Classroom Project Update

Before Goats For Gals, the other major project I worked on in my site was get a new classroom and bathrooms built for the Community Association of the village.  In a nutshell it's this:  the Association, which until a couple years ago had been fairly inactive, opened a new preschool building (occupying a small part of the Association grounds) a few months after I moved here.  The preschool has been successful, but like all public and most private buildings in the village, it lacks latrines.  As a Community Health Volunteer, one of my primary tasks is to improve community sanitation standards, often by building new latrine facilities and educating about their importance, hygienic use, and care.  At the same time, the members of the Association were coming to me with ideas for expanding their campus to build a new classroom for a women's literacy group, which was just beginning to form but didn't have a proper place to meet.  Eventually, these two projects got rolled up into one, and we got funding from USAID for constructing a new building that will house a dedicated classroom for the women's literacy group, and two new bathrooms which will serve both the preschool and the women's classroom.  We hope to have construction finished before the beginning of February.  Here's some snapshots along the way.

Front view of the Association complex

The site before construction began

Inside the preschool classroom

During construction, recently

Some Old News

Back in September, I was fortunate enough to get to help out Maureen, a PCV friend of mine, with a project in Ouarzazate, co-facilitating a 4-day workshop teaching basic journalism skills to a group of (mostly) high school age students at her Dar Chebab (youth center).  The project was a great success and got highlighted by official Peace Corps and US Embassy Press, as well as filmed for part of new series of short films called Peace Corps Postcards (though that particular postcard apparently hasn't been edited or uploaded yet, it should be coming soon and the others are worth checking out).  It was great fun, and from what I've heard, the kids involved have really been following through on the project, creating and sustaining their own journalism club that posts original reporting, in English, online.  I'm hoping to replicate the project in miniature for the Tata Spring Camp in a few months.

An Important Message

Dearest Readers of this Neglected Blog,

Greetings during the holy month of Ramadan.  As you know, for the past year and a half I've been serving in Morocco as a Volunteer with the Peace Corps.  I live and work in a small desert village of 500 people in the remote deep south of the country where my official job title is that of a Community Health Educator.  That means I work in a local health clinic and local schools, speaking the native Berber dialect, where I teach about important health topics like pre- and post-natal care for women, childhood vaccinations, sanitation and hygiene, clean water, and a host of other things that we in the highly developed world often take for granted.  But my activities here are not at all limited to the health field.

There's another project that I've been working on for quite a while, which is now ready to be shared with the world and could really use your help.  One of the most important development issues in the community I serve is that of economic opportunity--namely, the lack of economic opportunity available, especially for women.  In my region, and in rural Morocco generally, it's common for young adult men to move away to distant parts of the country, or immigrate overseas, to seek employment because there simply are are no jobs available locally.  This is not the result of a temporary economic downturn but a permanent state of affairs.  Nearly all families are wholly or partly dependent on remittances sent home from male family members who move away like this, and most families barely manage to scrape by between that and the subsistence farming that is the most common occupation here. This economic arrangement is especially hard on women, as the males return infrequently, if at all, leaving the women in charge of families and households, usually without the ability to generate income for themselves.  (In Morocco, the Muslim culture makes it impossible for most women to work outside the home because it would require them to publicly interact with men in an unacceptable way.)

Working together with my community Association, we've developed a project to help local community women (like widows, divorcees, and unmarried women) generate income for themselves, to empower women and promote economic independence and self-sufficiency. We call it "Goats For Gals," and it's modeled on many successful projects in Morocco and other developing countries.  By giving targeted women in the community dairy goats, we will allow them to create their own small businesses selling goat milk.  The women will also receive comprehensive training in dairy goat care and management.  Livestock ownership, like dairy goats, is an especially suitable form of business enterprise for women in rural Morocco, because the goats can be managed from home and will eat just about anything you put in front of them.  Goat milk is always highly in demand, and can also be used to create value-added products like cheese. The project is all mapped out and ready to go; all that is lacking is the capital to buy the goats.  We need to raise about $4500 to be able to purchase the target of nine high-yield Alpine dairy goats.  That's where you come in. 

The Peace Corps Partnership Program (PCPP) is a way for Peace Corps Volunteers to fund crucial projects in the communities we serve by raising capital from the private sector in the United States.  Individuals, companies, or any type of organization can contribute and become a part of the Peace Corps mission of promoting world peace & friendship--and sustainable development--one community at a time. 100% of contributions go directly to the specified project in the community served.  The money does not pass through government hands, there's no overhead or middle-men, etc etc.

