The Children Guest House

Introduction

 The Children Guest House was established in 1996 in order to provide divorced parents with fully equipped family-like environment to meet their children, instead of in the emotionally charged atmosphere of police station. The Children Guest House provides divorced parents with advice and guidance on how to reach common grounds and solve their family problems.

 Background

 The committee of children's right was established in the year 1994. It aims to uphold the international convention on children's rights. 

 The committee documents cases and collects photos relevant to violations of children's rights. It also researches and collects data on children lives in general. 

 The idea of a guest house came about from a study of the suffering caused to children by the very complicated procedures that divorced couples must  undergo in order to see their children.

 The project commenced on August 1996 with the support of the Arab Gulf Program, which provided financing for the first 6 month of the project. The JWU provided a place in Amman where children and their parents could meet in a healthy, family-like atmosphere.

The Aims of the Children Guest House

• Providing divorced families with fully equipped family-like environment to meet their children, instead of in the emotionally charged atmosphere of police station.
• Providing divorced couples with advice and guidance on how to reach common grounds and solve day-to-day problems
• Helping children to accept their new situation and to deal with it in a rational manner
• Re-uniting families when possible through proper counseling

The Main Achievement

•  The Children Guest House has got a good reputaiton and received many parents as well as government officials 
• Children are provided with a very well equipped area to play and watch videos; specialists help them to overcome their fears and worries. 
• The project was successful brought many divorced couple back together (20% of the cases).

The success of Amman's guest House and the growing number of visitors encouraged the JWU to extend the Children Guest House to our branch in Zarqa. Zarqa Guest House was established in August 1998 and it receives around 130 children monthly who come to meet their divorced parents.

Unfortunately the Zarqa Guest Houses was obliged to limit its services due to lack of funding. With its current funds it is capable of operation on ly two days per week. Yet there is demand for its services all week round.

Figures taken from Jordanian courts show that there is a continuous increase in divorce cases due to deteriorating economic and social conditions. 35% of all marriages during the last five years ended in divorce, leaving behind many children with unsure futures. In order to provide the services for as many families as possible, the Union needs to extend the Children Guest House in Amman (the highly populated area) as well as in other regions.