Wadi Rum and Petra

Wadi Rum and the desert voyage was a wonderful experience. Then Petra. We had a full day with the Environmental Director of Petra named Majed. We met him to discuss the area in a cane like restaurant the night before for cappuccino. The next day we started at Petra at 7:00 am, and were made aware of this complex water system conveyance system, flood advanced warning system, and sacred weather station. Going with Majed made the place come alive. I did lose my camera with everything on it in the womens bathroom; some Japanese tourists looked at the pictures and found Clara to return it. I was panicking!

In the afternoon we went to Little Petra and looked at large water storage systems. then a wonderful walk at Wadi Musa, looking at a wonderful hima and restoration site. We walked down a drainage very incised and head cut. The agricultural part, of winsome ancient dancing olive trees, grapes, figs, pomegranate, prunes, apricot and apple trees. Beautiful riparian patches with willows. Birds singing everywhere He had his colleague bring us tea as we sat peacefully in the grass under the trees, listening for the athan singing prayers, looking out at the sunset over Petra. One hillside was deforested and eroding drastically, the other vegetated with agricultural and wild vegetation, and was whole.

Some Syrians had some green finches on a string to call in other finches, cage them, and sell them for 30 dinar ($40). This was illegal and they were busted!

Such a nice day,  learned so much about this ancient water system. Ended the evening with Petra by night. At 8:30 walked in the luminaria lined stone path through the narrow canyon, ending at the Market. There were over 500 flickering luminarias. First we heard a traditional stringed instrument, then a flute. A story teller told us about the area as we sipped tea, then out the canyon. The full moon was rising, so beautiful and soft and cheerful. What a magical day. I am so grateful for the wisdom from Majed, and hospitality. People who are so inspired make my heart happy, and these beautiful caring people are all over the world. It gives me hope. Below are images from Wadi Rum

Summer Solstice at Aquba

This morning we did our last walk to say good- bye to Azraq wetlands. The four watch geese at the Bedouin home by the reserve have come closer every morning as we walk by. This morning their confidence had built to a peak and they were ready for an ass kickin. The middle white goose rushed out at us, and they all honked wildly. It's lucky we are leaving, because tomorrow we'd have goose beaks firmly gripping our butts. One great outcome of our visit is building the goose self  esteem - they'll be talking about their prowess for a long time to come.

We said goodbye to our friends this morning, and Sharrif gave us a ride to Al Zarqa to catch the bus to Aquaba. It was a long cramped loud ride. We were so glad to get to our wonderful hotel.

I have had many interesting discussions about how Jordanians perceive the refugees and the Arab Spring. They liked the Iraqi refugees; they were upper class, knew they would only be there for a short while, and felt grateful to Jordan for taking them in. I have heard several Jordanians who feel Saddam Hussein was a great leader, not understanding how much suffering his regime caused to the people in the south and north of Iraq - 2/3 of the population. Destabilization of the Iraqi government has certainly created a whole new level of suffering, economic and security downturns, and heavy losses. I am concerned it is getting too dangerous to go back in October, and I feel so sad at the violence that is erupting every day. A bombing occurred in a popular restaurant in Baghdad recently.
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I have heard Jordanians say there is no Arab Spring, and that America is behind the unrest. Even in Tunisia and Egypt. It's disturbing to realize how deeply disliked Americans are throughout the Middle East, not us as individuals but the government as a whole.  The perception is vey damaging to us as a nation, to our credibility, and to bringing peace into the world. For Jordan, being a friend of America hurts them with other Arabic countries.

Another thing iI learned is that Jrdanians are very apprehensive about the Syrians coming into the refugee camps. There is concern that the uprooted are middle clas, that they feel entitled to certain treatment, and there may be unrest in the camps creating dangerous conditions for people working there. Many Jordanians will only work in the headquarters of the NGO's, not the open camps.

Chechen breakfast and Ansel Castle

This morning I woke up at first light and walked to the wetlands. There are lots of kitties here, and they have mites on their noses, and underfed, unhealthy and prolific. If my friend Mary were here, she would commission one of those big cargo planes, load up all the kitties, and take them back to the U.S. for veterinary care and love.

The gate to the wetland reserve was locked, so I walked out into the desert behind the reserve to get a sense of how big it was, and what it looks like from behind. This is a virid, vital postage stamp wetland where once it stretched for miles and miles. Its like the pulse on your neck; one spot on the whole body, and the pulse for the whole system.

