Jordan: Water, Honour Crimes, Jordan Web Award, and Corporate Social Responsibilty

Water is a serious problem in Jordan. The scarcity of rain this year is of deep concern to the government and the general public. Blogger Tala talks about how people could rationalise their use of this very vital life resource:

Every Wednesday in Amman, the water line gets connected to our neighborhood so early morning, dad irrigates the trees around the house, we do the laundry in the afternoons, clean the backyard and our neighbors would wash the stairs and do the windows, most people do the same the stuff on that day.

All our home use water is done with fresh water!! imagine, if we were able to store the water we use while showering and doing the laundry and using this Gray water for stuff that doesn't require fresh water, lets water our home gardens with gray water & utilize space to grow home vegetables.

This way we save money because we use less water from the Water Authority, we would be doing Jordan a favor by lessening our consumption, we re-use the water and we get fruits and vegetables from our home.

Farah addresses what is an essentially a Jordanian social nightmare, and that is honour killings. Honour killings happen at an alarming rate in the kingdom, and many civil society initiatives have been launched to limit if not eliminate this troubling phenomenon:

“ Zarqa criminal prosecutor has referred a 17-year-old youth, who confessed to murdering his younger sister over the weekend, to a juvenile court for further questioning.

The suspect, confessed to stamping on his 13-year-old sibling’s head several times with his boots, then stabbing her 30 times at their family home on January 21, to defend his family’s honour, a senior official source said.

The suspect then headed to the nearest police station and handed officers on duty a dagger which he claimed he “used to stab and kill his sister”, according to the source.

The same disgustingly violent, ridiculous rituals of these crimes happening over and over again and nobody is doing a single thing about it. It's like honor crimes have become integrated into the country's traditions and customs.

And nobody is doing a damn thing about it.

And I don't understand how are we to change any stereotypes about us when murderers of innocent women are being set free.

It's sickening.

Naseem talks about the Jordan Web Awards and the honouring of 7iber at the ceremony:

I wrote this post in my head while sitting at a table at the Jordan Web Awards the other night. It was surely a proud moment to be honored unexpectedly like that but I have realized recently that 7iber is in fact life-changing. It’s an incredible journey and just watching it, which ever way it turns and bends in a chaotic sea of social media, is very interesting to me. I am incredibly fortunate to have this project in my life that feeds a variety of passions that drive me daily, while simultaneously surrounding myself with some amazing, bright and beautiful people. It’s not an easy task in a country like Jordan, or anywhere for that matter, to be part of a team that feels right; a group of people who have similar interests and passions that a single meeting becomes akin to watching random chemicals reacting in a crucible – like fireworks. And it’s something that you’re aware of, that you’re conscious of, every time you’re in their presence. Moreover, it’s something that is completely dependent on luck, fortune and/or divine intervention.

And the Arab Observer talks about the social programme carried out by the telecoms group Zain:

Zain group, the largest telecommunication provider in Jordan, has issued a press release in their annual strategic business meeting that was held in Amman this year. We all know how good these telecommunication companies make, and thus this post is not meant to focus on the company’s achievements and its prospects and plans for the coming few years. This may also sound like a free advertisement for the company, but it is a thing that I believe such companies deserve for the fulfillment of its social duties. It is worth highlighting the appreciation of people of such work in order for other companies to follow up.

For more on this issue, read here

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