Questscope works with the most impoverished families, striving to break the intergenerational transfer of poverty. This is Amjad’s story – the story of a young person rising to the challenges of exclusion, extreme poverty, disability and prejudice.

Amjad lives in Madaba, a town just south of Amman, the capital of Jordan.  The oldest map in the world of Jerusalem (a mosaic) is there.  This tourist attraction creates job opportunities, making the economic situation a lot more optimistic there than in other cities. But not for Amjad.

Before his father passed away, his very limited income had to stretch to cover the needs of his three wives and nine children.  Amjad has a severe speech impediment and no education – so everyone assumed that he couldn’t do much to help his family. His only option to help was to take to the street early in the morning with a box of bubble gum, and wait for sympathetic drivers to roll down their windows and buy gum for a few pennies.  After spending the whole day in the street he would come home with small change to buy some bread for dinner.  

He was constantly mocked and insulted because of his speech defect, and treated like he was mentally deficient.  But his mother knew different.  She believed in him. She understood that he had the biggest heart of anyone in the family, even if he couldn’t express himself. Her relentless persistence made it possible for Amjad to change the course of his life, and break the hopeless cycle of poverty which trapped his family.  

With her encouragement, at age 17 Amjad took a small business loan from Questscope when his father died, hoping to limit the ever-growing debt of the family. He bought clothes and a wooden pushcart that he rolled through the streets selling outfits to his customers instead of bubble gum to random drivers.  He paid off his loan, cleared up his father’s debts and gained the respect of his family and neighbors. 

Now, five years later, Amjad has a job with the municipality of Madaba as a custodian in a public cemetery – full-time employment with decent pay.  He no longer views himself as marginalized, and no one else does, either.  Amjad pays the utilities bill every month, buys groceries, and gives his younger brothers and sisters pocket money.  He even insists on giving ngoot, gifts of money to friends and relatives to celebrate weddings and religious holidays. 

The impact of this small loan from Questscope at a very pivotal time in his life enabled Amjad to become a significant person for his family and in his community.  Now he has other aspirations: he wants to buy a house and a car and get married.  Amjad no longer thinks of himself as marginalized.  He is “in.”  That is the impact we strive for: social inclusion. So that Amjad doesn’t have to accept marginalization as his lot in life.

 Donate today to break the cycle of poverty tomorrow.  Amjad is living proof of that.