Finding Work Again Through School Feeding in Refugee Camps

A New Beginning in Zaatari

Nadia was just 13 years old when she arrived at Zaatari Camp in 2012, forced to flee her home in Daraa, southern Syria, as the conflict escalated. What had once been a life shaped by school, family, and familiar routines was suddenly replaced by displacement and uncertainty.

At the time, Zaatari itself was still taking shape. Families lived in tents, services were limited, and no one knew how long they would stay. For Nadia, those early months were defined by fear, adjustment, and the heavy reality of starting over.

As the years passed, Nadia built her life inside the camp. She completed her education, married, and became a mother. But later, when her parents returned to Syria, she lost a vital source of emotional support, just as the pressures of daily life in the camp continued to grow. With limited work opportunities and humanitarian assistance increasingly stretched, the family’s challenges deepened. Still, Nadia kept searching for a way forward, determined to find purpose in a place where life can often feel paused. 

The Challenge of Unemployment

Job opportunities in Zaatari are scarce and offered on a rotational basis to ensure that as many families as possible can benefit. Nadia managed to secure short-term jobs whenever possible, yet long gaps between opportunities created both financial and emotional strain. Over the years, the family accumulated more than JOD 2,000 in debt to cover basic and unexpected expenses. “I love to work, it changes my whole mental state,” she explains. “When I stay home for too long without work, I feel depressed, like I’m stuck in one place.” 

The strain was made heavier by reduced assistance. Like other refugee families, Nadia’s household was affected by the gradual reduction in WFP’s monthly cash assistance from JOD 23 per person in earlier years to JOD 15 today, further weakening their ability to meet daily needs amid global funding shortfalls.

Her sense of stillness and the inability to contribute to her family pushed her to keep searching for purpose and hope.

A Kitchen of Sisters

In September 2025, Nadia finally heard about an opportunity at a community kitchen in the camp. She applied, hopeful but uncertain, and was soon accepted. It was a moment of relief and excitement, her chance to return to work in a meaningful way. 

Before starting, Nadia and her colleagues received specialized training on food handling, hygiene, and safety, equipping them with new skills and confidence. Today, the kitchen prepares nutritious meals every day for schoolchildren across the camp.

Nadia’s day now begins before dawn, she often walking with her husband to the bus stop at 5:00 AM. The routine is demanding, but the change it brought to her life was deeply positive and immediate, filling her days with movement, purpose and connection instead of long, silent hours at home. 

In a place that once felt isolating, Nadia found a new source of strength. "All the women in the kitchen became like my sisters," Nadia explains, “You open your heart to them.” Alongside the sense of belonging, she developed practical skills, including managing the inventory calculations required to help prepare more than 15,000 meals each day.

A Meaningful Contribution

For Nadia, what gives her work true meaning is its impact. Through the community-based kitchen, she helps provide children with essential, healthy meals, offering nutrition they might not otherwise receive. "When I see the meals we prepare reaching the schoolchildren, I feel proud," she says.

That purpose grew even more personal when her eight-year-old daughter, Tala, began receiving the same meals at school. Tala takes pride in her mother’s role and often tells her friends, “My mom helps make the food we eat at school. I even know what tomorrow’s meal will include.”

“These small moments remind me when I wake up every morning,” Nadia says. “What I do here helps my children and thousands of others at the same time.” 

Finding Movement Again

The change Nadia experienced at work reached her home as well. Ahmad sees the difference clearly. “Work gave her back her energy,” he says. “She goes out, meets people, feels useful, and that happiness comes back with her into our home.”

While the family continues to face financial pressures and accumulated debt, Nadia’s monthly salary now provides vital support that helps manage their daily needs. Her goal is "I want my children to grow up feeling safe and supported."

Ultimately, Nadia hopes her story serves as an example: "I wish every person in life to keep developing themselves, to keep looking for themselves, wherever they are. I found myself here in this kitchen." For Nadia, the WFP-supported kitchen offers a path to empowerment and stability.

Looking Ahead

Nadia hopes her experience encourages others not to give up on themselves. “Wherever you are, you should keep learning and growing,” she says. “This job gave me stability, skills, and a chance to feel that I am part of something bigger, serving my community.”

With the support of China, thousands of students in the Zaatari and Azraq refugee camps are now covered under the National School Feeding Programme’s healthy meals model. This contribution enabled the expansion of the programme to refugee camps, ensuring regular access to nutritious meals for schoolchildren. As needs continue to grow and resources become more constrained, sustaining this programme is increasingly critical. Beyond addressing children’s nutritional needs, the programme creates paid work opportunities for refugee women who prepare meals in two dedicated kitchens in the camps, while also supporting local farmers, bakers, and food producers across Jordan.