Beautiful encounters
The Carpenters’ Son Foundation board members Fred Doeze Jager and René Kolsters, together with his son Thomas, travelled to Jordan at the end of June 2021 to meet people from the foundation’s network, and to make an inventory of potential projects. Below you will find the third part of their travel report.
“While Brother Andrew was working at the Holy Land Institute for the Deaf (HLID), he worked with Khadidjeh for many years. She used to be head of the department for deafblind people for 12 years. We met in Salt. She received us, together with her brother, in a fully Arabic style with coffee and typical Arabic habits. When we were ready to start the conversation, we were surprised by a beautiful dinner, single handedly prepared by her mother, using only fresh ingredients. Eating chicken without plates and cutlery proved to be a serious challenge.
Khadidjeh currently mostly works with the mentally retarded, but she eagerly would like to help deafblind people. She has ideas about that, but she could use help realising these.
We had a fruitful conversation and we even played music on the Jordan ‘ood’ (a kind of lute).
Personal assistent
From Salt, we continued our journey to Zarqa, where we met Majd. He owns a family house over there. His father used to be a pastor and one of Brother Andrew’s friends.
Majd’s father once migrated with his family to the United States. But Majd came back to Jordan two years ago. He met Brother Andrew, whom he has known since childhood, and supported his activities as a personal assistant. Majd learned a lot about the working areas in which Brother Andrew used to be active.
Majd and Brother Andrew were preparing the renovation of an old building in Salt that belongs to a church. While standing on an old balcony, the structure collapsed and they both fell down. Majd was severely injured. Brother Andrew was in even worse condition, unable to catch his breath, and died shortly afterwards in hospital.
The Carpenter’s Son foundation offered Majd a one time financial compensation, while he recovered from the accident. Majd is now recovering, although his back and limbs still hurt. Brother Andrew has taught him many things. He would like to continue Brother Andrew’s activities as much as he can.
More conversations will follow in the coming days. Piece by piece, we can picture the options for new projects. The Carpenter’s Son board members will discuss these options in the coming weeks, and we will keep you informed.”
“Piece by piece, we can picture the options for new projects.”