In Ghawr Safi, a farming region at the southern end of the Dead Sea, life is lived more than 300 meters below sea level. The village lies about 130 kilometers south of Jordan’s capital Amman, in a sun‑scorched basin where summer heat is intense and winter brings its own hardship.
For families who survive on agricultural and temporary work, the colder months mean fewer jobs and diminishing food supplies at home. Warm clothing and sturdy shoes for children fall far down the list, behind basic staples like rice, beans, and cooking oil.
Since 2010, Tzu Chi Jordan has returned to this same valley year after year, organizing food distributions during Ramadan and winter. In December 2025, volunteers once again loaded vehicles in the early dawn, determined that the families of Ghawr Safi would not face the season alone.
A long road from Amman to Ghawr Safi
On December 19, at 6:30 a.m., the sky over Amman was only beginning to brighten when nineteen volunteers gathered to depart. The round trip to Ghawr Safi would exceed 200 kilometers, a route so familiar after more than a decade that many could describe every bend in the road—yet no one treated it as routine.
They came from many backgrounds: three long‑time Tzu Chi commissioners, Khader, Mohamed Khir Roz, and Mohammad Almasri; two mothers from Tzu Xin House; three staff members from the Jordan office; four university scholarship recipients; and seven community volunteers who have been part of local outreach for years.
Each carried the same thought: six hundred farming families were waiting.
Because Ghawr Safi’s winters are milder than those of its surrounding areas, seasonal workers and herders move in for the colder months. The population swells from around 100,000 in summer to roughly 120,000 in winter. Yet work opportunities do not grow with the numbers. For many families, winter is precisely when fields fall quiet, wages disappear, and food runs low.
To address the most urgent needs, volunteers prepared food parcels valued at roughly 20 Jordanian dinars (about 28 USD). Every parcel contained daily staples:
- 3.5 kg of rice
- 3.5 kg of sugar
- 3 kg of lentils
- 2 kg of white beans
- 2 kg of wheat “rice” (cracked wheat)
- 1.5 liters of cooking oil
- 100 tea bags
- 4 packs of pasta
- 4 cans of fava beans
- 500 g of sesame candy
The team divided the distribution across three sites in Ghawr Safi, borrowing space from a school and a sports center. At each location, 200 registered households arrived in turn to receive their parcel—600 families in total.
LEFT: On December 19, 2025, at 6:30 a.m., nineteen volunteers left Amman at daybreak, heading 130 kilometers south to Ghawr Safi for the annual winter distribution. RIGHT: Volunteer Mohamed Khir Roz (front, second right) reads Master Cheng Yen’s message, explaining that what residents receive is not only material aid but also a spirit of selfless care. | Photos: Chin-Mei Liu
A message of respect, read aloud in Arabic
At the first venue, a school auditorium, residents were already seated quietly when the volunteers arrived. Before any parcels changed hands, Mohamed stood up to read a letter from Master Cheng Yen.
In Arabic, he shared the story of how Tzu Chi began with thirty housewives in Taiwan, each saving the equivalent of a few coins from daily grocery money in simple bamboo banks. Their small, steady offerings eventually grew into a global network of care.
He also explained that assistance is given without distinction—no separation by gender, ethnicity, or religion. For many in the room, this was their only encounter with a Buddhist organization. The letter introduced not just a charity, but an attitude: to help in the most practical way, with deep respect.
As each food parcel was passed from volunteer to resident, volunteers brought their palms together in greeting. There were no long speeches at that moment—only eye contact, a nod, and a quiet exchange. Some residents whispered thanks; others placed a hand on their chest in return. Gratitude and blessing flowed both ways, without needing many words.
When disability and poverty meet
In Ghawr Safi, hardship is often compounded. Due to a history of close‑kin marriage, limited health education, and scarce medical services, the number of people living with disabilities is noticeably high. Many families also lack the means to seek specialized care.
LEFT: Since 2023, distributions here have used reusable bags to reduce plastic waste. Two years on, residents now remember to bring their own bags to every distribution, doing their part for the environment. RIGHT: Because of close‑kin marriages, poor health education, and limited medical resources, many Ghawr Safi residents live with disabilities, and volunteers extend the same patient care to them. | Photos: Chin-Mei Liu
Among those in line were elderly people struggling to walk, women with partial or complete vision loss, and residents whose physical conditions made the journey to the venue exhausting.
