Sometimes one just has to ask...

Today was a fruitful day all around. After a good roundtable meeting this morning with the whole crew, we were able to work out some kinks and issues regarding the goals, pace and methods of conducting our unique kind of research. Energized to utilize our best faculties and go out into the field to secure interviews and explore Amman to truly have the cultural and educational experience we set out to do, several small groups headed out and came out with great results and leads.

A huge highlight was walking over to the UNHCR headquarters here in Amman - literally a 5 minute walk from our compound in Abdoun - and knocking on their door. Rounding the corner to see a cluster of Iraqi refugees standing outside the building, it was slightly daunting since we did not have an interview, a contact, or plan on how to make our way in and be heard. However, with some of the ideas thrown out at the meeting from the morning still fresh in our minds (see below), the Refugee committee decided that they had nothing to lose by asking. And ask we did. We were led into the front security desk right before the entrance and a spokeswoman from the Public Information proposed an interview for tomorrow at 3 pm on the spot! Granted, we will be meeting with PR people, but hopefully someone from security will also come as we mentioned we are studying the legal status of refugees as well. This is honestly such a boon given that the refugee group has not been able to make contact with this all important group...
The committee had further luck with the meeting at Save the Children with Dennis Walto who provided a wealth of information regarding the issue of education of Iraqi children, which is the only large scale multilateral operation regarding assistance to refugees, with the government of JO, many UN agencies and bilateral donors on board. Hopefully we will be able to follow up with some visits to schools with some of the Iraqi children. The committee also went to University of Jordan and inquired about meeting with academics regarding several project topics, and to our luck, have been granted a meeting with the head of International Studies and the head of Women's Studies this coming Tuesday.

In addition to the refugee committee's success in scheduling meetings, the groups examining political reform and Jordanian-Iraqi relations conducted an informative meeting with Mohammed Abu Rumman, a journalist from the Al Ghad Arabic Daily and expert on the Islamist movement in Jordan, and Hassan Barari, a member of the faculty of the Center for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan specializing in the Middle East peace process and regional security issues. The two scholars shared their extensive knowledge of Jordanian and regional politics, clearly illustrating for us the role that Jordan has played in the Iraq conflict as well as the various debates currently occurring within the regime regarding political reform and the government's relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood. Additionally, we discussed the democracy promotion efforts of the US in the Middle East, the ebb and flow of these efforts, their efficacy, and US credibility in such an intertwined region. Suffice it to say, the day's events have given us a lot of new information to process as we move forward speaking to more people about our research.