Family Superhero: Positive parenting in Za'atari refugee camp

An adult makes crafts with children.
November 17, 2020

Ma’amoun, 48 years old, is a father of six children living in Za’atari refugee camp. Ma’amoun and his family fled from Dar’aa in Syria to Jordan in 2013.

Ma’amoun and his wife faced challenges in raising their children because of the rapid changes in their living circumstances after fleeing their home in Syria. Ma’moun’s kids faced many challenges when they arrived at the camp. They were missing their friends, their school and even the nature of the area they used to live. The changes in living conditions increased the pressure on the parenting responsibilities of Ma’amoun and his wife.

Ma’amoun heard about Mercy Corps’ Family Superhero program from his friends and wanted to participate because he was always looking for opportunities to improve his and his families’ life. Family Superhero (FSH)  aims to support parents through teaching them how to reduce profound stress and equipping them with the necessary knowledge and skills to build positive and healthy relationships with their children. Ma’amoun thus signed up to be a participant in FSH. Before joining the program, Ma’amoun reported that there was a lot about parenting that he did not know. The challenges he and his wife faced in raising children were various and complicated due to the rapid changes in living circumstances since they fled Syria.

A parent and their children practice breathing techniques.
Ma’moun and his kids practice the breathing techniques to relieve the stress, this is part of exercises Ma’amon learnt during family superhero sessions.

Ma’moun was able to receive and give feedback to his children which led to finding suitable solutions to the problems they were facing. “I applied the communication and expression exercises with my kids to organize their daily schedule. I calmly arrange between studying, watching TV and helping their mother in the home activities. I do that even if I am stressed or afraid about their safety,” Ma’moun said.

He added, “We learned how to give our children space to express the problems they are dealing with to help ourselves analyze these problems and find suitable solutions. Through this program, I learned about positive parenting and learned a lot from the participants’ experiences because every one of them has different styles, ideas and techniques.”

An adults and children feed birds.
Ma’moun and his kids feeding their pets during the lockdown because of COVID-19.

The Family Superhero program is normally run from Mercy Corps’ Dreamland Community Center. Due to COVID‑19 pandemic, all schools and community centers have been closed. However, the Family Superhero activities are still ongoing. Mercy Corps shifted to remote support and families still attend the classes using mobile technology. 

The lessons Ma’moun learned in Family Superhero also helped him cope with COVID‑19. Using stress relief exercises, Ma’moun was able to overcome the stress and anxiety caused by COVID‑19 when Jordan imposed a nationwide curfew because of COVID‑19. For a long time Ma’moun’s children suffered from stress and anxiety as well, they were obligated to stay at home. Ma’moun: “During the lockdown period I was applying techniques I learned during the course, I was doing the breathing exercises to relieve stress and to relax the body and mind.”

The Family Superhero program is part of the ISHRAK project. Mercy Corps can implement this project thanks to the generous support by the Source of Hope Foundation and the Republic of China (Taiwan).