Pizza Delivery Now in Jordan’s Largest Refugee Camp
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Jeff Mitchell/Getty Images(AMMAN, Jordan) — The fast food scene in Jordan’s largest Syrian refugee camp just got a whole lot, well, faster.
Za’atari refugee camp now boasts a pizza delivery shop — Pizzeria of Peace, or Mu’ajanat Esalam in Arabic.
Mu’ajanat Esalam (Pizzeria of Peace) 1st business 2 offer home deliveries in @ZaatariCamp, bike is ready 4 next order pic.twitter.com/sIfz18EwcI
— Nasser Touaibia (@NasserTouaibia) February 16, 2015
Owned by Abu Mahmoud, 48, previously a Syrian electrician with no dough-making experience, Pizzeria of Peace opened its doors in the summer of 2013 but business was hurting. It wasn’t quite catching on, Naserddine Touaibia, a public information and mass communication associate for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, told ABC News.
“So they bought a bike, started delivering — and now — the business is really taking off,” Touaibia said.
Pizzas made by Mahmoud’s 20-year-old business partner and chef, Yahya, go for about 70 cents a pie and the pizzeria now averages some 50 deliveries a day with a single bike. Touaibia admitted most of the clients are hungry humanitarian workers working in Za’atari, but says there are some refugee clients as well.
The menu ranges from a standard margherita pizza to a more traditional Syrian mince-meat topping.
“Oh, it’s all delicious,” Touaibia gushes. “I’m a regular!”
Now home to 83,814 people according to the UNHCR, the pizzeria is one of 2,000 shops in Za’atari supporting an economy of $10 million a month, according to the United Nations.
“All the shops are owned and run by refugees themselves — it’s a great example of resilience — they do what they have to do to survive,” said Touaibia.
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