manager, who they described as a father figure, in part because he took time each morning to play with the refugee children.
They recalled his words at an orientation presentation when they arrived: “Comfort does not come but with tiresome. There is always someone behind you the comfort that you are in. When you help make others happier, happiness will come to you.”
Mr Al Ka’abi also explained the status of most of the Syrian refugees. “They are people who had it all, and one day left their houses, members of the family, degrees, money, homes, and went out looking for survival only with what they are wearing and nothing else.
“They will be sensitive, because people who are not used to being given charity will feel their pride in this situation. Here, we try to be one family. Always be humble, it is a trait of the sons of Zayed,” he told them.
When it was officially opened on May 23 last year by Sheikha Lubna Al Qassimi, the Minister of International Cooperation and Development, Murjeeb Al Fuhood cared for 250 refugees.
Today the camp, which was given an initial budget of Dh37 million, holds about 5,000 refugees, more than half of them children, including infants, orphans and the disabled. In the longer term, it is designed to hold 25,000 people, with the longer term aim of providing employment in several areas, and helping families return to as normal a life as possible.
For the Zayed University students, actually seeing what it was like to be a refugee and learning of the UAE’s role in helping, made much more of an impact than reading about it in a newspaper.
“We could never visualise how the money given by our country is distributed to those in need, “ said Ms Al Hashemi on her return last week. “ It was only when we saw it, in the camp and saw how the children would come to us calling us the daughters of Fatima and Zayed, that we really knew.
“It’s impossible for anyone to come back as they went. It is an experience that would change the way you think and how you will act forever.”
For her own children, she now thinks that their education should be more than just learning to read and write, but also learning about life and humanity through the work of volunteers.
Her impressions are shared by Jawaher Al Za’abi, another volunteer and the only one from Dubai.
“Volunteer work changes a person, it teaches you to give with no limits,” she said. “And that’s part of our religion and a duty to your country.”
Ms Al Za’abi’s mother is Syrian, one of the reasons that inspired her to join them in the trip. “I wanted to help our people,” she says. Seeing the work at the camp also helped her understand the concept of jihad, she said. Not just as someone who fights in war zone, but: “A man who leaves his family back home and lives near a country in crisis, who protects others from death and hunger, he is also jihad.”
Returning to Jordan for the flight home, the group was reminded of the region’s wider problems.
Passing by the Dead Sea, the guide told them to look at a light in the distance. It was the sun gleaming on the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.
There was silence on the bus at the realisation that what seemed so close was also so far away. “It was very strange, the feeling,” said Ms Al Kendi. “I did not imagine it was that near. I wished with all my heart I can pray there, even once.”
“It was so near, but with so many borders,” said Ms Al Hashemi. “We could see it, but we couldn’t reach it.”
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