Kids in Questscope’s literacy classes in downtown Amman never got a chance at a real childhood.  Tragedies kept interrupting their lives: family breakup, work instead of school, enduring abuse, to name a few.  They had to grow up fast in a rough world.  Playing with friends was replaced long ago with 12-hour work days at jobs no one else wanted.

So when their teachers took 86 of them to a camp in the Jordanian country-side for a long weekend in April, they thought they’d died and gone to heaven.  Three whole days of nothing but fun in unexplored forests, sports on real grass, and late night talks around campfires… what else could a 14-year-old ask for?

But the whole point of our classes is to make learning fun again.  So while kids were trouncing around the forest, they learned about nature and the environment.  When they worked out excess energy on the soccer field, they learned about fair-play and teamwork.  And long talks around campfires gave them the experience of being loved and accepted.

When the weekend was over, the kids went back to the same old city, but they didn’t go back to the same old lives.  They had an unforgettable weekend making new friends and learning about their world.  If only for a few days, they were able to be just kids again.  And this gave them the treasures they will draw on as they rebuild their lives from the inside out.