My Amman Life

In honor of April being World Autism Month and today, April 2, specifically being World Autism Awareness Day, I want to bring attention to a great NGO in Amman which supports young adults with intellectual disabilities, Nour al Barakah.

Nour al Barakah was founded in 2009 with the mission to “to provide young adults with intellectual disabilities an opportunity to intermingle with peers in a safe, recreational and structured environment, through activities that will assist them in developing work experiences and social skills, as well as the implementation of permaculture, which is built on the ethic of caring for earth and people.”

To sum it up, their mission is two-fold: creating awareness for both the environment and those with mental disabilities.

The young adults that form part of Nour al Barakah come to the non-profit’s facilities at Princess Iman Garden in Rabieh. The garden was rehabilitated by the NGO to include a building for arts and crafts, movie nights, etc., a soccer field for sports activities and an organic garden complete with it’s very own organic compost system.

These facilities are used by the charity year round and every spring (March onwards), the gardens host a Saturday Farmer’s Market. From 10 am to 3 pm you can find a variety of stalls selling local goods from organic produce, all-natural soaps and cosmetics, to homebaked goods. There is also a picnic area where you can buy freshly grilled burgers (they have a veggie burger too!) and a “Kid’s Corner” with arts and crafts and a playground.

I visited this past Saturday and found the following stalls:

• All Natural Beauty Products:
  • Exotic Soaps & Suds – decorative handmade soaps
  • Dr. Hilo
• Artisan food:
  • Maysa’s Fresh Pasta & Ravioli – artisan pasta
  • Peanut Better – all natural nut butters
  • Boutique Bakery – Austrian Bakery for artisan bread and European delicacies
  • Simply Quiche
  • Suzy’s Corner
  • Creative Gift Basket
  • Sanaa Madanat – organic jams
  • Sana’s Gourmet
  • Kip’s Kale Chips
  • Excellence Dates – Jordanian Medjool and Barhi dates
• Local organic produce:
  • Yanboot Farms
  • Jabbok Farms
  • Taybeh Farms
• Pet food:
  • Ithmor Organic Fresh

It’s great to see this local initiative in Amman and I highly recommend a visit to the Saturday Market as it supports the great work that Nour al Barakah is doing for young adults with disabilities.

Location: Princess Iman Garden, Al Ahwaz Street, Amman, Jordan

A special thanks to Ms. Isra for showing me around the market.