Jordan Times
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Royal visit fills senior
citizens with hope
By Mahmoud Al Abed
AMMAN — Senior citizens residing in the Golden Age Home said the visit of Their
Majesties King Abdullah and Queen Rania on Tuesday assured them that they had
not been forgotten and filled them with hope for the future. The old men and
women at the home, run by the White Beds Society (WBS), said the Royal visit
gave them the feeling that they had not been abandoned and their old age needs
will always be met.
The eldest guest at the house, Maryam Sawwan, 104, recalled the King's visit to
the facility two years ago and visits by Queen Rania. Sawwan had a humble
request from the King: A new pair of glasses.
The centre also houses an ex-serviceman, Nabil Shroush, who at just 27 years of
age has been a resident at the home for four years since a road accident left
him paralysed. Shroush said he had no one to take care of him and had nowhere to
go.
Another guest, who asked to be identified only as Abu Ahmad “to avoid social
embarrassment to his family,” told the King of his first encounter with His
Majesty the late King Hussein.
A Royal Court official said the goal of the visit was to ensure that senior
citizens were being well served and living a comfortable and decent life.
Touring the quarter-century-old facility and listening to workers and
inhabitants of the house, King Abdullah gave instructions to increase funding
for the institution, which is built on 27 dunums of forestland in the Jweideh
area south of the capital.
Upon the King's directives, concerned authorities will address shortages
suffered by the home, where 57 men and 46 women over 60 years of age receive
accommodation, as well as medical, social and entertainment services.
The King instructed the Ministry of Health to provide regular assistance to the
centre, including specialised doctors and medicines.
WBS President Haifa Bashir, said the Health Ministry provides the required
medical treatment and medications for the residents but acknowledged periodic
shortages of medications.
The Social Development Ministry undertakes almost half the costs of 80 guests of
the house, paying the society JD120 monthly for each referral.
The remaining 23 guests are supported by their families who pay the same sum,
except in cases where the cost of medical treatment is too high, said the house
director, Maha Obeidat.
Citing a recent study detailing the cost of care for each guest, Obeidat said
the society budgets a monthly sum of JD135 per person. This is a heavy
responsibility for the WBC, the social worker said, given that their sources of
income are limited.
The volunteers expressed gratitude for the King's directives to support plans to
provide improved services.
One plan is to build an 800-square-metre senior citizens club inside a public
park in Um Al Summaq area of Amman, according to Bashir, who said the plot of
land has already been allocated and the designs are almost ready.
Bashir said that the Royal visit boosted the morale of the “underpaid” social
workers taking care of these people, who are carrying out their humanitarian
mission with a spirit of dedication.