Queen of Jordan
Queen Rania Al-Abdullah (born Al Yassin) was born in Kuwait and of Palestinian descent. Her family left Kuwait for Amman, Jordan (along with many other Palestinians) during the Gulf War. She met Prince Abdullah at a dinner party, and the rest is history. Except, it isn’t. Rania Al Yassin got her degree in business from the American University in Cairo, and then worked for companies Citibank and Apple. After her marriage, she put a lot of focus on creating equality in education and children’s lives. She became an extremely influential figure in her own right, and a role model for so many young women.
Queen of Philanthropy
Queen Rania has multiple initiatives. The first being The Queen Rania Foundation for Education and Development. This foundation provides educational improvement for children and pushes for research into new initiatives. The next is the Jordan River Foundation. This focuses more on the safety of children. It provides financial sponsorships and mentorships in local community programs. Edraak (which means ‘realization’ in Arabic) is a free educational tool that provides lessons for K-12 students from a broad range of online resources to diversify students’ learning. Additionally, the courses are provided by famous and positive role models for the students. The Children’s Museum Jordan is a public and interactive museum for children to grow and safely learn through hands-on experiences. The Royal Health Awareness Society focuses more on the ‘at home’ environment of the student, such as their diet and starting up safety programs such as the Healthy Schools National Accreditation where they would oversee the nutrition and physical activity. Madrasati (‘my school’ in Arabic) connects public schools with funding from different organizations and individuals to help create long lasting partnerships to improve student learning and life within schools. The Queen Rania Teacher Academy and Award for Excellence in Education promote and recognize high quality teaching in Jordan. Al-Aman Fund for the Future Orphans provides multiple provisions for orphans to offer them some type of security as they grow into adults. The Al Abdullah family specifically feels like it is an obligation of the government and ruling family to care for the population in vulnerable positions. Finally, there is the National Council for Family Affairs, where governmental and non-governmental organizations can bridge the gap and work together to help protect Jordanian families financially, socially, and physically.
Influence on the Arab World
So, what is the importance of all this? As an Arab American woman, seeing someone so important breaking down stereotypes and boundaries is just so amazing to see. I am personally confined by the constant fence that surrounds most Arab women, where many people see us as meek and quiet, and our families just want to marry us off. Queen Rania does so much for her people to make sure that, during the most important years of their lives, they can grow supported and protected, so they too can become powerful leaders in the future.
Citation: Queen Rania official website. “Queen Rania’s Official Website.” Queen Rania Official Website, https://www.queenrania.jo/en.