I do not know what the perceptions are of volunteer service back home, but judging from information shared on facebook and blogs, it may be easy to view Peace Corps Morocco as an adventurous type of job with abundant vacation opportunities to nearby European destinations. And no one is to blame more than we volunteers who cannot resist sharing photos such as this:
Myself and some friends enjoying a Camel Trek in Merzuga!
Looking back on this last year, I definitely know I have blogged about successful projects in site such as Peace Camp and the Library-building project. Those both are two things I did which I think had a really positive impact on my community and me as a person. Over this last month, adding new activities to the youth center by supporting counterparts such as Mustapha and Majid through their passions in theater and leadership has been something I think the youth have really benefited from.
Reflecting on my first year of service has taught me that while English teaching is something that a lot of youth can benefit from, other types of programming in Arabic offer them skills that they more so desire. Moving forward into my second year, one lesson I am trying to bear in mind is that "One does not have to speak English to be a good person." I am, of course, happy to teach it to students to who wish to learn it, but have discovered a large group of youth who are interested in benefitting from other types of social activities and have no particular interest in learning English. Now that I am more comfortable in my Darija (or my youth have gotten used to a funky accent and way of speaking), I think that my service will continue to go in this direction.
One of the largest work-related challenges from this last year has been trying to find productive ways to use my time. Our project in Morocco is youth development and our work assignment is after-school youth centers. Due to the school schedule, youth do not come to the youth center until around seven in the evening, which makes programming challenging because the institution closes at eight. Also difficult is the challenge of geography--the youth center is located in the center of town and a large number of youth live in rural villages and take the school bus to and fro center. So I have been challenged for exploring how I can have a larger impact on the youth I work with in terms of time spent with them every day and the numbers of youth who benefit from Peace Corps programming. The past fall, planning for Peace Camp and managing the grant were more than enough to keep me way too busy in addition to the classes I was teaching at the youth center and local associations. However, now that I am in the post-camp part of my service, I am looking for a new project or commitment to work on in addition to classes at the youth center and associations, which are not enough of work for my liking by themselves. Right now, the idea on my mind in inserting myself into the high school library for a few hours every week as a sit-in tutor for any student who comes in looking for help with English. Mustapha also voluntarily teaches martial arts to disabled youth at an association in Errachidia two times a week in the mornings and so I will now assist him with facilitating his lesson and then returning to my town in the afternoon to work in the youth center. Both of these would increase the amount of time I spend with all types of youth substantially and also allow my service to reach a wider audience.
One large personal struggle I have experienced here is trying to be myself and bring myself into a very different society than the one I am used to. As a person from San Jose, I grew up with a lot of people who didn't look like me, talk like me, worship like me, think like me or grow up like I did. However, I felt that we all figured out how to make that work and be something really beautiful. I was blessed to grow up in a place where, in the majority of cases, I actually was judged on "the content of my character," as MLK would have put it, and that was a good enough foundation for me to develop meaningful relationships with people different than myself, but who also have similar intentions of living good lives. What is most challenging for me in Morocco is that I do feel that in many cases (or at least enough to bother me) I am looked at through a lens and judged by a different standard than than another 23-year old male here might be. I feel that there have been a lot of painful experiences where my status as someone of another nationality and religion than many people here has unnecessarily resulted in barriers and walls being cast around me that I myself did not build. Multiple relationships that I thought were built on trust and mutual respect have hurt me more than I thought they could because of the way an individual chose to categorize me and the effect of that on my interactions with that person.
Two good friends of mine: Mustapha and Majid
Welakin, l'humdullah, I know so many great and loving people here in my town and all over the country who love me just as I am and care not to change me. A certain risk of moving to any new place in the world is building up a new network of family and friends and there are certain to be hits and misses along the way. After this first year of service, I do have a large amount of friends and family in my town who I know I can spend time with if I just want to relax and have fun. With all seriousness, if I am under any stress or upset, I know exactly to call if I want to hang out, enjoy a nice meal and laugh, and it is not always necessarily the same person. This is a really incredible blessing to have in a work-site where everything is 100% field-based. These relationships are what have really allowed me to develop a deep love and passion for Morocco and its culture. A more forceful approach about differences usually results in mere apathy about the subject at hand, but I have developed a real strong interest and love for Morocco from people who understand that my culture is not the same, are patient with me speaking Darija as a foreign language, respect that I am Catholic and do not try and convert me and love me with all of the strange foreign attitudes and mannerisms that I bring to their lives. This is so special because that embracing attitude invites passionate interest about Morocco from me. It is because of these people that I think I have made a massive improvement in Darija since CBT and have read multiple books about Moroccan society. I do not think I would know half the language and knowledge I do about the country now had it been for the great friends I do have here. If there is a valuable lesson in my experience as a minority in this country for those of you back in the states to take away it is that celebrating the differences that exist between you and foreigners is the best way you can share your American heritage with them. Your kindness and openness will invite an appreciation for American culture and give you an opportunity for you to share that with them and help them become accustomed to a new life in a new land.
My good friend Youssef and myself
This last Easter was a true blessing. It marked one-full liturgical year that I have spent worshipping at my new parish. After mass, some of the local international students cooked up a delicious meal of origins unknown to me (definitely not from the U.S. or Morocco) and we had a nice lunch together as a community. I then went to the home of a local family from the Philippines who live in Morocco. Being able to relax in their home and eat some of their native foods really reminded me of what spending Easter in the U.S. feels like. If my calculations serve correct, I should be able to spend one last Easter here in Morocco before heading home.
Something that I am really excited about in April and May is that multiple counterparts of mine will participate in programming that will give them new skills to benefit from, which I think is some of the more sustainable work we do as volunteers. Tomorrow, Youssef, a friend of mine who is an active local volunteer, and myself will go to Tata (طاطا) to volunteer with Peace Corps and Moroccan volunteers at Ability Camp-a weeklong overnight camp that brings together youth who are disabled and not disabled together for activities centered around the theme of 'Inclusion.' After that, we will return to my town and work with volunteers here to put on a camp for participants at an inaugural basketball tournament at a new court (congratulations to my site-mate Larissa!) to teach them about special needs inclusion. Before the day of their big tournament, the participants will spend one day volunteering with youth from a special needs association in Errachidia and participating in activities also centered around 'Inclusion' with them. Our hope is that this will bring awareness to the ballers about issues involving the inclusion of disabled individuals in Moroccan society. Later in April, I will travel to Fez with two friends and fellow volunteers, Mustapha and Majid, for the Project, Design and Management workshop where they will work on how to lead projects they themselves will design. I love it when there are opportunities for PCVs to travel to trainings and programming far away with local volunteers from our sites because I think the counterparts themselves benefit immensely from experiences that take place in new places and with new people. It is also amazing for our relationships because such a large amount of travel time together can really help strengthen the bonds that we share.
After all of this action in April, I will spend the first week of May in Rabat for our Mid-Service training and the only time of this past year when all PCVs in my Staj (which I guess now number about 80?) will be together at the same place and the same time. It should be really good for developing our relationships and finding new ways to collaborate with one another.
My hope is to have my next blog post up reviewing all of these exciting things to come and more!
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