The project
Christmas 2013: meeting between the Italian Campaign to Ban Landmines and You Able Onlus. The two organizations, with experience and willingness to take action to support people with a disability, considering the situation of Syrian refugees and possible ways to provide assistance.
More than 600 thousand Syrians have fled the war in Jordan, it is estimated that 20% are in refugee camps while 80% people are in urban areas, seeking help, home, resources, assistance. The government health services and nonprofit organizations in Amman have stepped up activities to respond to the emergency situation and people who turn to these are not only Syrians but also Iraqi, Yemeni and other nationalities.
The Campaign to Ban Landmines presents the future third partner: Life Line Consultancy and Rehabilitation, Jordanian Association founded in 2007 by Kamel Saadi to give assistance to victims of landmines. A feasibility study starts regarding the possibilities in combining the skills and experience of three different organizations.
Italian Campaign to Ban Landmines: experience in evaluation and sustainability; advocacy, education, assistance to victims of landmines, coordination with national and international institutions;
Life Line Consultancy and Rehabilitation: experience in assisting victims of landmines in terms of social and economic reintegration in Jordan;
You Able Onlus: experience in supporting amputees
The first decision was to provide remote support to agencies already operating in the field.
March-April 2014
First prosthetic kit sent for Syrian children amputees, with the collaboration of the Italian Embassy in Amman.
June 2014
First field mission to evaluate the work done with aids sent, starting a phase of need assessment. Meeting with the young beneficiaries of the aids, children assisted in Amman on a temporary basis before returning to refugee camps. The existence of these structures is so significant about the generosity of the Jordanian people as yet uncertain, due to the large numbers of people in need, children but also adults not able to support their families.
Jordan is a peaceful country, in an area of long-standing conflicts, this has made it a country of refugees (Iraqis, Palestinians, Yemenis, Libyans, Kurds, Syrians, the most present minorities). The Jordanian people is known for its generosity and hospitality. The rights of persons with disabilities are recognized and respected. On orthopedic care front there are both government and private centers, with a high number of requests, and high costs for users in conditions of necessity asking for private support. The need to provide lower limb prosthesis focuses the priorities of the entities on prosthetic fitting.
Many expressions of willingness to cooperate: The Local Technical Unit of the Italian Foreign Ministry in Amman; the Cancer Foundation, assisting especially children; Italian NGOs; Amman University.
Following these demonstrations of openness, the three organizations make the decision to define the steps to start a rehabilitation center in Amman.
Guiding principles:
Defined engagement conditions, the three organizations proceed to the drafting of the project, with a timetable defined over three years, starting to search Philanthropic organizations to support the long term project.
July-September 2014
First meeting with the Nando Peretti Foundation. The signing of the Convention takes place in the first half of September.
October 2014 – January 2015
Approval from Prosolidar Foundation. The signing of the Convention takes place in January 2015.
February / May 2015
Procurement of materials and aids, asking the logistic support to the World Food Programme. At the same time, starts the approval process to the Jordanian Ministries. The aim to help people of all nationalities has increased the necessary permits, not returning the activity only in emergency assistance for refugees, but in a wider support to anyone who needs it. The required permissions were obtained in May: Ministry of Planning (and submit it to the Prime Minister’s Council), Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Social Policy.
September 2015: authorizations to operate, set up the center, arrival of container. Meanwhile in September a new application is completed, comes the approval of Tavola Valdese 8×1000 .
December 2015
- Staff recruiting,
- Reaching refugees’ camp amputees,
- Progressive supplying according to patients’ need
From December to May 2015
The workshop receives patient lists from partners (Cancer Foundation, refugee camps, Jordanian community), contacts patients, visits. Each patient is taken in charge, Life Line Consultancy and Rehabilitation offers psychological and social support.
The staff of the center is defined.
At the beginning of June 2016 the monitoring mission takes place.
June 2016
Monitoring mission. At the end of the mission the first report is published https://www.paolabioccacenter.eu/richiesta/
July / December 2016
Confirmation of donor support based on new applications: Nando Peretti Foundation, Prosolidar Foundation, Tavola Valdese 8 × 1000. The collaboration with Médecins Sans Frontières starts locally.
January 2017
First CBR training mission – Community based rehabilitation.
March / April 2017
Thanks to the Tavola Valdese 8 × 1000 a van is purchased for transporting patients and small on-site maintenance operations
May / June 2017
A new orthopedic technician in apprenticeship joins our staff: Nancy Ibrahim
New partners collaborate with us: the Sourayat Across Borders and Global Humanitaria organizations, non-profit organizations managed by Jordanian and Syrian personnel and supported by funds from different European countries welcome people in need, particularly women and orphans, to provide primary needs and health care, informal education and physical therapy.
July 2017
Monitoring mission and start drafting new projects:
Consolidation of the new Staff of the Center
Start of the orthotic laboratory
Training programming in CBR March / April
Exchange of Jordanian / Italian technicians
December 2017
The Center is now the 100th patient assisted, in addition to our supplies, the useless prostheses that have been left by users are preserved.
January 2018
The art therapy pilot project starts thanks to Fondazione Alta Mane Italia, the project involved 16 children from 6 to 12 years old and 14 expert operators or female students of the car professions (psychologists, physiotherapists / orthopedics, visual arts graphic specialists). ).
The new project to support the Centre’s activities by the Prosolidar Foundation starts
February 2018
February 2018: thanks to the National Association of Civilian Victims of War Onlus, machines, tools and articles for the start-up of the orthosis laboratory are purchased
April 2018
Signed the annual partnership agreement with ASOCIACIÓN GLOBAL HUMANITARIA and their local partner Al Mahd for Training and Social Debelopment- AMTSD
May 2018
May 2018: the container for the start of the orthosis laboratory starts thanks to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Italian Embassy in Amman and WFP-UNHRD.
July 2018
The cargo arrived in Amman
September 2018
Start of the “Paola Biocca Rehabilitation Center: Focus on Training” project, the project funded by the Waldensian Office Office 8 × 1000 will initiate a training exchange between Jordanian and Italian orthopedic technicians. Thanks to the Italian partner Officine ortopediche ITOP (Rome).
October 2018
October 2018: new training module in Rehabilitation on a Community Base held by dr. Germano Pestelli and Dr. Chiara Zannini in Amman. 15 participants: newly graduated students from the University of Amman and some operators from the Médecins Sans Frontieres Hospital.
“The RBC matrix shows that the components of the community-based approach are multiple: rehabilitation is not just a question of a health-care approach, but also an educational, social, economic and empowerment approach. It is therefore not only a question of physiotherapy but of the ability to develop and promote collaboration between apparently distant and different sectors ”
November-December 2018: Start of the orthotic laboratory funded by ANVCG – National Association of Civil War Victims Onlus
February-March-April 2019: training program funded by 8 × 1000 Chiesa Valdese, our two techniques Abeer and Nancy and our technical supervisor Abdalla follow a course at the ITOP Orthopedic Workshops in Palestrina
March 2019: Published the new report of the Center
June 2019 – completed the project of interchange of orthopedic technicians with the mission of Eugenio of the Marche Orthopedic Center in Amman. Thanks!!!
September 2019: on the occasion of Amman’s work on the Global Conference on Assistance to Victims of Anti-Personnel Mines and Other Explosive Remnants of War, and Disability Rights, Prince Mired Raad Zeid Al-Hussein visited with a delegation from the Jordanian National Committee for Demining and Rehabilitation (NCDR) the orthopedic workshop
November 2019: 4 Conference on the Mine Ban Banking Treaty, Oslo. LLCR and the Italian Campaign Against the Mines among the participants.
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