Children who have lost one or more parent are receiving financial support through new e-cards.
Children sponsored in Jordan by Islamic Relief’s One-to-One Orphan Sponsorship Programme used to receive regular cheque payments to cover their food, education and health needs. Now, this has been updated.
The One-to-One Orphan Sponsorship Programme is one of Islamic Relief’s longest running programmes, and has been running since 1997. The total number of the sponsored orphans in Jordan is 1,187*.
To speed up the process and make the mechanisms around financial support smoother, the cheque payments have now been replaced with e-cards.
“Feeling blessed”
Fatma, 37, from Baqa’a Camp in Jordan, looks after her niece Razan. She said: “Islamic Relief Jordan has been sponsoring Razan since the year 2000. We used to receive EUR 114 every three months. This financial aid helped Razan finish her high school and secure her needs, like clothing, and stationery. Without your aid, Razan wouldn’t be able to make it, and the e-cards definitely make a difference.”
Razan, 17, said: “I feel blessed and cared for. Finally I have finished high school. I need a life with dignity.”
Each person received an e-card with the relevant value, dependent on the number of sponsored people in the family.
Olivia Paras, orphans and child welfare programme manager for Islamic Relief Jordan, said: “Any authorised mature person can use the e-card on behalf of the guardian. It can also be used in any bank. The guardian can withdraw money and keep the rest in his or her bank account, giving them much more flexibility. More than 611 families have benefitted from the switch.”
The e-cards were distributed in Baqa’a refugee camp. Registered in 1968, it is the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan, with some 100,000 refugees registered there.
*Accurate as at November 2015