What We Do

We recruit participants from universities in the U.S., Canada, & Europe as well as from the Jerash Refugee Camp.  Then, we match partners together, administer orientations, and provide materials to use during the meetings (i.e., weekly themes with corresponding discussion questions and vocabulary lists, plus supplementary materials).  During each 2 month term, we check in with the participants and provide them new learning resources and other relevant media.

Online Language-Exchange Sessions:

  • We bring together women learning Arabic in the United States, Canada, and Europe with underserved refugee women and girls for online, real-time language exchange sessions in both Arabic and English, based out of the Hopes Women’s Center in the Gaza Refugee Camp in Jerash, Jordan.
  • We recruit, coordinate, and manage four 2-month terms each year.  Terms begin in January, April, July, and October.
  • We match partners together, create curricula for partners to use during their sessions, and troubleshoot as necessary to ensure that meetings are going smoothly.
  • We have more than 100 current past and present participants!

E-Tutoring Program:

In-person Saturday English Classes:

  • In-country volunteers host weekly English classes for women in the camp to prepare them to participate in Banaat Connect and help them continue their English practice during and after their participation in language exchange sessions.

Professional Development Workshops:

  • In-person professional development courses for women in the camp, on topics such as time and stress management to goal setting, professional email writing, and self-determination.  These classes will be calibrated according to the social context in the Camp. Are you in Jordan and interested in teaching a workshop in our center? Reach out at contact@banaatconnect.org

Coming Soon: Pathways to Employment

  • The Pathways to Employment program will provide past language exchange participants from Gaza Camp with personalized job and skills counseling and professional experience working with partnered organizations. This program will give women from the camp the experience, training, and skills to become competitive applicants and succeed in the workplace in and out of the camp.