May 05, 2016

Reem and her six sisters live in Aqaba, a port city in the south of Jordan.

They have been out of school for nearly four years, ever since they fled their home in Syria. They live in a neighborhood where no young girl should walk around in the streets, so they spend most of their time cooped up inside.

For a while Reem and her family were able to get by, but the little money they had ran out. You can feel the tight pressure in the room when her dad talks about his daughters.

“Girls are especially vulnerable in this world and we’re not really managing – we’re no longer able to meet their needs.”

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Reem (on the left) with her sisters.

Aqaba is host to a growing and desperate population of refugee families. There are no jobs, no resources, and no safety net. Their suffering is mostly unseen and only a few people even know they exist.

There are only hard choices left for refugee families in Aqaba. Reem’s only choice would have been early marriage so her other sisters could survive.

That changed last month. Because of your support and belief in our mission of putting the last, first we're launching a program to reach 150 of the most vulnerable families in Aqaba.

We’re providing integrated support for food, medicine, and education so families can take back control of their lives – and so parents don’t have to make choices that no parent should ever have to make.

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Reem's neighborhood.

You saw the invisible, listened to their stories, and are helping girls like Reem redefine their future. She and her sisters are now enrolled in our alternative education program. They have enough to eat. They have a chance to hope for a better future.

We are particularly grateful for a small group of very generous donors who put forth their trust and resources from the beginning as we built this program from the ground up.