Amman- She spent more than 20 years of her life embracing and raising orphaned children and care homes, dedicating herself to raising them, taking care of them and protecting them, after she was destined not to have children, so she has more than 20 children who call her “Mama”.
After retiring from her work in care homes, Somaya Fawaz (50 years) established a house to incubate children from 14-18 years old – the first of its kind in Jordan, she said – and 10 girls and young men currently live with her, 3 of whom live with her in her home regularly. Permanently, they move with her and lead their normal lives within the family, which they have been deprived of since their childhood. Read also Its heroines are the women of the entire castle.. What do you know about the municipal rose picking season in Morocco? These are the richest women in the world in 2021.. What is the nationality of the richest woman? Women’s associations market to them.. Socotra women produce pottery to continue life For the fairness of women’s architecture… Vienna hands over the keys to the women’s district of Siesta
Fawaz manages – according to her talk to Al Jazeera Net – two other rented houses, one of which includes 4 girls between the ages of 16-18, and the second in which 3 young people aged 18 years are staying, who are preparing to take the high school exams in the coming days.
Children of care homes in Jordan are defined as a segment of those who have lost family support, living in care homes affiliated with the Ministry of Social Development or the private sector.
They are of 3 types: a category abandoned by their families as a result of family disintegration, and the abandonment of the husband and wife. A group of unknown parentage was born outside the framework of legal marital relations, and a third group were born as a result of the crime of incest, and children are handed over to care homes, according to specialists.
The most dangerous age
Fawaz describes the stage of young men and girls leaving care homes in the public and private sectors after reaching the age of 18 as “the most dangerous age they go through, especially girls, and leaving them on the street without care, work or protection, which leads them to deviate.”
She tells the painful stories of girls and young men, whose lack of care and protection led them to enter the world of crime and delinquency, and some of them even went to prison or committed suicide.
On the other hand, it tells bright success stories of graduates of care homes who were incubated and taught, until one of them was able to finish his university studies, get a job, get married and form a stable family, and now helps her to spend on the nursery of the children of care homes.
Fawaz’s family (her brothers and sisters) gave her the necessary and real support in her work, so that her incubated sons became relatives of the family, and they were welcomed in family visits and social events, and Fawaz spent on her incubation project from her own money, with the help of her family.
Children live in care homes from the age of one day to 14 years, after which they are transferred to special homes for young people, and others for girls under the care of specialized departments. After they reach the age of 18, everyone leaves for rented apartments where they stay for 6 months.
While they are in the hostels of young men and girls, they are followed up in their daily lessons in government schools, in addition to rehabilitating them with training courses that help them open job opportunities for them, and those who are able to pass the high school exam are provided with teaching opportunities in universities.
Drawing.. Taekwondo.. Cooking
Four years ago, Salma (a pseudonym) lived with Fawaz in her home, after obtaining official approvals to embrace her, telling Al Jazeera Net, “I opened my eyes to life and found myself in care homes, I do not know a mother, father or relatives, all my acquaintances are my brothers in the house and my nanny Somaya”.
When Fawaz left the care home, Salma (18 years) said, “I entered a bad psychological state, and life became black in front of me, because I considered my mother’s toxicity, and everything for me, and I remained in this state until the approval came to embrace me, and I left the young women’s house to Sumaya’s house, To live a beautiful family life.
Salma holds a black belt in taekwondo, and is keen to train to participate in local and Arab tournaments, while preparing for high school exams this year.
On her desk, Fawaz helps her second daughter, Nada (not her real name), with her studies. The daughter says to Al Jazeera Net, “I live with Mama Sumaya a beautiful life, after years of care homes, she helps me in my studies, and I share my worries and joys with her, even on family occasions, I feel that I am among my family, and I do not feel any alienation.”
Nada (17 years) excels in the art of plastic drawing with charcoal and colored pencils. She dreams of becoming a famous plastic artist, and aspires to study fine arts after high school. To develop her talent, Fawaz provided her adopted daughter with the necessary pens and papers, and she watches educational art clips with her.
As for their third sister, she started making her way in life by working in a restaurant, after learning the culinary arts, while Fawaz works to host an elderly woman from a care home, to form an extended family for her incubated children.
girls shelter
In her next plan, Fawaz seeks to prepare the “House of Peace”, which is a shelter for girls leaving care homes and homes for young women, to reside in this house so that it provides them with protection and care, and helps them open the doors to a decent life.
According to the law, the residential children’s care home works to provide the appropriate environment for the child’s development in a safe family environment, in which he enjoys good physical and mental health, to become socially and emotionally qualified and able to learn, in the event that he is not provided with the possibility of living in the care of any member of his original family, or Any suitable alternative beds.