ShareDoc logo
ShareDoc
Accueil
How it Works
News Documentaires Events
About
Impact Help ShareDoc Gallery

Concrete Land

 
 

Badrya (sheep)

Badrya is the family's pet sheep. She has been at the centre of their lives for 10 years now. She has special hairstyles, necklaces and is Hakima's special friend. She will not be sold or forced to leave them.

No active campaign
0
Views

Help us support the Najar family - an Afro-Palestinian Bedouin facing displacement and erasure in Jordan. They need to buy land to secure a home for three generations - and Badrya their pet sheep.

On the outskirts of Amman, Jordan, the Najars are one of the last Afro-Palestinian-Bedouin families in the capital. They live in exile on agricultural land, in makeshift tents with their animals, including their beloved pet sheep, Badrya. Abu-Awad and Hakima, the family’s elders, are devoted to Bedouin traditions. Their son, Awad, works as a cement truck driver, torn between tradition and modernity. His 10-year-old daughter, Eman, faces bullying at school for her Bedouin background and skin color, yearning for acceptance in a city that offers education but erases her culture.

Their fragile existence shatters when high-end villas rise around them, owned by neighbours who look down on their Bedouin lifestyle. The family's life turns upside down when they receive a governmental eviction notice to “clean up” the area of animals or face removal within five days. They reluctantly part with their animals, severing Abu-Awad’s last link to his identity. But their sacrifices are in vain. A neighbor, wanting their "uncivilized tents" gone, slashes their tent and threatens their lives. Isolated and unprotected, they must endure harassment or leave, sacrificing Eman’s education.

Overwhelmed by loss, Abu-Awad passes away. Grief washes over the family. They decide to uproot. As they pack, they reflect on their losses: the animals, Abu-Awad, and now their home. They load their belongings and Badrya onto a truck, the last remnants of a life under open skies. Eman looks ahead to an uncertain future as they drive away, disappearing into the concrete landscape. There is one glimmer of hope as Awad and his wife celebrate a new life with the birth of a baby daughter - a reminder of the love that binds this family together in the toughest times.