I’ve been thinking about this ever since I landed in Jordan: Should Jordanians abroad come back home? Does Jordan need them, do they need Jordan? Where is home? We have an Arabic proverb that says being poor in your country makes you a stranger, and being rich anywhere else makes you feel home. I partially agree.
But who will build this home if everyone is after his/her own personal interest only. I think, and I might be a little idealistic here, we shouldn’t ask ourselves what did our country give us but what we gave it. The same way we don’t ask ourselves what did our parents do for us, but what we should do for them regardless of everything. Things are not supposed to be perfect, we shouldn’t wait for everything to be perfectly right before we step in and do something, live reality AND try to change it. You have to be in to know what’s really happening before you conclude that your country is a God forsaken one.
Then again realistically, that doesn’t work for everyone. As much as I used to encourage my parents to come back to Jordan and settle down for good, I made sure to carefully pave their way to disappointments after living here for 6 months only (reality bit me). My parents, especially my father, were very passionate about going back to Jordan. Huge part of it is caused by nostalgia for things that are now in the past but now that I’m here, and they get to know what it’s really like to live in Jordan, they’re not sure anymore.
Like running water is always healthier, people living abroad will bring new energies and different dreams home. They’ll come with a wider view of everything, the ability to see the big picture most of the time. Bad economy keeps people occupied, even crippled, so who’s to care about everything else? Who’s to care about economy even, when the majority of people are understandably too focused on the prices of their bread and tomatoes?
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Interesting post Shaden, it is quite a dilemma indeed. I for one am planning to go home once I’ve achieved a specific milestone in my life. I started the countdown already and 3 years 2 months and 15 days from today I will be on “The” flight home.
I have settled here because I have a dream, and I’m very close to achieving it. Once I’m done, I will take all the experiences, talents, knowledge and vision back with me. And help build a better future for my children back home, while keeping an open vision to the future.
Many people benefit Jordan way more when they’re outside of the country, just like the case with Lebanon. A huge portion of the national income comes from expats. People living elsewhere but developing real-estate property in Jordan, supporting families and providing much needed stream hard currency.
Would Jordan be able to sustain the 1million people living abroad if they decide to come back? Well, it will be a crises on the national level. It will take a lot of resources to mitigate, and it will most definitely drive competition and unemployment skyrocketing, not to mention traffic, pollution and housing.
Many people don’t have a choice, they travelled and settled elsewhere, many miss Jordan and dream of the day they will return