Running your own publication is no easy task. A great deal of organization, management, and commitment to the cause are base requirements for anyone looking to succeed in the journalism industry. That being said, it’s important to keep in mind the perspectives from which we write and how dedication to the written word exists in even the most challenging of circumstances thanks to the efforts of those who believe in the power of reporting.
It’s easy for those of us who live and breathe journalism to become weary of the 24-hour news cycle and the need to stay current, but several of us in the West do so while taking much for granted. We may write from the safety of our university campuses or live in cushy cities where information is at our fingertips, utilizing modern technologies to make the publishing of our work more convenient. Reports from war-torn areas overseas reach us at constant rates, but few stop to consider how those in foreign countries gather and consume information. Believing that all journalism in the Middle East, for example, is covert and indistinct does a disservice to those on the ground who aim to share news with their communities—without many of the privileges others are assured by.
Just an hour from the Jordanian capital, Amman, is an area called Zaatari, the world’s largest Syrian refugee camp. Within that camp a woman named Hada Sarhan launched a monthly print magazine in 2014 called The Road, which serves the site of over 80,000 people. Sarhan’s editor-in-chief is a 20-year-old woman named Abeer Al-Eid, who helms The Road’s editorial team comprised of both male and female refugee journalists living in Zaatari.
After resigning from her work with Jordanian mainstream newspapers, Sarhan discovered a job listing placed by the Japanese Emergency NGO (JEN), which worked as a nonprofit in Zaatari. The opportunity required an experienced journalist to direct a media project within the camp. Originally called Zaatari Refugee Magazine and intended to be a mini-magazine that highlighted the lives and experiences of refugees living inside the camp. Sarhan suggested a more extensive project—The Road. The leader of JEN in Jordan, Cyril Cappai, was immediately on board with Sarhan’s vision.
Putting the foundations in place to get the project up and running took significant effort, including attempts to design a strategy for training reporters, gaining interest from writers within the camp, and securing funds to print the magazine. Once those steps had been accomplished, the magazine ran its first issue in May 2014. The magazine has since trained over 120 journalists who embark on assignments throughout the camp five days per week, covering an array of social and political issues. Articles have been written on topics such as the camp’s water delivery system and inflated food prices during Ramadan.
Sarhan says that the name, The Road, was chosen “Because that is exactly what this camp has been to all them. They’re all on the same road home—regardless of how permanent the situation may seem.”
While a huge step forward in providing both accurate information to residents and opportunities for writers, the publication has not been met without early resistance. Staff meetings for the magazine are centered on the inclusion of both women and men, with the two groups sitting side-by-side and constantly interacting through the exchange of ideas. Local imams have criticized Sarhan for this allowance, and for actions like permitting women to distribute copies of the magazine throughout the camp and including photos of women on the cover. Al-Eid experienced resistance to her participation in The Road by her own family, having to attend editorial meetings in secret and eventually being forbidden by her father to go. After relentlessly discussing with her parents the reason why her work with the magazine was so important, Al-Eid’s parents reluctantly agreed to let her work for the publication. Her mother explains, “Writing is in her soul, I know that, she tells me all the time. But journalism requires freedom. That’s a hard thing to offer a girl in Zaatari.”
For Abeer, her motivation to the work comes from her belief in the magazine and what it offers fellow refugees. “This magazine means everything to me,” she says. “Every single thing.”
Learn more about The Road by visiting their website here.