The four big sacred springs are gone. Water is pumped into the reserve, with the people of Azraq first. They only get water three days per week, and usually the water doesn't arrive on time. People wait to take showers, wash clothes, wash their hair. The reserve comes last, but today the water is flowing out of the pipes, and the wetland is a virid green oasis.There are many layers and colors of vegetation; the tamarisk trees, Phragmites taller then the trees, and the reeds and cattails in rounded clumps around the water. As I walk to the edge of the reserve, the piles of sediment dredged from the bottom on the pools is stacked with roots/ rhizomes of Phragmites and Typha. Inside the pools agtails dip and bob, herons and egrets reflect and ripple in the water. White egrets perch in the Tamarisk, and a stilt cries out and flies across the pool. So small, so fragile, so precious.

Hazem, the refuge manager, has gone out of his way to take Clara and I to meet people and to teach us all he can about the Azraq aquifer, the fight for the wetlands, and the needs of the Azraq people. Azraq means blue. The remaining water, the remaining wetland, is a treasure - like the blue diamond in my wedding ring. Surrounded by gold, the gold of the Chechen, Druze and Bedouin communities. Over this past week, we have been invited to homes of leaders of each of these community groups, and people have been so generous with their time and knowledge. We sit in their guest rooms, drink coffee, drink sweet tea, have some fruit. We spend hours talking, listening, and laughing, making new friends. Something that never happens in my academic environment - people never, ever have the time to sit and visit, to talk and listen to each other. Too busy to listen, to share.

Today we went out to a local farm. Olives, pomegranates in bloom, date trees with a spray of new dates, apricots. He also has a big house for  doves to come and go, pipe shelters for turkeys,and a hutch for bunnies. We sat and talked outside, the cool breeze under the trees a perfect temperature. A small dog, underfed and unhealthy, scurried by while we sat talking. It hurried out of site, not to appear again.  This farm, like the wetland, also a treasure and an oasis in the midst of this drying, desertifying landscape. No water. Amman has the water, water pirates have the water, and so little remains for the people.

As I write this, the refugee camp continues to be build for 450,000 to 600,000 people. They will have two wells for all those people, and plan to truck out the waste. International humanitarian organizations are providing funds for relief, and soon the refugees will be coming to this hot tent city in the middle of a very barren and bleak landscape . A military base is close to the future refugee camp, and that is where the American and Jordanian miliray are exercising "fierce lion" where they are doing miliatary exercises here on the syrian border.

Many of the first refugees from Syria, as well as from Iraq, are or were rich. They buy property and drive up the price of housing and services. While there will be some jobs in the refugee camp, some people will be able to bribe there way out and move to Azraq and will need jobs. The communities of Azraq fear they will take local jobs, which are few and far between. The unemployment in this area is extremely high after the salt cooperative closed. Unrest on the border has affected tourism and eco-tourism to the area. Water only is delivered three days per week, and limited opportunitiespccur in this rural area for making a livelihood. People tell me they have to buy everything, they can't have their animals graze, and fish and hunt and create a subsistence livelihood like they did before.

Azraq is a wonderful community. We've been treated with such hospitality, and met such interesting people. This wetland, these birds and wildlife, these farms and agriculture sustain the community. Above all, the community needs water. I've been touched deeply, been privileged to learn a great deal from these generous people. I don't think I'll be the same leaving here as when I arrived.

These war planes fly low and fast and loud over the town. The American and Jordanian pilots play boys with their toys, showing off their prowess. This military precense is not who I want to be as an American, this is not how I want to be perceived by people in this country that is one of our few friends in the region . Salam aleikum, peace be to you, peace be to the people of this town Azraq, and peace be to all the animals and plants and living things trying to survive without water.

Shaumary Wildlife Refuge

We drove out to Shumari wildlife refuge, looking forward to seeing the oryx and wildlife. We stopped to look at a reservoir for water storage, and I was focused on the drying clay. Large cracks formed large cracks in the clay, and the soils were a gray blue gleyed color; Iwas in my head thinking of hydric soils and was this montmorillonite? Then a huge boom crashed the air, causing me to jump, and I looked up to see military manuuvers doing bombing runs. F-16 planes, high up almost invisible and screaming in, dropped bombs precisely on their targets. The American military is doing military exercises with the Jordanian military. They are showing their presence, here only about 100 miles from Syria, 130 miles from Iraq, 30 miles from Saudi Arabia. Whats the point? A no fly zone over Syria? Flexing muscles, beating chests? How much does every bomb cost?

