How can $500 improve your well-being? That’s the question we’ve been asking ARC teams around the world the last couple of weeks.
Our staff work in some very challenging circumstances helping people who’ve struggled through so much. It’s a stressful job. So, we wanted to do the doable for our teams who are used to giving of themselves but don’t always have the time or resources to take care of themselves.
We asked the team at Questscope – our partner agency working with marginalized youth in Jordan – what would help their team most. And their answer was swift: a flat surface in the courtyard! The Questscope team uses the office courtyard for many purposes including hosting small events and holding staff meetings. Last month, the team personally pitched in funds and purchased a ping-pong table for some after hours fun as a team.
But, unfortunately, the table has been folded up in the corner. The floor in the courtyard is very uneven, with potholes, cracks and different types of surfaces everywhere. A couple of staff have taken falls and been injured playing ping pong because of the hazardous surface. The ping-pong-ers had temporarily hung up their paddles, so they were excited when they heard they could fix the floor.
“We want to provide a suitable and comfortable space for people to sit and have a good time,” said Questscope team member Mazen. “So we really appreciate this opportunity.”
The team hired someone to come and make the courtyard surface flat and safe for team members and their visitors and partners. He came and applied cement to even and smooth the surface and then tiled the whole area in the same material. Once he was finished, the courtyard was smooth as a baby’s bottom – nowhere to trip, nowhere to tumble.
The team could barely wait for the new cement to dry so they could get out and play ping-pong again. “Now it will be great,” said Mazen. “We’ll avoid any future injuries!”
