As the bus stops, boys rush to receive their faithful friend, Rabee Zureikat, and his guests, who came to visit Ghor Al-Mazraa after 110-kilometer southward journey from Jordan’s capital, Amman.

The visitors are first-timers here but 30-year old Zureikat enjoys the respect of a local elder. Christian by belief, Zureikat can be taken for a local who see this Karak-resident as a sincere friend.

All this respect stems from a novel idea of connecting urban rich and rural poor through exchange instead of donation.

“With growing class difference and lessening respect for traditions, I chose not only to develop social relations between two classes of society but also take people to their roots,” Zureikat explains the concept behind his work.

Various guests from affluent areas of Jordan learn to cook traditional and special food in a Ghor Al-Mazraa town of Jordan. – Photo by Abeer Hisham Abu Touq

A resident of Ghor Al-Mazraa draws beautiful traditional patterns of henna (an organic, herbal color) on the hands of a compatriot visitor. – Photo by Abeer Hisham Abu Touq

Visiting Ghor Al-Mazraa for the first ever time, a young female learns tip of hand embroidery, a pass time of rural women in Middle Eastern countries. – Photo by Abeer Hisham Abu Touq

A view of green landscape of Ghor Al-Mazraa, a city about 100 kilometer of the capital city, Amman. – Photo by Abeer Hisham Abu Touq

Rabee Zureikat, a Jordanian Christian and founder of project ‘Memory’, sits with a local family on traditional carpets and cushions in a Ghor Al-Mazraa. – Photo by Abeer Hisham Abu Touq

During a trip to Ghor Al-Mazraa with Zureikat, Jordanian Queen Rania learns about village life from a local housewife. – Photo by Abeer Hisham Abu Touq

Jordanian elite visiting a remote Jordanian agricultural town show interest in village lifestyle. – Photo by Abeer Hisham Abu Touq

Tourists experience collecting fruits and vegetables from a farmhouse, perched in the backdrop of mountains. – Photo by Abeer Hisham Abu Touq

Various guests from affluent areas of Jordan learn to cook traditional and special food in a Ghor Al-Mazraa town of Jordan. – Photo by Abeer Hisham Abu Touq

A resident of Ghor Al-Mazraa draws beautiful traditional patterns of henna (an organic, herbal color) on the hands of a compatriot visitor. – Photo by Abeer Hisham Abu Touq

Visiting Ghor Al-Mazraa for the first ever time, a young female learns tip of hand embroidery, a pass time of rural women in Middle Eastern countries. – Photo by Abeer Hisham Abu Touq

A view of green landscape of Ghor Al-Mazraa, a city about 100 kilometer of the capital city, Amman. – Photo by Abeer Hisham Abu Touq

Rabee Zureikat, a Jordanian Christian and founder of project ‘Memory’, sits with a local family on traditional carpets and cushions in a Ghor Al-Mazraa. – Photo by Abeer Hisham Abu Touq

During a trip to Ghor Al-Mazraa with Zureikat, Jordanian Queen Rania learns about village life from a local housewife. – Photo by Abeer Hisham Abu Touq

Jordanian elite visiting a remote Jordanian agricultural town show interest in village lifestyle. – Photo by Abeer Hisham Abu Touq

Tourists experience collecting fruits and vegetables from a farmhouse, perched in the backdrop of mountains. – Photo by Abeer Hisham Abu Touq

For his project ‘Zikra’ meaning memory, he has been shuttling urbanized elite to rural and semi-developed areas of Jordan. Zureikat’s weekly entourage comprises 24 Amman residents. Sometimes, foreigners also come along to see life in Jordan’s countryside to see for themselves traditions and customs, that no tourist guide can explain them enough.

"I named the activity ‘Zikra’ as memory being the only thing that stays with humans" Zureikat says.

While working in Toyota car company, he started to distribute clothes and provide in-kind assistance to predominantly Muslim population of Ghor Al-Mazraa in 2007, but it “proved embarrassing rather than comforting,” he recalls during an interview. He thought that donations harm dignity of the recipient.

He adds confidently: “We can respect the poor's dignity this way . . . no preference over one another . . . the poor can offer so much that the rich have lost or never had, like crafts and traditions."

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