A large number of social media pioneers in Jordan interacted with the story of the Suhool Sahab restaurant after the daughter of the owner of the restaurant posted an influential message on her Facebook account to save her father’s restaurant from bankruptcy.
The twenty-year-old woman employed thousands of Jordanians during the past hours, and hours after that message, hundreds of activists and social media pioneers responded to Ruba Tawabini’s appeal to save the restaurant.
Tawabini stated that she wrote with tears in her eyes after her father, in his sixties, told her crying during a phone call that he would have to get rid of the “shawarma” as a result of not selling it, and that he would stay for the third consecutive day in the restaurant, and would not return home to follow up on his affairs.
She wrote a comment in which she expressed her sadness when things reached him, and it was only hours until the situation of the restaurant changed as activists responded to her message, and the number of fans on the restaurant’s page reached 149,000 people after they were 97 people.
She pointed out that her father worked for more than 20 years in Jordanian restaurants and others in the Arab world, but after he got old, he decided to open a shop as a result of others not accepting to operate it.
In her letter, which topped the Jordanian trend, she asked for her help in supporting her father, the only breadwinner for the family, pointing out that there has been no financial income since the beginning of this month.
Within less than hours of the appeal’s publication, purchase orders poured into the restaurant located south of the capital, Amman, which became the talk of public opinion.
The girl thanked the Jordanians for sympathizing with her and standing by her father in the crisis he was going through, stressing that this situation is not strange for Jordanians.
For his part, Jordanian Minister of Labor Nayef Istitieh visited the restaurant on Monday, stressing that it provides experiences to Jordanian youth and is “self-supporting.”
He pointed out that the girl had published a sublime and purposeful message due to her insistence on supporting and assisting her father in his crisis, and what she achieved today is a message to all Jordanian youth to urge them to work with their efforts.
Nayef Istitieh, Jordanian Minister of Labor, said during his visit to the restaurant, accompanied by Abdullah Abu Zaid, a member of parliament, on Monday afternoon: “What happened indicates the tenderness and keenness of the girl towards her father, and we, on our part, are ready to provide the necessary support.”
Stetia confirmed the transformation of the restaurant into a major tourist destination in the Sahab area and that his presence was intended to see and support the experience.
“I did not expect what happened, and this great response from people turned the family’s grief into joy,” said Tawabini, while there was a crowd of customers and interactors inside the restaurant.
Overcoming his tears, her father confirmed that his daughter is a “resource of livelihood”, and he is proud of what she has done, announcing the official opening of the restaurant the same evening.
