THE BIRD: About me - contact me

About me - contact me

Name: Ali Taha Alnobani: Novelist, poet and civil society and human rights activist from Jordan

A member of Jordan writers society

Date and place of birth: Jerash, 1968

I was born in 1968 to a poor family in Jerash - Jordan. I found myself with paralyzed feet. Later, I learned from my mother that I'm paralyzed because of the negligence of an employee at the state health center, who was responsible for the vaccination of children at that time.
My childhood was very sad, and I remember that my father made arduous efforts to save me from the fate that awaits children with disability. In my country, disabled children are placed in special centers and subjected to different types of abuse. My father tried at that time to get treatment for me in hospitals. He used to carry me on his back, then go by bus to the hospital in the capital, Amman. I was three years old, and after seeing many doctors, they convinced my father that there was no cure and taught me to use crutches to walk.
My father made my crutches manually from the harsh beech, cutting the wood at the carpenter's workshop and then soaking in water for several days until it became soft. Then he bent the wood and formed it into the shape of crutches, perforating it with an instrument made by his own hand. Each hole took an hour or more with a manual drill.
My father did not want me to use weak crutches, so he made them of the most powerful wood. He wanted me to be strong, like beech wood in the face of cruelty and difficulties of life.
It's along story but I will be brief.
When I became five, my father visited one of the charities to get a wheelchair. After three or four months, I sat in my new wheelchair, and around me was a group of charity members, Arabs and foreign volunteers, who applauded the scene. In this wheelchair, my father sent me to school every day over a winding road until I finished high school.
My father was a poet. I remember him reading his poems in the summer evenings under the dim light to the admiration of visitors. In fact, poetry occupies a high place in our culture, high and impressive. I watched the impact carefully.
After high school, I bought a car and studied accounting at a community College in Jerash. Then I worked as an accountant in the Ministry of Health, but I always wanted to study Arabic literature. I moved from Jerash to Irbid - about 40 km from Jerash - and lived there alone, where I had to work and study at university. I took care of myself at home until I got a bachelor's degree in Arabic literature.
One of the things that I remember when I was in Irbid: I did not have a refrigerator, so I bought a small pottery jar to drink cold water in the heat of summer. One day, I came home thirsty and tried to drink water from it while I was standing on my crutches. I fell down, struck my head on the jar and broke it into small pieces ... I went faint.
Throughout the period of my study, I was not away from the political and intellectual currents in the region. I live in a troubled region, the Middle East. We were under a blockade and could only watch local TV, and could only read what our dictators want us to read. Thus, I enrolled in more than a Marxist party in that period, but soon I discovered they were futile and incompatible with human nature. Soon I began to adopt a new thought with the democratic opening, that brought us the age of satellite television and the Internet. I achieved more in the years of Internet and satellite channels than I had achieved during my thirty-five years.
The only constant thing that accompanied me throughout my journey is poetry, with a different attitude that changed depending on my experience.
The first poem I wrote was at the age of nine, in which I expressed my love to a girl I knew at that time. But what I wrote then was focused on my childhood sufferings from severe disability and poverty.
When I noticed that my crutches could give me the ability to communicate with people, I endured the hardship of walking. Muscles of my hands grew, and I began to build my relationships until my small room became a club. I engaged in political parties and movements, then established Jerash Literary Club, which enhanced the cultural life in my city for more than eight years. My poems in that period focused on the idea of justice, liberty, and the question of existence and death.
The most mature period in my life journey is the period of openness to other cultures. This started after I got a laptop, and access to the Internet - the emergence of satellite channels have made the world a small village. At this time I saw our world in a new way: depending on diversity and getting rid of rigorousness in determining right and wrong.
Human life is based on diversity and plurality. A poet is an explorer, looking for aspects of the vision. He turns the things to see into all its aspects, to melt at the end in positive Love, and to shorten the distances between people wherever they are and whatever their views are. I may represent this stage through my poetry; my poem that was written in Arabic entitled:
Earth is our sweetheart
And hungry fish in the sea of darkness
Is a mix of trees horror
And our foreignness
If earth embraced us
That because the stars flirt with our eyes
It remains to say that I'm now improving my English, because it removes the large barrier which prevents us from knowing or understanding different cultures. I have a great desire to contribute by spreading love, peace, and the values of justice and democracy in our world. So I began writing poetry in English, trying to communicate with the largest number of people in the planet.
Finally, I'm married and have three boys.
Love and peace to all,
Ali Taha Alnobani

· Qualifications:
* BA in Arabic Language and Arabic Literature from Yarmouk University in 1995.
* Community College Diploma in Accounting from Jarash College in1988.

