It seems that with all of the social platforms available these days it would be easy to meet a circle of like-minded people to share your interests with. As someone who has been moving around since I was 17 years old, I can tell you, it isn’t as easy as it seems.
Because I too know the struggle of wanting to go out and do things, but not knowing where to find nice groups or events, I always want to share when I come across a good community of active people. The other day I came across a Facebook group called Out&About® Jordan and I wanted to share what they’re up to in Amman and why you should consider checking out their events. I especially recommend their group if you are an expat looking to practice your Arabic, as they have a large base of locals.
To find out more about Out&About®, I spoke with one of their founders, Rami Doleh. Here’s what he had to say…
What is Out&About® all about?
Out&About® is a social entrepreneurship venture that was established by three founders Dalia Bushnaq, Bashar Haddad and Rami Doleh in 2010 with the dream of creating a global society that is able to live in harmony by concentrating on the commonalities among the human race, ignoring the differences and celebrating the diversity.
Vision and Mission
Out&About’s vision is to establish a global citizen platform for building a global society based on five universal values:
- Love
- Peace
- Acceptance
- Forgiveness
- Benevolence
Their mission is to create interest-based diversified programs and activities that have a mixture of bonding and intellectual experiences both offline and online.
Out&About’s Events
Out&About® holds many events on a weekly basis and the number of members who join their activities ranges from 150 to 500 per week.
Some examples of their events:
- Book Club – weekly
- Sports Day: Volleyball, Basketball, Soccer, and Badminton – weekly
- Circles Program: Discussion circles. Currently, they have 3 circles:
- Life Coaching Circle – weekly
- Awareness Circle: Speakers discussing different topics – monthly
- English Conversation Circle – weekly
- Death Café Circle
- Hand in Hand Program: Charity
- Training Courses and Workshops: Salsa classes, languages, personal development, etc.
- Trips and Adventures
- Mashaweer Program: Walking tour to learn about the cultural and historical backgrounds of different areas in the city.
- Drama Club
- Fun and Recreation: Paintball, bowling, karting, etc.
You can find all of Out&About’s activities on their Facebook event page, on Meetup.com, or on Eventbrite.com.
Do your events cater to mainly locals/Arabic speakers or also to expats/non-Arabic speakers?
Out&About is an open society and they welcome members from all over the world to join their activities.
However, some of the programs such as the book club and circles programs – except for the English conversation circle – are all conducted in Arabic; therefore, non-Arabic speakers will find it difficult to join. Some non-Arabic speakers who are in the country to learn the language do join these activities. Not to mention that every now and then non-Arabic speakers join the sports day, trips and adventures, salsa classes and other activities.
Join Out&About!
If you are interested in learning more about Out&About or joining them for their activities, be sure to follow them on Facebook: facebook.com/pg/OutandAbout.Jordan/
