Her name means Hope. But “Hopeless” is a much better description of how Amal feels about her world.

“Screams all night. Yelling all day. Neighbors complaining all the time. I don’t blame them,” says Amal, “for griping about the trouble we make in the neighborhood.”

Amal lives in a two-room house with twelve other people spanning three generations of her family. In the refugee camp in Jordan where she was born, 40,000 other Palestinians, originally from Gaza, live in similar circumstances. Thousands of the camp’s residents, like Amal, have been born and raised there without ever having seen Gaza. Because of their refugee status they cannot legally work, buy property, or vote. Jordan is not their home. But neither is Palestine. They are the children of nowhere, living in houses far from home. But they “remember” Gaza.  They want to go home.

For Amal, being a refugee is only the beginning. At home, she is caught up in a perfect storm of emotional and physical violence.  She and her sisters are regularly beaten. Amal says that she reacts by beating her sisters in return.  She only stops hitting them, she says, when she sees blood.  She knows this isn’t right, but she doesn’t feel able to stop. The very language of her life is violence.

This year, Questscope was able to get to know Amal because of friends like you. 

Amal had dropped out of school to harvest crops at a low wage to help feed her family. Then she heard about a non-formal education (NFE) class in her neighborhood. NFE seemed to Amal like a good way to escape from her house for a few hours each week. But it turned into so much more. 

Her mentor/teacher befriended her. She listened to her story. She learned about her pain, her anger, and the scars she bears. This little NFE circle of learning became a safe place for Amal. From this beginning she can now be guided to the counseling and other assistance she needs to overcome the effects of the emotional and physical violence she has grown up with. For Amal, and hundreds like her, Questscope isn’t one option for a second chance––Questscope may be their only chance.

Amal's NFE classroom was the first step. Education isn't the whole answer for Amal – but it is the first open door into her life. From there, we can refer her to other critical help she needs. And we can sustain advocacy for her so she is not lost in government bureaucracy. But none of this will happen if we can't keep the educational door open for her.

If ever there was a time for friends like you to step into the gap and contribute to solutions for Amal and others like her, it is now. As we approach the end of the year and consider her future, we can't afford to lose a single minute––and neither can Amal.

Life in the Gaza camp is far worse than any of us can begin to imagine. For Amal and other girls in families like hers, life is a constant struggle to survive. It looks like there is no end in sight. But… there is hope if we have the resources to make a difference for her and for them.

Please consider giving your most generous gift to keep Amal and hundreds like her in education. Her name means hope. Let's give her the chance to live it. Click here to give.