Whilst our prime reason to be in Al-Amir village was to meet and help the women of the Iraq Al-Amir Women’s Co-Operative Society, in any way we could, it was the children of the village that stole our hearts!
Word seemed to spread quickly that we had arrived and whenever we came and went from the Co-Op , they would be waiting to say hello, ever ready to have their picture taken.
Al-Amir is a simple village. Stone houses dot the street, most with the ubiquitous satellite dish decorating their homes whilst builders sand and rubble provide a playground for the children. Washing was hanging out to dry and vegetables were picked and ready to be taken to market.
The village may be poor but the children are happy. Laughing and chatting amongst each other, I’m sure we provided a break to their day.
Most were only too happy to have their photo taken….
The boys were obviously having a lot of fun. Their smiles and laughter were infectious….
It would be lovely to think that when these children are older, some of the girls will be working in the Iraq Al-Amir Women’s Co-Operative Society. For this reason, it has to survive.
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The Children of Jordan's Al-Amir Village.
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What precious children. One of my very favorite posts!
Thanks Karene. They were so beautiful!
Oh, the faces Jenny. Such innocence and yet some of them have looks as old and wise as the hills too. Yes, I really hope the Iraq Al-Amir Women’s Co-Operative Society initiative survives. Well done for supporting it.
It’s true Jo….Innocence plus wisdom. What a combination! The Co-Op has to survive…it’s so important to the village, even for those that don’t work there as the benefits flow on to everyone. Keeping our fingers crossed!
How wonderful it would be to be assailed by people happy to have their photo taken! That would certainly be a pleasure and one of the good things about supporting The Giving Lens trips. Child with radishes is a fantastic photo that just peeks above a wonderful selection of photos. Congratulations.
Thanks Jan. The radish girl is my favourite too.Just seeing the children’s different personalities shine through was a source of entertainment for us too!
When we focus on the people of a country, it is a easy to forget that we have different passions, values and life situations and just see people as people. Great post.
Thanks Jade. Your words are very true. That’s what is so good about children. No agendas..just their wide eyed innocence!
Great photos, lovely children indeed…
Thanks Lili. They were beautiful boys and girls!
The innocence of children. . .and their smiles. This is a winner of a post; the photos tell such a story. Congrats on a great one –
Thank you so much Jackie for your compliment. Yes, the children were so innocent though some of them seemed a lot wiser than their years!it was fun photographing them!
These images convey so much, Jenny! Your pictures are beautiful and you captured their innocence, culture and daily lives. They are all adorable and I’m so glad they willingly posed for you. That little boy covered with food is such a priceless shot!
Thanks Mary.It was great that they were happy for us to take their photos. That little boy was really enjoying his cake wasn’t he!
Lovely post. And such beautiful children! Thank you for this 🙂
Welcome Shreyasi and thank you for your comment. They were fabulous children…very happy and maybe some of the laughter was towards us all trying to take their photos!!
Hope the co-op does too, Jan!
These children are soo adorable. Love the little boy with his face covered in yogurt (?).
It’s very important that it doesn’t close Marcia. So many benefits flow on to their whole community. Isn’t the cake eater cut. He had icing everywhere!
Beautiful photo essay, Jenny. I love the little radish girl.
Thanks Sophie.The radish girl is my favourite too..there was something about her!
What beautiful children! Their smiles are infectious.
They were very happy children and I think it shows. I think they were probabaly laughing at us!
I can see why these children stole your heart! You must smile everytime you look at them, I know I was smiling my way through them. When I’m traveling, I’m always reminded how children are the same all over the world.
They are definitely the same around the world Debbie! Always a naughty one, a quiet one,someone eating, running away or just being cheeky! It’s what makes travel so fabulous , isn’t it!
So many sweet little faces! The little boy with the cake on his face made me laugh out loud – when my younger daughter was little she always looked like that when she was eating! And what a great cause that you were there to support – hopefully it will thrive for the sake of the women, their children and the community.
We loved taking their photos Lisa and thankfully they didn’t mind us taking theirs! The cake photos is priceless…we have all been there haven’t we! I certainly do hope that the Co-op survives…for everyone’s sake!
Jenny, the G+ social media button at the top of the page isn’t working – it seems to be linking to your blog’s home page instead of your G+ account.
Thanks Lisa for letting me know. I’ll have to get someone to look at it!
Great portraits!
Thanks Kymri. We loved inter-reacting with the children and taking the photos.
Nice portraits!
Thanks so much Dick. It helps of the kids are happy to to have their photos taken!
What beauty you captured here! I do hope that the co-operative not only survives, but thrives. How long were you here? Was this a volunteer arrangement?
Thanks Nancie. We hope the co-op survives too, not just for the women but for the village. I visited Jordan with The Giving Lens, a group that combines travel, photography and giving back to the community. It was with them that we visited the co-op on two occasions. My post before this was about our visit.
Holy cuteness. The girl with the radishes is gorgeous and what a phenomenal number of great shots you got.
These pictures really drive home how important it is for the Co-op to keep operating. I bet those families and children were so excited to see you. I love the girl with the radishes photo.
Thanks for persevering with the comment Michele. (I found it in Spam) Yes it is so important for them to keep going but it worried me that they may not be able to.They seemed very happy to see us…something different in the day I’m sure!
I love these photos! The kids are adorable. I don’t really agree when people take photos of others without permission, and stuck lenses into others’ faces, but when you are asked by them to take the photo it is a true pleasure. Most of the times you can play and communicate just by taking a photo and showing it to them.
I’m very sensitive about taking photos of people too Jo and especially photos of children. On this occasion we had permission to do so , so it was a lot of fun. They are still fascinated to see their faces in the camera when you show them the photo!
These photos are so special and emotive. Especially love the last four – they wouldn’t look out of place in the pages of the National Geographic!
You’re too kind Shing. I love the photo of the girl with the radishes too. It was just luck that she was holding the radishes when we left the co-op. Again, it was luck that the little boy was wearing cake all over his face! They were beautiful children!
I can only add to the praise you have already received. A gem of a post with such lovely pictures. It warms the heart.
Thank you so much Inka for your kind words.Visiting the Women’s Co-op and meeting the children was a very special experience.
What wonderful pictures of the children. I so enjoyed reading this post. Sounds like a great cause to volunteer for.
Thanks Gina. The Giving Lens was a fabulous way to see Jordan and great that were helping the Jordanian women.
Just goes to show that children are children wherever you travel… even children with such wise eyes. What amazing images and what an amazing thing to do for the women and children of Iraq. 🙂
So true ! A lot of these children have such responsibilities that you often wonder if they are ever young but it was great to see them having fun, laughing at us and generally very happy despite the poor conditions in which they lived. Meeting the woman and children of Al-Amir village was one of the things I loved most about this trip to Jordan.