· Experiences:

                      * Head of Jerash Literary forum from 1997-2001.
                     * Project Manager of "Jerash and its surroundings project for collecting the spoken folklore ", which was carried out by Jarash literary forum in Jarash Governorate in 2001.
                     * President of the Preparatory Committee for the "People's Poetry Week", which was carried out by Jarash Literary Forum in 2001.
                     * Member of the Team for Collecting of food Heritage in the governorates of Jarash and Ajloun, carried out by the National Bank of Jordan.
                     * Accountant in the public sector for 20 years.

*A participant in Harm Reduction seminars held by FDIS. - Jerash.

*A participant in the Harm Reduction 2010, the 21st International conference organized by the International Harm Reduction Association that took place in Liverpool, England from 25 – 29 April 2010.

* The executive director of Friends of Development and investment society - Jerash(FDIS) since 2009.

* managed and conducted many outreach projects targeted the high risk group for HIV AIDS.

· Training courses:

1-Training course, 240 hour was conducted at the "International School for Dealing with High Risk Groups-Freedom Program from Drugs & HIV/AIDS - Egypt - Wadi Natroon "titled " Outreach skills for the Most Vulnerable for HIV/AIDS. 45 days, from NOV13th - Des24th,2011.

Subtitles: Addiction treatment, outreach skills, Active prevention, life skills.

2-Training course, 60 hour was conducted at the " Ministry of Health- Jordan" titled " Capacity Building for NGOs that working in the field of HIV/AIDS. 10days 11-20/8/2009.

3-Training course, 6 hours was conducted at the " Ministry of Health- Jordan- Directorate of Human Resources Development" titled "Health Economics and Health Accounts" One day : 7-10- 2009.

4- Training course, 30 hours was conducted at the " Association team promising hands – Amman Jordan" titled: "Capacity Building for NGOs" 5 days from 18-22/8/2007.

5- Training course, 18 hours was conducted at " Alqayrawan cultural centre – Jerash- Jordan" titled " Local Election Monitoring" 3 days from 5-7/7/2006

6-Training course, 12 hours was conducted at " Jerash Literary club" by "The Arabian Organization for Human Rights" titled " Human Rights". 4 days from 6-10/11/1999.

7-Training course titled : Euromed youth programme IV", 24 hours was held by EuroMed Youth Unit- Ministry of Political Development and ParliamentaryAffairs/Jordan in cooperation with Regional Capacity Building and Support Unit (RCBS), Amman 4days from 12- 15/3/2012.

8- Workshop participation, 18 hours titled " Strengthening Civil Society participation in the Jordan CCM". Conducted from 1-3/2010.

9- Took part in the cultural camp that was conducted in Petra- Jordan, 5 days from 7-11/6/2007.

10- Took part in the" training seminar on quality on the EuroMed youth programme in support the national youth policies and priorities" that was conducted by EuroMed youth unit – Ministry of Political Development in Dead sea 2012.

·                               Languages:
                     * Arabic / Native.
                     * A good command in English.

· Literary publications:
* "The last Funeral of Hammurabi" poetry, Dar Qudsya for Publication and Distribution, Irbid in 1993.
* The Return of October, poetry, with the support of the Ministry of Culture, Canaan Press, Irbid, in 1997.
* The Road and The Tales, poetry, with support of Amman Greater Municipality, Dar Al-Karmel for Publication and Distribution, Amman, in 2001.
• Yellow Circles Collectors, short stories, with the support of the Ministry of Culture, Dar Azmenah for publication and distribution, Amman, 2004.
• An Other Street , with the support of the Ministry of Culture, poetry, published by Dar Ward for Publication and Distribution, Amman, 2009.

· Literary Participations:
1- Jerash Festival XVI in 1997. (Poetry readings)
2-Jerash Festival XVII in 1998. (Short story readings)
3-Jordanian- Egyptian Brotherhood Festival, for culture and creativity in 1998. (Short story readings)

4-Amman Club first cultural Festival in 2002. (Poetry readings)
5- Jerash Festival in 2007. (Poetry readings)

6- Jerash Fesitval in 2011. (Poetry readings)

Many contributions and participations in festivals, theater and so on.

· Adjudication:
* Member of the adjudication committee of the literary competition organized by the Department of Culture, Jarash in 1997, included (poetry, story, journalism, Thought).
* Participated in the adjudication of the Youth Innovation Competition held by the Ministry of Culture in 2001 in the field of poetry.

· Awards:
* Shields and certificates of appreciation.
* Shield of Creativity from Jerash Literary Forum 2003.
* Certificate of Appreciation from the Jerash Festival XVI of Culture and the arts.
* Certificate of Appreciation from the Jerash Festival XVII of Culture and the arts.
* Training Course in Human Rights by Arab Organization for Human Rights in Jordan.
* A certificate of appreciation and participation of the Jordanian, Egyptian brotherhood Festival of culture and creativity.

Contact me:

PO BOX 208, Jarash-Jordan, PC 26111

Mobile:00962777849083
00962788456902

E-mail: alitnobani@gmail.com
alitnobani@fdisjo.com