Encapsulating an Arab world not Engulfed in Violence
FROM THE EED BLOG
Voices of Jordan is the story of a nation through the eyes and lives of its own people. In the past few months, I have traveled north and south of Jordan to see, hear and experience the lives of different people who will be featured in the book. I have conducted dozens of interviews, visited people in their homes, in their workplace, and neighborhoods. It continues to be an inspiring journey filled with both, questions and answers. Meanwhile, the photography work and writing is taking up most of our time for this project but I have also been spending many hours reading transcripts and making sure that both, the voices of the characters and their environment are depicted as accurately as possible.
Ordinary citizens are largely absent from the debate in shaping the current and future of the Middle East. The book gives a voice and contributes to freedom of expression as the Jordanian characters and the Syrian refugee bring insight into politics, religion, society and modernization amid an ancient but urbanizing culture. They speak about the deeper problems of the Middle East, once the current spate of civil conflicts is over. There is little literature that has been published about modern Jordan and its people. Most books published include biographies of high-ranking officials, history, tourism, archeology and novels. The project is a source for those who want to understand the country and its people today.