'Student initiative to support street vendor encourages others to pitch in'

AMMAN — An initiative by Yarmouk University students to help a street vendor near the university’s north gate has grabbed public attention and encouraged others to contribute to the cause, the Public Security Department’s radio station said on Wednesday.

Following up on the gesture from the Irbid-based university's students, Amen FM visited the old street vendor in the northern governorate.

Shadi Jaber from the radio station said Abu Bassam is a Syrian man in his sixties who lives in a rented house with a few pieces of furniture and six children. 

The rent costs JD200 per month. He does not own a heater at home and limps when he walks, Jaber said.

When people heard the news on the radio and the photo of the old man was circulated on social media, residents of Irbid and Amman participated in contributing to donations to buy what Abu Bassam sells and support him.

“We have so far received five heaters, JD200 worth of kerosene for the cold weather and a salary of JD100 every month,” Jaber told The Jordan Times. 

It was only until Wednesday that Abu Bassam knew about the students’ initiative to help him, as they had informed him before that the toys they bought from him are for orphans on the occasion of holidays. 

Abu Bassam commended the efforts of the students and those who participated in the initiative and fulfilled the needs and expenses of his family, according to Amen FM. 

In previous remarks to The Jordan Times, students said the vendor arrives at the same spot near the university every day in the morning regardless of the weather condition to sell the toys he displays on a piece of cloth.

The initiative founder, Oday Sayaheen, commended the efforts of Amen FM in covering humanitarian gestures around the Kingdom.