Three days of roaming in Southern Jordan were sufficient to understand the place and the people, where spring breathes leisurely, and life rises from among the pebbles and grass. Villages sprinkle across the edges of the desert and the foothills of mountains, like points of light in a dim midst.
Only flocks of sheep crossing the horizon, and the clattering of their bells chant the first anthem of the earth—an anthem of simplicity, patience, and sustenance that comes only to those who understand the meaning of waiting.
The scene is beautifully astonishing, yet the beauty is incomplete; as soon as the eye settles on nature, the mind accompanies it to scrutinize the details—a scarce water supply, electricity not reaching every home, distant schools, and health facilities struggling over rugged distances. Spread out homes are connected only by the harshness of the place and the unity of need, as if the distance between one home and another creates an even greater distance between the citizen and the services.
In a country burdened with debt, one would assume these figures should reflect in reality through planning, justice, and tangible impact, yet reality hoarsely asks why all these debts exist yet nothing tangible materializes on the ground complaining of poverty day and night. Where do the plans go, and why does the South remain a witness to misplaced priorities, not just a lack of resources?
And the discussion about the South isn’t complete without pausing on its major paradox; the South hosts major national production companies, granting them enough of its land and resources to forge the nation's wealth, all the while Southern communities remain on the fringes of the returns. In the South, the Arab Potash Company operates, the wheels of the Cement factories turn, prestigious universities thrive, and Aqaba pulses with its port, whereas Petra remains a global witness to a tourist glory that does not sufficiently reflect on its social surroundings. Moreover, the South holds a promising deposit of minerals, including copper and other minerals, awaiting a developmental vision that transforms resources into added local value.
Yet the South does not raise the white flag, and the voice of its citizens declares daily perseverance—farming despite scarcity, education despite distance, and clinging to the land because the alternative is harsher. This perseverance is a quiet demand for clear rights, development that sees the individual first.
Southern Jordan, the richest and most precious edge with its heart open to possibilities. The South, rich in its resources, patient in its people, does not ask for the impossible, but for a fair equation that manifests in a partnership between the state and the place, as much as it returns to the human in service and developmental opportunity, making spring a lasting promise, and transforming the clattering of bells from an anthem of patience into an anthem of prosperity.
