Widow makes a living out of traditional Jordanian hospitality

AJLOUN — Since the death of her husband three years ago, Fathieh Meqdad, better known as Um Ahmad, has been the sole breadwinner for herself and her three children.

Both out of necessity and opportunity, Um Ahmad has turned her house into a guest lodge, hosting tourists who prefer a traditional Jordanian home-based overnight stay to sleeping in a hotel.

Together with her son and two daughters, Meqdad lives in Orjan, a small village bordering the Ajloun Nature Reserve, 70km northwest of Amman.

Her husband, who had worked as a guard at the Biscuit House, an establishment selling local produce set up by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN), initially brought home the idea.

“Working at the Biscuit House, he noticed that more and more tourists wanted to stay with local people, sit with the families, see how they prepare food,” Um Ahmad told The Jordan Times in a recent interview.

“I cooked traditional dishes like mansaf, biryani, maqlouba and ouzi, and the guests would come into the kitchen and watch me make it,” she added.

The death of her husband brought with it much hardship, and continuing to receive guests was difficult.

“When he passed away, I was on my own, and I lost a lot of the contacts he had through the RSCN, which meant that very few people came,” Um Ahmad said.

Then help came in the form of a grant from the USAID Jordan Tourism Development Project (Siyaha), which provided her with vital support.

The project was launched in 2010 in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the RSCN to boost tourism to the Ajloun area and encourage local tourist-related businesses, according to Siyaha.

Initially, the project developed the Ajloun tourism trail, a 25-kilometre-long walking track that runs through the villages of Rasoun, Orjan and Baoun and ends at Ajloun Castle, the 12th century Ayyubid castle.

In addition, 20 small businesses in the three villages were chosen to receive grants on a cost-sharing basis, providing necessary items for the businesses in conjunction with the owners’ own investments, according to Siyaha.

“The principal idea was to encourage tourist projects by working directly with the local community,” a Siyaha official told The Jordan Times on condition of anonymity because she was not authorised to speak to the media.

“The aim of developing the trail and supporting local businesses was to have the whole community benefit from tourism,” the official explained.

Um Ahmad’s grant from Siyaha included the furnishing of two bedrooms, as well as kitchenware.

The grant was also accompanied by business development support, help with pricing, as well as marketing assistance, the Siyaha official noted.

“Our grantees will be getting brochures and websites from USAID, and we are cooperating with tourism providers to attract more tourists,” another Siyaha official added.

Since the beginning of 2013, Meqdad has received three families for day visits and six students for overnight stays, and has earned between JD400 and JD500 so far.

“When I started on my own without my husband, it was very difficult — I can’t receive just any guests, only families or all-female groups, and so the number of visitors dropped,” she noted.

“It is getting much better now,” she added.

Home-based tourism, which allows guests to immerse themselves in traditional Jordanian life, is becoming more popular, according to the USAID.

“Visitors like experiencing the welcoming spirit of Jordanians,” the first Siyaha official noted.

“We hope that this project will raise awareness of this kind of tourism amongst the local communities,” she added.

Siyaha has also offered workshops for safe food handling, customer service and hospitality training to all members of the communities in order to support tourism-related businesses.

Despite her personal hardships, the increasing competition from other businesses in the area and the instability in the region which has affected tourism, Um Ahmad is determined to continue with her business.

“Some of my relatives support me and others don’t, because they did not like the idea of a woman dealing with customers on her own — but I don’t care, I want to give my children the best possible life.”

Originally published in 

Found on http://jordantimes.com/widow-makes-a-living-out-of-traditional-jordanian-hospitality