Yet look north, across the Syrian border and there are fields of green, orchards and market gardens, before crossing the long sandy coast-line and out over the Mediterranean Sea.
On the ground it is even more striking. There are huge fertile plains around Damascus, along the coast, and in the northern half of the country – we drove past irrigated crops of cotton, tobacco, wheat and barley. Sleek fat Friesian cows graze in long grass beside the road. Bedouin shepherds tend their sheep (the lead sheep is in fact a donkey, who the herd follows wherever he goes).
There is oil and gas, minerals under the soil, and a long coast-line for fishing and tourism. In contrast Jordan has almost nothing – no gas or oil, no coast apart from its port at Aqaba, and so little rain that most of the country is parched desert.
Yet Jordan’s standard of living is about three times higher than Syria.
Investment finance pours into Jordan from the Arab world as well as the west - Jordan’s position as trusted ally of the US has given it a huge economic advantage, but of course at a price. The hated Bush/Blair partnership, makes Jordan a target for Islamic extremists, and the authorities have to be constantly on their guard.
We held a prize-giving for the three hundred animal clubs we have set up in schools all over the country. Princess San’a gave the prizes, Lord Newall, SPANA’s President, and the Minister of Education made speeches, and the children performed songs, dances and plays. Sadly, the British Embassy in Amman was too busy to send a representative.
Meanwhile in Syria, things are not quite the same. We spent a couple of days in the coastal resort of Tartous – ‘Jewel of Western Syria’. Well, not exactly.
The seafront is a five mile stretch of rubble. The city’s sewage system empties directly onto the ‘beaches’. Rusting boats and laid-up tankers sit rotting just offshore. Litter and rubbish clog the open waterways through the town.
Yet at the Education Centre up in the hills above the city, a group of biology teachers listen raptly as Diana gives them new ideas for teaching children. We are struggling to introduce the idea of empathy – difficult in any culture. Yet here, there is an almost overwhelming eagerness to try new concepts and ideas – and a welcome and friendliness to us as outsiders that is truly humbling. My stumbling Arabic is gleefully applauded.
SPANA is probably the only British Charity working in Syria. Sadly, the British Embassy in Damascus were too busy to help in any way.
It’s difficult to pin down, but despite all the obvious problems, there is something very special about Syria and its people.
Jeremy Hulme