At the wildlife refuge, the animals here for captive breeding were nervous at the bombing in near proximity. Not because they were close enough to do damage, but because of the fear because of the loud percussive noice. I think of how much my poor dog is so scared of fire works.  The birds were really scared. We stood on the tall tower, about 40 feet above the growd, talked to the biologist, watching  the endangered Arabian oryx, wild ass, and sand gazelle. The Oryx were bred in captive breeding in the Phoenix zoo, then returned to Shaumari. The reserve was established around 1975, and the enclosures built in 1978. The conservation biologists are testing DNA on the animals, and are careful to breed with other genetic strains to make sure there is genetic diversity among the herd. Right now they have 46 Oryx, 30 Gazelle and 22 Onyger (wild ass).

Oryx were introduced successfully in Oman, but efficient and brutal poaching almost eliminated them. The reserve was pulled from the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.

The reserve should have a visitors center open for local to be developed near the administration building within 2 years. They also plan a Safari Project with safari vehicles on a 7 km trail. 

There are 15 gazelle from Syria and 20 from Saudi Arabia.  Apparently, this is a point of recovery of some very endangered species. However, these bombs going off so close don't make anything feel safe. An impending uncertainty settles like dust.

Azraq, Water In The Desert: 15 June 2013

         At a confluence of mighty highways that link Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia in Jordan's great Eastern Desert, lies a small dusty oasis town. Al Azraq was the gathering place for mighty caravans on their way from the Gulf states and weary bands of Bedouin watering their thirsty herds in the shimmering sun. Today, greasy mechanic shops service long haul trucks pounding their way through the sand and asphalt, and the camels are relegated to the few Bedouin tents on the outskirts of town. Azraq as an oasis town is long gone...and today even the water is going away.
         Azraq sits on a mighty aquifer that lies underneath the desert, the oasis, a huge wetland full of birds, fish and plant species was once over 12000 km in area. European explorers had surveyed the site and determined that it was exceptional in quality and importance to migrating birds and mammals. They began a reserve to protect it. But far to the west, the ancient city of Amman was expanding. One of the oldest settled cities, Amman was becoming a burgeoning metropolis. Its new population needed water, and the eyes of the government settled on the aquifers of Azraq to the east. Pumping stations were placed around Azraq in the 1980s, and the drawing down of the mighty Azraq aquifer began.The end for the oasis was not long in coming, by 1993, the huge wetland was dry, and the birds and animals came no more to its shores.
        But the natural ecosystems were not alone in their suffering, the local populations of Druze, Chechen and settling Bedouin began to feel the effects of the dropping water table. Wells dried up, and the city began to be rationed water, six days a week, five, four and finally three. Wealthy and promiment former government officials dug illegal wells along with some of the locals to feed their farms. The remaining few acres of wetland, hastily saved from complete dessication in the late 1990s, were rationed water as well. Outside the tiny remnant of marsh, huge dead clumps of reeds and phragmites remain as stark tombstones to what once was.
      Today, the water returns for the first time in three days, there is quiet celebration, but nothing spectacular, hair is washed, laundry is done, and storage barrels filled, here, no one knows when the water will go off again. Across town the manager of the little wetland turns the big valve, and the soft noise of running water tinkles among the reeds in the dry desert air.

Arrival at Azrak Wetlands Reserve, June 14, 2013

We woke up at 4:30 am and walked in first light down to the Azraq wetlands. The guard let us in the gate. There is a boardwalk, and eleven water buffaloes were happily grazing on the Phragmites.The guard moved them off the trail, for our safety. We took pictures of the light glowing on the reeds and the water.  Really a peaceful place, lots of birds.

In 1978, Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature established Azraq WetlandsReserve to conserve the uniquely precious oasis located in the heart of Jordan’s eastern desert, between a limestone desert in the west and a basalt desert in the east. It is distinguished by lush marshland and natural springs forming sparkling pools, giving Azraq its name, which is the Arabic word for ‘blue’.

