Campaign Showcase: Ebni campaign for disability rights in Jordan! (Video)
Watch the video recording and explore the successes, challenges, and lessons of the Ebni campaign for disability rights in Jordan.
Introduction
Can you imagine how a team of 8 individual leaders in the time of the pandemic, turned into an incredible campaign of 50 leaders and 13,000 constituents, succeeding to push the Jordanian government to commit to establishing 12 free comprehensive health centers across Jordan for persons with disabilities?
It all started when Mustafa’s three-year-old child, Abdulwahhab, finally smiled. Having his son diagnosed with autism at an early age, Mustafa was in a state of helplessness that paralyzed him; he did not know how to act or communicate with his son.
Until one day, desperate, he gathered all toys and stickers he could find around the house, and spent hours in front of Abdulwahhab: he danced, made funny faces, put stickers on his forehead, until finally, Abdulwahhab’s tiny lips slowly parted into the warmest smile Mustafa has ever witnessed.
That was when all his trepidation turned into one concrete conviction: I want nothing more than to bring as many smiles as this one on the faces of persons of disabilities and their families.
Mustafa was not the only one sharing this conviction: from the investigative journalist, Anas, who produced a brilliant investigation on the rights of the persons with disabilities in Jordan after his long struggles to protect and fight for his sister, Islam, who has Down syndrome; to Rawan, whose disability did not hold her back from pushing to integrate audio books and stories into school curricula to facilitate the learning of persons with disabilities; to Israa, Nour, Ramy, Ahlam, Heba, and Faten, all with their own equally inspiring stories, gathered to launch the Ebni campaign.
Watch the recording and explore the successes, challenges, and lessons of the Ebni campaign from both the lens of the core members leading the campaign and the coach supporting the campaign!
Watch Video
About the Speakers
Mustafa Denou, former Ebni campaign coordinator & present Campaign Coach, Co Founder – Executive Director of ABA Resources
After 13 years working in marketing & branding field Mustafa Denou began his Activities as an activist on issues related to ASD “Autism Spectrum Disorder” which led him later to establish the Autism Spectrum Forum, which aims at empowering families of children with Autism. He studied “Community Organizing and Leading Collective Action for Change” with Ahel Organization and continues to develop his studies in “Advanced Community Organizing” to become a trainer in Organizing, Public Narrative, and Campaign Coaching.
In 2019 Mustafa completed his executive education in “Public Narrative: Storytelling, Leadership and Action” from Harvard Kennedy School and has since worked in Community Mobilization and advocacy alongside fellow activists in the field.
Mustafa is a Member in the founders Team of “Ebni”; a campaign that calls for the Rights of People with Disabilities in Jordan.
Rawan Barakat, coordinator Allies Team
Rawan worked as a drama trainer for children, then founded Raneen Foundation “Raneen is a non profit foundation” which aims to develop the listening and communication skills for children, and educational methods. Rawan has received numerous prizes and honoring, including King Abdullah Award for Youth Innovation and Achievement in 2009, Arab Social innovator Award – Synergos in 2011, Ashoka fellowship in 2014, Order of Al Hussein for Distinguished Contributions of the Second Class for her voluntary work in 2015, and Takreem Innovation in Education Award in 2015.
Noor Dissi, coordinator for Data & Documentation team
Member of Raneen’s Training Team
Noor is a Jordanian theater director. She holds a bachelor’s degree in directing and acting from Yarmouk University. She directed a number of plays for youth and children with Jubilee Schools, Women’s Union and Abdul Hameed Shoman’s Foundation. She has experience in education for more than 14 years at the Jubilee School and Terrasanta School. She also worked with Raneen as a voice actress and drama trainer.
You can listen to Noor’s powerful narrative about why she became involved in this campaign here.
Reem Manna, Ahel campaign coach
Reem Manna is the Director of Campaign Coaching from Ahel, a community-based organization that supported organizing campaigns for over ten over ten years in countries across the Middle East, such as Jordan, Palestine and Lebanon.
Explore Further
- بودكاست أثر – Athar Podcast (Arabic)
- أدوات تفاعلية ومواد مرئية حول التنظيم المجتمعي من إعداد أهل – Visual and Explanatory Tools about Community Organising by Ahel (Arabic)
- Marshall Ganz interviews Nisreen Haj Ahmad, Director of Ahel – Faces of Change Podcast Series (Video and Audio)
- دورس حول التنظيم المجتمعي من حملة قم مع المعلم – Stand up with the Teacher: A lesson in Community Organizing (Arabic and English)