At one site, a visually impaired woman arrived, supported by a family member. A university volunteer stepped forward to guide her through registration, then carried her food parcel, carefully repacking it into the reusable bag she had brought. The young volunteer walked at her pace all the way to the entrance to meet her relatives.
LEFT: A woman with visual impairment (right) is assisted by a youth volunteer (second right), who helps her collect the parcel and carries it to the gate where her family waits. RIGHT: Fifa Elementary School in Ghawr Safi is a small rural school from kindergarten to grade six, with 205 students. Each August, students receive schoolbags and stationery; in December, a new pair of shoes brings eager smiles. | Photos: Chin-Mei Liu
For the volunteers, the work was not just a matter of handing things out. It was an opportunity to walk alongside each household, even briefly, and to show that their struggles are seen.
Young scholarship students assisted shoulder to shoulder with volunteers from Tzu Xin House (a residence for single refugee mothers and children supported by Tzu Chi). Their quiet greetings, smiles, and unhurried pace steadied the flow of people and softened the tension that often accompanies public aid distributions.
Returning for the children, with winter shoes
Two days later, on December 21, the same team returned to Ghawr Safi. This time, the focus was the children.
Over the course of the day, at three public schools in remote areas and one special education center, one thousand children stepped forward to receive new winter shoes—a gift for the coming New Year, and for many, the only new item they would receive all season.
Lines of students waited in courtyards and hallways, their eyes following each pair of shoes as volunteers opened the boxes. Some wore sandals with broken straps; others had shoes worn thin at the soles. The excitement was easy to see.
Volunteer after volunteer knelt down on the cold ground to help children try on their new shoes—removing old ones, checking the fit, adjusting laces or straps.
LEFT: Tzu Xin House mother Faten Jumaa (left) brings her son to volunteer together. By placing the shoes directly into residents’ and children’s hands, she hopes he will “see hardship and cherish his own blessings,” and learn to care for others. RIGHT: Each food parcel—filled with rice, sugar, lentils, beans, wheat, oil, tea, pasta, fava beans, and sesame candy—provides crucial support through winter. | Photos: Chin-Mei Liu
At the Fifa Elementary School, a small campus serving 205 students from kindergarten to grade six, children greeted the familiar navy‑blue vests with bright anticipation. Every August, they receive schoolbags and stationery that allow them to start the school year prepared. Now, in December, the new shoes mean they can walk to class with dry, warm feet even when the paths are cold and rough.
Gentle steps at a special education center
The final stop was a special education center for children with disabilities. Here, movements were slower and conversations softer.
Some children needed help simply to sit and lift their legs. Others moved unpredictably or did not respond at first when spoken to. Volunteers adjusted their own pace accordingly—kneeling longer, waiting patiently, tightening one strap at a time.
At the end of the day, volunteers arrive at a special education center for children with disabilities. They carefully help each child put on new shoes, making sure that every school day this winter begins with warmth and protection. | Photo: Jin-Mei Liu
For these students, appropriate footwear is more than comfort; it is safety. A fall on uneven ground can easily result in serious injury. Watching them take a few tentative steps, then more confident ones, volunteers saw both relief and joy spread across faces—of children, teachers, and parents.
Continuing a quiet promise in Jordan
In the depths of winter, in one of the lowest places on earth, food parcels have filled kitchens, and new shoes now protect a thousand small pairs of feet on the dusty roads of Ghawr Safi.
For local families, the annual winter distribution eases the hardest months of the year. For the volunteers, many of whom are Jordanian themselves, it is the continuation of a promise made fifteen years ago: to return, to listen, and to help in ways that truly matter to the people here.
As night fell and the vehicles turned back toward Amman, the valley was once again quiet. But in hundreds of homes, pots would soon be simmering with rice and lentils, and in the morning, children would walk to school with warmer, stronger steps.
The geography of Ghawr Safi may be extreme, but the concerns of its families are universal—enough to eat, safety for their children, a chance at education. Year after year, those concerns continue to draw caring hands back to this low-lying patch of earth, making sure that, in this corner of Jordan, winter is met with love and warmth.
Written by Lamiya Lin (林綠卿)
