Azraq Camp: Visit Four
Despite only meeting our crowdfunding target one week before we were set to leave, we returned to Azraq Camp in Jordan six months later in October 2017.
This time we took Gerald Shimidzu and John Rattagan with us as our film crew.
Arriving back at the camp was emotional for everyone. Some felt excitement, others shed a tear. Usually it takes a few days to get things going, so we decided to start with a Chocolate Fountaineering event. It went down pretty well.
The next day we began settling in. Catherine did a knitting workshop with the boys and girls, as well as giving the Pop-Up conversation trolly an outing. Patricio went off to visit Hope Square (2014) and meet volunteers from previous years to set up for work for the next day.
On the third day, the Trolley went out again in search of isolated women in the camp. Meanwhile, lashings of pink paint was being mixed to replace a dusty colourless area in the CARE Compound. In the afternoon, the trolley was used in a cleared out computer lab to create a Women Only Dance Party. It was the first chance many of the women have to dance together in years.
The trolley was then replaced with another method of reaching isolated women, a structured conversation circle, which will eventually become part of CARE’s Outreach programme.
We were also busying trying to convince the two visual artists in the camp to join us in the new mural effort – The Water Cart.
The mural took two days. Upon seeing the finished piece, one of the CARE bosses commented, “That’s really cool! We should have one at CARE…” His colleague was quick to point out that they already did.
We are happy with the way the visit went, and have been asked by CARE Jordan to submit a mini proposal, so that they can include us in their own funding applications. This would be fantastic, and might allow us to return twice a year without the stress of trying to crowdfund our trips.
All films by Gerald Shimidzu.
In partnership with
