In the past three weeks, there have been moments where I feel as though my privilege as a foreigner has been apparent to myself. From having people adapt and translate Arabic to make me more comfortable to being able to have a comfortable living situation in Amman, I have felt as though there is a lot of privilege in being here. One thing I have thought about a lot has been that these two months are a temporary experience and that there is privilege in being a temporary visitor. A lot of the information we have learned about on Jordanian identity, culture, refugee circumstances have been difficult conversations. And while I feel as though these topics weigh down on me while being physically in Jordan, I have the privilege of knowing that I’m removed from these circumstances.

The Digital Product team and I have discussed a lot about how our work of developing a web application to ease the process of reporting annual finances to the government and donors could have easily been done in the U.S. However, there are so many things that we have gained from being here in Jordan and have had the privilege of experiencing. I feel as though there have been many instances of my privilege as a foreigner showing through even having certain needs to complete our project.

Another concept I have been reflecting on is how can I make the resources that have been put into me being here in Jordan more valuable than its monetary or material value. I have been consciously trying to make an effort in my work that can allow the non-profits we are aiming to help to become self-sustaining. Our supervisors talk about this idea a lot; being able to sustain their organization long-term is a concern almost all small NGOs and CBOs have. I hope that my time in Jordan and my work to create this application will sustain many organizations long after the short two-months that I have been here.