Citation: The Azraq Wetland Reserve web site. "In 1977, Azraq was declared a Ramsar Wetland of International Significance. Tragically, the wetland has suffered an environmental disaster because of overuse of water from the Azraq Basin aquifer. Due to excessive pumping of water from the oasis to large urban areas, particulalry Amman, and the illegal drilling of artesian wells for agricultural purposes, water levels have steadily dropped over the course of 50 years. These high levels of water extraction resulted in the extreme depletion of this natural oasis, drying up massive areas of invaluable wetland equaling over 25 km2. In 1992 the four  springs which were feeding the wetland had dried out and the water table reached a depth of 12 meters below ground level. The water body that used to be a thriving ecological hotspot has dwindled alarmingly to cover 0.04 % of the area it used to cover in the past; the effects of which can be clearly seen in declining numbers of birds stopping over in Azraq wetland on their migratory route." In 1994, RSCN and international agencies managed to obtain enough water to restore depleted water levels by 10 percent. So far, this target has not been achieved due to continued water pumping, lack of manpower, and a lack of experience in wetland management. However, thanks to RSCN's efforts, many birds for which Azraq was once renowned for are coming back, and special boardwalks and bird hides have been constructed to enable visitors to observe and enjoy them.

The wetland provides a natural habitat for numerous aquatic and terrestrial species, including the Azraq Killifish Aphanius sirhani, the only true endemic vertebrate species of Jordan. Due to the degradation of the species native habitat, the killifish is a critically endangered species as identified by the World Conservation Union IUCN. A captive breeding project was initiated, and kilifish have returned to the pools. their numbers greatly increased in their natural habitat. 

We met Hazen y. Al-Hreisha, the Azrak Refuge Manager. He has been so kind, and is helping to organize our interviews and research. He helped us contact local people to interview about their community based conservation program, representing the local Chechen, Druze and Bedouin cultural groups in Azraq. I hope to determine how they relate to the wetland both from the time when the wetland was whole, to its current degraded condition.

Part 2 - Sharbil bin Hassneh EcoPark

The EcoPark was an amazing experience. We drove into the lodge area, and sat in the shade and we retailed with a symphony of bird song. Our wonderful guide, Adnan Budleri, is the Assistant Director of Research and Development with th EcoPark. I wish I had written down all the birds we saw - little owl, cattle egret, swifts, European bee eater, blue tit, black legged stilt, house sparrows, kingfisher, blackbirds, spear winged plover, dead sea sparrow, little grebe, and lots more. The trees were alive and flutering and singing with birds.This is particularly significant in that the landscape all around us was dry annual grasses.

Unfortunately, Jordan has lost most of its forests and a lot of its really cool wildlife. Trees were cut by the Romans, the Ottoman empire, damaged from overgrzazing and charcoal production for hubbly buubly hookah pipes. Less than 1% of the forests remain. The Royal Botanic Garden and EcoPark are restoring the 1 percent of the remaining forests. There are pines, oak (Quercus cathercanthus), White acacia (Acacia albudure), figs, funeral cypress, and Arabic acacia, They used to have roe deer, wild goats, mountain gazelle, ibex, cheetah, desert gazelle, leopard, lions, Syrian gazelle, lions.

We had a wonderful time and saw a lot of the northwestern side of Jordan. We got to the Ibis at 3:00 pm, met our drive from the Azraq Wetlands Reserve, and drove east to Azraq, about a two hour drive. The highway is a major conduit between Jordan, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. Trasport of petrol comes through these roads, among other commodities. Clara says driving through Iraq in convey with petrol trucks is very dangerous, and they often hit a bomb or are boarded and the gas stolen. The long and short is that the drive scared the pucky out of me because of fast traffic passing frequently frequently with no passing lanes and big trucks. One truck had fluffy wool in it, and I didn't look closely. It turned out to be dead sheep and a cow, except I didn't look. It's not emblazened on my brain.

