With great passion and determination, a big smile and a sincere intention to learn, train and benefit, a group of young women resolved to work in the hotel business, which is one of the most promising sectors to offer job opportunities that attract young women and men.
According to the statistics of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, 20,918 people work in 604 hotels, of these, 18,513 are Jordanians and 2,438non-Jordanians.
The Design and Determine project, which is implemented by the Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD) and works to establish a qualitative partnership with the private sector in order to create employment opportunities and decent jobs in a safe environment, trained Rita Fadel, Aram Kyriakos, Noura Al Hussein, Rana Abdel Rahman, Maha Qandil and Yasmine Mahfouz in the hotel sector, at the Grand Hyatt Amman Hotel.
Practical training of young people aims to equip them with real skills, preparing them to enter the labor market, refining their knowledge, enhancing their experience and skills, and increasing their chances of being hired, thus helping them work in professions they find suitable.
The Design and Determine project seeks to enhance Jordanians’ and refugees’ capacity building , improve their employability, build their professional skills and support entrepreneurs to start work, grow and expand.
’I love design and business management’
“I loved working at a sales fair more than working in ceramics,” Rita Fadel a 25 year-old Iraqi trainee who sells handicrafts, antiques, pendants and gemstones at the lobby of Hyatt Amman Hotel says.
Fadel entered the field after a friend told her about the project. Through the project, she learned how to deal with hotel visitors, the types and forms of antiques and their selling prices, and how to deal with foreign customers. In the future, she hopes to complete her university education in design or business administration, and get a stable job that will help her better her life.
’An opportunity to learn and benefit’
“Aram is calm and captures ideas intelligently,” said the general supervisor at Grand Hyatt Hotelof this21-year-old Iraqi man who entered the hotel business with great passion after the Design and Determine project provided him with a real opportunity to learn and benefit from the experience of the hotel staff.
In a short period, Aram Kyriakos learned how to serve food and drinks to guests, arrange tables and chairs and be hospitable. He aspires to gain more experience in the hotel business and to improve his skills in order to master his work in this field.
’I love arranging and Coordination’
“Naturally, I love arrangement and coordination, so I found myself in hotel work,” said Noura Al Hussein, a 28-year-old Syrian trainee who did practical training at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. She learned about the Design and Determine project through the ARDD Facebook page, and registered for this training opportunity provided by the project.
Hussein cleans the hotel rooms and caters to the food and beverage requirements of the visitors. She aspires to learn more about the hotel business and to be ready for any next steps in this field.
’I make sure to develop myself’
Responding to people’s inquiries requires good communication skills and may not be easy for many. For 28-year-old Jordanian trainee Rana Abdel Rahman, the matter is, however, easy. She loves her work, does it with pleasure and hopes to get better at it.
The Design and Determine project trained Rana Abdel Rahman on how to communicate and answer the calls of visitors and customers of the Grand Hyatt Amman Hotel, and transfer them to required departments. She hopes to improve her English language and master communication skills with people.
’Here I found my dream’
Passion for cooking and baking led Maha Qandil, a 39-year-old Jordanian trainee apply for the Design and Determine project, where training enabled her to learn the techniques of making pastries and bread in the kitchen of the Grand Hyatt Amman Hotel. Although she already had experience in the field, she got the chance to get acquainted with the most important international for bread-kneading techniques and how to use the ingredients correctly.
’Professional sweet maker’
“I had some attempts at making sweets, but I found a big difference when I came to train at the Hyatt Amman Hotel,” said Yasmine Mahfouz, a 22-year-old Jordanian trainee, who got the opportunity to train further through the Design and Determine project. Mahfouz mastered the ingredients, names and types of sweets, but she believes she needs a longer period of training to get to know more about making sweets. Today, Yasmine feels that she is able to make sweets on her own, and hopes to become a professional sweets maker and open her own business.
Design and Determine is funded by the European Regional Development and Protection Program (RDPP II) to support Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq. And it is a joint European initiative with the support of the Czech Republic, Denmark, the European Union, Ireland and Switzerland.
