9 Souk Jara Booths to Look Out For

Today I decided to take a walk in Souk Jara and count all the booths that make me want to go there, despite my love-hate relationship with the Souk. It was part of research I’m doing for a huge article on all the things that I dislike about it. Here is a list of my favourite booths, in no particular order.

Operation Smile – Jordan Chapter

Operation Smile is an NGO that helps children born with facial deformities, get said deformities  ’repaired’. They have a bunch of ribbons, bracelets, and handkerchiefs you can buy for a couple of JDs to support the children.

Approximately one in every 700 Jordanian babies is born with a cleft lip and/or a cleft palate.

Field Guide to Jordan

Field guide to Jordan is a treasure of information on Jordanian flora and fauna, geology, archaeology, and and environment, in a compact form. Best of all, it’s another local product, and that of one family, namely Jarir Maani and his siblings. Everybody should check it out. Check out their website too, it even has a forum for people interested in any of the subjects addressed in the book.

Entity Green

Entity Green claims to be Jordan’s only recycling program. They’re presenting their capitalization crazy UNwasteD! Collection of recycled goods, including bags, notebook covers, and re-blown glass bottles, made into dishes, vases, glasses, and candle holders.  They also have this initiative to re-use single side printed papers called “matweeco”, which I find really innovative and cool.  You can check them out at Souk Jara, and they also have a recycling collection point at Cozmo if you have any recyclable goods.

Jo Bedu (Website Under Construction as of 1/7/10)

Jo Bedu from the start were an excellent example of a good local experiment in creativity. Their T-shirts are funny and derived from the local youth culture,  giving them a sense of authenticity. They also managed to achieve that without appearing kitschy, something that none of the teeming masses of Jo Bedu clones that sprung up managed to do.

Follow them on Facebook or Twitter.

Arab Group for the Protection of Nature

If you’re a supporter of environmental causes as I am, be sure to check out the APN’s booth to get more information about their many projects and raise environmental awareness, particularly their work on the environmental footprint of war and occupation. One of their current projects I like is a repeat of their first initiative to plant a million years, this time in Jerusalem and Gaza.

International Relief and Development

The IRD has a booth for it’s community based support program for Iraqi refugees in Amman. If you’re going to need catering or anything of the sort, then why not do it with a little bit of social responsibility? The IRD is training and supporting Iraqi refugees, in order for them to lead productive lives. I was lucky enough to sample their food, and it’s really good!

Farah Zahhar – Photography and Design

Farah Zahhar has an nice display of photographs for sale in Souk Jara. You can check out her photography on her facebook group or her booth at the Souk.

Jordan Poetry

The Jordan Poetry booth sells used books, and most importantly a selection of local books, like “Banat Amman Ayam Zaman”, the short stories of Hisham Bustani, and naturally, the second edition of the Jordan Poetry book, a collection of works by many young Jordanian writers. If you like to read, you should defiantly check it out, and if you don’t like to read, shame on you. If you’re looking for books for an even younger generation, Dar Al-Salwa has those two booths over from JP.

I hope you’ve liked this round up.

Are there any interesting booths I’ve missed? Feel free to share them with a comment down here. =]