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Serving the needy in a dignified way
By Heba Elayyan, Jordan News
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“Ezwetti is
not a temporary project launched for self-satisfaction, it is a lifetime
project created to serve others in a way that preserves their dignity,” said founder
of Ezwetti restaurant and of this individual, non-profit initiative launched in
2015.اضافة اعلان
The aim was to establish a social restaurant that seeks to achieve social and economic solidarity among Jordanians.
Nabulsi, in his mid-30s, is an activist who works in the field of social development. He worked with several local and international organizations, and is now executive advisor for Athar Al-Khair Holding Group, a Saudi organization working in Indonesia, Tanzania and Qalqilya.
(Photo: Handout from Ezwetti)
Ezwetti is a restaurant that offers free food to those in need. At the restaurant, one can be either an inviter or an invitee, “as we do not refer to people as poor or rich” said Nabulsi.
If one is the inviter, that person has the choice to buy a meal for him/herself and a meal for another person who may need a meal; the paid-for meal takes the form of an invitation pinned as a coupon on the “wall of kindness”. When the beneficiaries come, they take the coupon discretely, in a way that preserves their dignity, and get the meal.
(Photo: Handout from Ezwetti)
The restaurant works entirely with volunteers, since it is a non-profit restaurant. The money the inviter pays is meant to only cover the restaurant’s expenses in terms of water, electricity, rent, and materials used for meals. According to one volunteer who spoke to Jordan News, the meal prices start at 30 piasters and goes as high as JD1.
(Photo: Handout from Ezwetti)
Nabulsi said that 40 young men and women from different backgrounds – students, workers, foreigners, and Arabs – volunteer to work at the restaurant. They come to volunteer at least once a week, and do everything: bring vegetables and other ingredients, prepare meals, serve food, and clean the restaurant.
According to the volunteer interviewed, the restaurant serves local home-prepared food such as mufarakeh, makdous, labaneh, cheese, eggs, and tahini. In addition, koshary, mujadara, and bulgur are served once a week, on Mondays, as only one volunteer knows how to cook these.
Nabulsi said that in the process of purchasing ingredients, the aim is to support needy women by buying their products such as labaneh, cheese, makdous, and olives, which are usually natural and use no preservatives, but they may be also bought from local shops and malls.
The restaurant does not serve meat and chicken, to keep prices down for volunteers.
(Photo: Handout from Ezwetti)
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the restaurant meals were served only to old people from downtown, but during the pandemic, the number of unemployed and day laborers increased, so they are also being served at the restaurant, which means that both adults and children in need are now among the beneficiaries.
Nabulsi said that from 2015 until now, some 25,000 meals were served; an average of 80 to 100 meals daily.
The restaurant is located on the oldest Amman staircase, known as Al Kalha, which connects downtown Amman to Jabal Al Weibdeh. The reason for choosing this location, said Nabulsi, is its proximity to the heart of the city and the affordable rents in the area
(Photo: Handout from Ezwetti)
Nabulsi said that when he first opened Ezwetti, the area was empty, but because of it, the place has now become a cultural hub, with Jadal and Zizfon, two cafés that gather well-educated Jordanians for cultural meetings and events next door.
Nabulsi said he launched Ezwetti with the desire to make it the work of a lifetime, not a temporary experiment, which is often the case with charity volunteer work.
(Photo: Handout from Ezwetti)
“The second factor [that prompted him to open the restaurant] is that I am from a generous family, which influenced me since childhood; I remember one day I saw a homeless person sitting at a restaurant, so I tried to help him and to bring him food, but he refused, so I left a dinar for him, but I did not feel comfortable thinking about who would help him in the coming days. This is where the idea of the restaurant, and its name, came from: the desire to help others and stand by the needy.”
Read more Good food
The aim was to establish a social restaurant that seeks to achieve social and economic solidarity among Jordanians.
Nabulsi, in his mid-30s, is an activist who works in the field of social development. He worked with several local and international organizations, and is now executive advisor for Athar Al-Khair Holding Group, a Saudi organization working in Indonesia, Tanzania and Qalqilya.
(Photo: Handout from Ezwetti)
Ezwetti is a restaurant that offers free food to those in need. At the restaurant, one can be either an inviter or an invitee, “as we do not refer to people as poor or rich” said Nabulsi.
If one is the inviter, that person has the choice to buy a meal for him/herself and a meal for another person who may need a meal; the paid-for meal takes the form of an invitation pinned as a coupon on the “wall of kindness”. When the beneficiaries come, they take the coupon discretely, in a way that preserves their dignity, and get the meal.
(Photo: Handout from Ezwetti)
The restaurant works entirely with volunteers, since it is a non-profit restaurant. The money the inviter pays is meant to only cover the restaurant’s expenses in terms of water, electricity, rent, and materials used for meals. According to one volunteer who spoke to Jordan News, the meal prices start at 30 piasters and goes as high as JD1.
(Photo: Handout from Ezwetti)
Nabulsi said that 40 young men and women from different backgrounds – students, workers, foreigners, and Arabs – volunteer to work at the restaurant. They come to volunteer at least once a week, and do everything: bring vegetables and other ingredients, prepare meals, serve food, and clean the restaurant.
According to the volunteer interviewed, the restaurant serves local home-prepared food such as mufarakeh, makdous, labaneh, cheese, eggs, and tahini. In addition, koshary, mujadara, and bulgur are served once a week, on Mondays, as only one volunteer knows how to cook these.
Nabulsi said that in the process of purchasing ingredients, the aim is to support needy women by buying their products such as labaneh, cheese, makdous, and olives, which are usually natural and use no preservatives, but they may be also bought from local shops and malls.
The restaurant does not serve meat and chicken, to keep prices down for volunteers.
(Photo: Handout from Ezwetti)
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the restaurant meals were served only to old people from downtown, but during the pandemic, the number of unemployed and day laborers increased, so they are also being served at the restaurant, which means that both adults and children in need are now among the beneficiaries.
Nabulsi said that from 2015 until now, some 25,000 meals were served; an average of 80 to 100 meals daily.
The restaurant is located on the oldest Amman staircase, known as Al Kalha, which connects downtown Amman to Jabal Al Weibdeh. The reason for choosing this location, said Nabulsi, is its proximity to the heart of the city and the affordable rents in the area
(Photo: Handout from Ezwetti)
Nabulsi said that when he first opened Ezwetti, the area was empty, but because of it, the place has now become a cultural hub, with Jadal and Zizfon, two cafés that gather well-educated Jordanians for cultural meetings and events next door.
Nabulsi said he launched Ezwetti with the desire to make it the work of a lifetime, not a temporary experiment, which is often the case with charity volunteer work.
(Photo: Handout from Ezwetti)
“The second factor [that prompted him to open the restaurant] is that I am from a generous family, which influenced me since childhood; I remember one day I saw a homeless person sitting at a restaurant, so I tried to help him and to bring him food, but he refused, so I left a dinar for him, but I did not feel comfortable thinking about who would help him in the coming days. This is where the idea of the restaurant, and its name, came from: the desire to help others and stand by the needy.”
Read more Good food
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