We drove by the huge Mrajeeb Al Fhood refugee camp preparations on the way to Azraq. The area is 84 hectares in size.  They plan to bring 450,000 to 600,000 people to the camp within two months. The area is  flat black rock desert, no vegetation at this time of year, no trees, no water, and blazing hot in August. We presumed the refugees would be Syrian; however, in Azraq rumors circulate that it could be Palestinian (probably a rumor). The size and scale of this huge area as far as the eye can see, heavy equipment moving sand and gravel for the flat pads for tents, was really sad. It weighs on me. It leant a heaviness to my dreams. So much suffering. The camp is near a military base. US transport planes are landing with materials for the refugee camp, evidentally U.S. aid. One man was doing his prayers while the big equipment moved around him. I think we all need to do our  prayers. No one knows how long the refugees will be here, where the water will come from, whether the wastewater will contaminate the limited groundwater aquifer, will there be health care, education or any hope of earning a livelihood? The war in Syria is fully engaged, with no good guys, pawns by other countries supplying weapons, and just unspeakable tragic suffering. War literally is hll.

Sharhabil bin Hassneh EcoPark June 13

June 13, 2013 Western Jordan with Adnan Budieri, Friends of the Earth Middle East

We went on a tour to the Jordan River on the western Jordan Valley on the border with Israel and Palestine. We claimed up circuitous mountain west from Amman, then down into the Jordan Valley. The hillsides are badly overgrazed. This spring was a good water year, yet the slopes were largely denuded of vegetation. Animal trails could be seen throughout the steep slopes, with rills and erosion tracking down the mountainside. The headwaters of watersheds became deeply incised and head cutting occurred throughout the drainages.

The Jordan Valley is part of the Great Rift Valley, stretching all the way from Turkey to Africa. As we descended from the mountains, the air was a shimmery blue haze and we could see down to the meandering green pattern of the river, the fertile valley bottom, and the border of so much conflict in the world. This is the place so many stories we read as children in Sunday school, and this is the place I imagined. It's amazing that Jesus was here in this valley, where he was baptized, a Dave he hid in. Adnan pointed out the plant "Crown of Thorns (Ziziphus spinachristi) that was put around Jesus head.

Olives are called poor mans agriculture. They grow without irrigation;farmers dig a trough around them to collect spring rainwater, then leave them to grow and produce. The lower slopes have olives trees, the upper have sparse individual trees. The forest were once Cypress Pine (with bigger nuts) and Aleppo Pine (Pinus halogensis). Things that are native and growing wild on the hillsides include carob, pistachio, fig, grapes, and castor oil plant.

The Jordan River flow has been reduced from 1.3 billion cubic meters per year to less than 70 million cubic meters per year.  Since much of the are is a closed military zone, the reduced flows and poor quality water are not readily noticed and complained about by the public. Due to regional instability I
I'm thinking there are not agreements on allocation of water, and that the river will continue to have flow reductions.
The Eco park is a paradise.

Day 2 WANA Forum

June 12 Day 2 WANA Forum
A key objective of the WANA Forum is the DeLeon guiding principles. Several key issues were pointed out that lead to displacement of people within the region. 1) The dynamics of the market displace many people and put them in the ranks of the excluded, such as replacing subsistence food production with global production of coffee, tea, cacao, etc. .2) A permanent fund needs be created to help countries dealing with a sudden crises of people. 3) Deal with the route of the problem -lack of access to resources, inadequate access to health and education, inadequate access to financial wherewithal to make a livelihood and participle in the democratic process.4) Account for environmental functions and services degraded by influx of people, especially water supply, waste disposal, and degradation of biodiversity and habitat. 5) Coordinate development led strategies to integrate refugee impacts and growth potential to stimulate the economy.
The WANA Forum stresses "what is important:to seek out opportunities to hear what the silenced majority have to say." As Peter Sutherland, Special Representative to the UN Secretary General on Migration and Development synthesized the three questions on Netherlands agenda, commitment to resolving rather than financing the extension of displacement; establishment of a regional bank for reconstruction and development; and the setting up of a knowledge and sharing platform.

Draft guiding principles with two principles:
A) alleviate human suffering while ensuring and sustaining the dignity of both the uprooted people and host countries;
B) Establish a framework of regional cooperation and mutually assured human security underpinned by a Social Charter and a Regional ECOSOC Charter

The guiding principles should be based on the four pillars of post-conflict reconstruction and
recovery, social cohesion, the environment, and green economy.

