Day 8: Fun Day & Passing Out Remaining Food Parcels

The last day at Al-Azraq was what the whole week was leading up to. The opening of the school and Funday with the children was to be held that day. The day started off at the HFA center with the loading of all the school supplies bought earlier in the week. We drove out to the location where our school was built and started to roll out the carpet, build the tables, and set up the chairs and banner. While working on the school, children slowly...

Day 6 & 7

Day 6: Food Parcel Distribution 3/16/16 Today we were supposed to distribute 200 food parcels to the Syrian refugees with another 50 to be dispersed by Humanitarian Family Aid (HFA). We went to the supermarket which was providing us with the food parcels. When we arrived at 8AM we discovered that the driver for the truck we were taking had still not arrived. After a half hour of waiting, we were really worried because we still had no word on...

Day 5: Water Tank Distribution!

3/15/16 Last night our team decided to leave earlier than usual, at 6:30AM today, since we had 25 water tanks to distribute. The tanks are large and we were unsure as to how long it would take to set each of them up. In addition to this, we were unsure how distant each family was from one another and we wanted to be able to reach all of the families and set up a water tank for each group while there was still light outside. After we met with...

Day 3 & 4: Family Interviews

Day Three 3/13/16 Today, it took us two hours to get from Amman to the Al-Azraq camp by car, which was faster than with the truck. The plan for the day was to go to the Syrian refugees' homes and interview them.  When we arrived at the center early in the afternoon we were told that refugees had been waiting to speak to us to share their stories and ask for help since 8AM. We began our interviews at the Al-Azraq center and made our way to the apartments in the surrounding area. For the next six hours we heard endless stories about their challenging...

On ground, Day 1 & 2

Day 1 Itinerary: Shopping for Tents 3/11/16 Our first day in Jordan... We're excited and anxiously waiting to see what the week will hold. We met with Aminah from Humanitarian Family Aid at 12PM to discuss our schedule for the week and what our plans will consist of.  From 2PM to 7PM we traveled around Jordan to shop for the fabric and frame that we will be using to build the tent of the makeshift school. We visited eight shops to receive...

Syrian Refugee Campaign

As the Syrian conflict enters its fifth year and continues to produce refugees as Syrians seek asylum elsewhere. It is now the largest humanitarian crisis in the world with half of the original population being killed or forced to flee their homes. Those who are fortunate enough to have escaped have lost their homes, status, wealth, and in many tragic cases family members. The United Nations predicts that there could be 4.7 million registered Syrian refugees by the end of 2016, making this the worst exodus since the Rwandan genocide 20 years ago. Children...

UBSNA Pledge

"Never does a man stand so tall, as when he stoops to help a child." This age-old adage is one which UBSNA owner and CEO, Abe Thomas takes seriously. When one of Abe's directors recently came to him with a cause close to her heart - he immediately asked how he could help. PACE: Philanthropic Aid through Collaborative Efforts, a non-profit organization, is planning a trip to give aid to children and their families, in Syrian refugee camps. Abe Thomas and UBSNA have pledged to not only help with this fundraising and humanitarian effort -...