Maher grew up wondering if anyone really loved him.

His father died when he was small, leaving Maher’s mother penniless and totally dependent on his grandfather. The grandfather’s anger drove him to wish that he could die. So, at age 13, he took to the streets in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Amman.

Street-life was brutal, but at least Maher felt he was in charge. Once he was free from the violence in his home, he felt free to dream about his future.

But freedom came at a very high price. Maher’s dreams about his future quickly morphed into nightmares in the present.

Maher dropped out of school at age 15 to work. Long hours, low wages and dangerous jobs marked his days. His nights were spent rollerblading in deserted streets with a gang, drinking booze and getting high on glue fumes.  Picked up by the police several times, he was well on his way to a criminal record.

When our Questscope volunteers first met Maher, he had not eaten a meal at home in over a week. He was sleeping under bridges, in tunnels and on benches in parks.  Some of his street buddies had told him about a place where he could make some new friends and be safe.

Without knowing it, Maher had stumbled upon one of our non-formal education classes for dropouts.  The teacher welcomed him. The other guys welcomed him. Nobody cursed him, or pushed him around. He fit in like he had always been there.

That is when the real Maher turned up: hungry to learn, hungry to love and be loved, hungry to belong. He is studying in our education program to complete high school, and he has made plans to shoot for the previously impossible goal of becoming a software specialist. He recently told one of our volunteers at an educational event, “You are my real family.”

Not every child is so fortunate.

Every hour a Jordanian child like Maher drops out of school, putting roughly 80,000 children per year at risk of never continuing their education.

Lack of education often leads to children working at dead-end jobs. Children getting drawn into gangs. Children lured by forces of violence and extremism.

Questscope believes that no child should lose their tomorrow because they must work today. We have created an alternative path to education, to jobs and to futures for those who have fallen through the cracks of life.