Ideas from the conference draft guiding principles: 1) develop macro and micro economic development strategies and approaches. the idea is to reframe humanitarian crises. As development opportunities -attempt to minimize burdens the uprooted may have on host countries though positive and sustainable contributions that they may make to the local and national economy may be maximized. 2) Develop strategies for the internally displaced people or immigrants to provide housing, land, food, potable water, and waste management; end urban violence against the uprooted; provide access to health care, education, and an opportunity to make a livelihood 3) Water. promoting regional water management and resource cooperation in the context of climate change is key to mitigating conflict, preventing uprooting and responding to the impacts of displacement where this occurs. These objections can be secured by enhancing regional and national policies for adaptation, resilience and governance through a regional knowledge knowledge base side by side with grassroots mobilization.

Day 1 WANA Forum

June 11 Opening day of the WANA Forum. We all had the great honor of meeting His Royal Highness Prince Hassan bin Talal. The honor is for the deep thoughtful and brilliant comments on building a pluralistic and mutually respectful society.
The names for "immigrants" at the forum was " the uprooted," distinguishing between Internally Displaced People, such as the Marsh Arabs in Iraq, and people dispossessed by war, lack of environmental resources, dams, and other catastrophes.  There are  20 million displaced people in the world, and the majority are women and children. HRH called for a "more just world" by eliminating: 1) inequitable distribution of assets; 2)Enhancing the capacity of the poor to generate assets by building capacity, enabling and empowering them;  3) eliminating unequal distribtion of markets, inability to get credit or startup capital; and  4) Unjust lack of access to education.and health care. Delightfully, HRH ended his talk quoting  Kung Fu Panda "Yesterday is history. tomorrow is mystery. Today is a present, that's why we call it a gift."
Today we learned about the 1,600,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq, and 8,000 pour across the borders of Jordan every day. There are also 160,000 Palestinian refugees in Jordan. By keeping their borders open to refugees, the host countries like Jordan are providing an incredible international service.
"The pillars of faith are an important part of the solution, we need to "to feed the uprooted our of love for the prisoners of war." said Dr. Hang el Benna, of the Humanitarian Forum
Andrew Harper, UNHCR, discussed the problem all countries are concerned about, which is the potential security threat of the uprooted. the young men without potential for education or earning a livelihood are vulnerable to radicalization. Also, the sovereignty, stability and provision of social services tax the host country.
Forum members in the workshop at the end of the day provided written reccomendations for solutions to some of these obstacles. A major initiative is to include protection of refugees in the Millineum Development Goals and present our reccomendations to the G20 summit in October 2013 

Arrival in Jordan at WANA Forum

Clara Crossman and I arrived at the Ibis Hotel at 4:00 am June 8. 28 hours in transit, and all flight connections delayed and re routed. It took five hours to get out of Sacramento. Tomorrow we are attending the West Asia North Africa Region (WANA) Forum on Achieving the Human Dignity of the Uprooted. Jordan provides a refuge for environmental refugees, with hundreds of thousands poring in from Syria and in the last two months from Iraq.  We will collectively learn about the existing situation and develop guiding principles based on the Social Charter of the WANA Forum. This will be fascinating based on the US forum on immigration. Tuesday we will talk about the HIMA approach of the WANA Forum, by which they mean Human IntegratedManagement Approach. Tuesday the forum will focus more on the HIMA approach, led by my esteemed colleague Dr. Walid Salem, Director of the Centre for Democracy and Community Development. I hope to collaborate with him about establishing a MOC with the United Nations University and CSUS. I want to establish  a HIMA Center for the CSU Sacramento.

We plan to visit the Azraq Wetlands from June 13-20. these wetlands are the prefect analogue for Iraq, with somewhat similar problems. A influx of refugees, the dispossessed, suffering similar to problems of Marsh Arabs. Water withdrawals, in Jordan by powerful agricultural interests (similar to California), and oil companies in Iraq. We will be testing  a wetlands rapid assessment methodology in the Azraq wetlands, similar to the California Rapid Assessment Method (CRAM) modified for Jordan and California. With the water withdrawals and desiccation in the wetlands, wetland assessment may also be very beneficial to conservation of Jordanian wetlands.

Today we met today with Maen-Ed Al Smadi, the reserves manager for Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature in Jordan. There may be opportunities for research collaboration and publications here in Jordan. With increasing insecurity in Iraq, and fascinating opportunities in iJordan, there are likely to be future opportunities here. We also plan to talk to members of the women's operatives and did out more about sustainable development opportunities for women, families and children.

See our new page; "HIMA Mesopotamia Jordan Trip" for updates about HIMA's trip to Jordan on June 07-27, 2013!