Charity LinkUp as Jordanian Orphans Spend a Day With the Animals



May 19, 2005 -- The SPANA animal refuge and educational centre at Om Qsser east of Amman hosted a day for 24 orphans from the SOS Children's Village in Amman starting at 9 am on Friday May 13th for the first group and another group on Saturday 14th.

SPANA Chief Executive Jeremy Hulme said "There have been an increasing number of academic studies which have shown considerable benefits to children from interacting with animals, particularly those who have suffered trauma."

"We are delighted at this tie-up with SOS Children's Villages( Amman) and hope that this day will be an extremely enjoyable day for them.         

Research at Manchester Metropolitan University, undertaken in post-war Bosnia Hercegovina found that the development of empathy towards animals enhances the emotional health of children who have experienced trauma.

The SPANA educational centre was built as part of a programme of diversification from just providing free veterinary care. It gives schoolchildren a "hands-on" learning experience. As well as recreating Jordan's various natural habitats, the centre houses donkeys, rabbits and birds which youngsters can handle and feed.

Dr Ghazi Mostafa, director of SPANA in Jordan said: "It's been a tremendous success. We're booked up for months in advance. This centre is unique in the Middle East. There is nothing else like it."

Lina Kopty, national director of SOS Children's Villages in Jordan, said, "This is a unique opportunity for the children living at the SOS Children's Village in Amman. On the one hand they can experience how important it is to care for an animal's well-being which means respect for any living creature. On the other hand the children learn how enriching and even therapeutic it can be to get in touch with animals."

SOS Children's Villages is a private, non-governmental, non-denominational organisation providing long-term care for destitute, abandoned and orphaned children in 132 countries and territories. In Jordan the organisation, whose patron is Queen Noor, runs three SOS Children's Villages (in Amman, Aqabe and Irbid).

Photos available





Charity LinkUp as Jordanian Orphans Spend a Day With the Animals