Once the project gets fully funded, I plan to track its progress on this blog with stories, photos, and videos, so you will be able to directly see the impact of your contributions.  You can read an additional summary of my project and contribute directly online with a credit card in a few easy steps simply by clicking here.  You can contribute in any amount, and no contribution is too small (or too large).  All donations are 100% tax-deductible.

If you'd like some more information about the project, or anything to do with the Peace Corps or Morocco, I'd be happy to respond to you. Thanks in advance for your support.

Click here to contribute. It's fast and easy!

Some Scripture for Father's Day

"Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers that begat us.

The Lord hath wrought great glory by them through his great power from the beginning.

Such as did bear rule in their kingdoms, men renowned for their power, giving counsel by their understanding, and declaring prophesies:

Leaders of the people by their counsels, and by their knowledge of learning meet for the people, wise and eloquent in their instructions:

Such as found out musical tunes, and recited verses in writing:

Rich men furnished with ability, living peaceably in their habitations:

All these were honoured in their generations, and were the glory of their times.

There be of them, that have left a name behind them, that their praises might be reported.

And some there be which have no memorial; who perished, as though they had never been; and are become as though they had never been born; and their children after them.

But these were merciful men, whose righteousness hath not been forgotten.

With their seed shall continually remain a good inheritance, and their children are within the covenant.

Their seed standeth fast, and their children for their sakes. Their seed shall remain for ever, and their glory shall not be blotted out.

Their bodies are buried in peace; but their name liveth for evermore."

Ecclesiasticus 44, KJV (Italics mine)

Reported Without Comment

Seeing she’d made no impression on me, my mother was incensed.  “In a country where men and women can’t be together socially, where they can’t see each other or even have a conversation, there’s no such thing as love,” she vehemently declared.  “By any chance do you know why?”  I’ll tell you: because the moment men see a woman showing some interest, they don’t even bother with whether she’s good or wicked, beautiful or ugly—they just pounce on her like starving animals.  This is simply their conditioning.  And then they think they’re in love.  Can there be such a thing as love in a place like this?  Take care!  Don’t deceive yourself.”

-The Museum Of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk

[set in 1970's Istanbul]

Not Dark Yet

Reports of the death of my blog are greatly exaggerated.  It is merely in hibernation; look for updates and changes soon, I promise.  Inch'allah.

In the meantime, I want to hear about your favorite non-traditional, non-standard, non-classic, or otherwise offbeat Christmas movies (which can be any movie set during the holidays).  These three jump out for me:

-Gremlins
-2046
-Eyes Wide Shut

Any more?

My favorite Ramadramedy: Aqba Lik

Television has been a constant presence since I got here, and Moroccans in the bled tend to watch an extraordinary amount of TV.  Or at least they have it on a lot.  The vast majority of houses in even the most remote locations are equipped with satellite receivers and get dozens or even hundreds of channels, mostly from the Arabic-speaking world but lots of other places too.  It's not that surprising, given that there isn't much else available for accessible, fun, and free entertainment.  I've mostly done my best to tune it out, or at least pay attention only when socially expedient.  Most Moroccan-produced TV shows are in Darija, the evening news is in French, but there is a body of Tashlheet programming, much of which of which is set in the bled and folkloric in nature.  Unfortunately, most of it is of extremely poor quality, and once the novelty of hearing Tash spoken on TV wears off, barely worth paying attention to, other than for the purposes of working on language.  And there are so many better ways to practice language.

For Ramadan, the networks have unleashed a slew of new programs that air every night for a month, presumably trying to capture the audience that's at home with family every evening breaking the fast.  One of these is called Aqba Lik, and I'm absolutely hooked on it.  It's a half hour comedy-drama about a single professional woman named Fatima-Zahra who works for a website (I think) called PUNISH! in Casablanca, and the colorful friends and co-workers she deals with as she looks for love, or whatever it is she's looking for.  I actually have no idea, because the show is in Arabic (with healthy dollop of French), but that hasn't stopped me from being thoroughly captivated every night.  There are obvious lifts from shows like The Office and Sex & The City, but the production values and quality/subtlety of the actors is unlike anything else I've seen on Moroccan TV.  It's fun to watch it with my host family, esp. my sisters, as the version of Moroccan life portrayed couldn't be more different from theirs if it took place in America, or on the moon.  Fatima-Zahra lives alone, doesn't cover her head, works outside the home, socializes freely with both sexes, goes on dates, drinks, you name it.  I know I'd be getting a lot more out of it if I understood more than 10% of the dialogue, so if anyone else has seen this show and can fill me in, I'd appreciate it.

I've found precious little about the show online, but there are some complete episodes available, like this one here: The 2nd episode.

The best part is the theme song, an irresistible jazzy, Motown-flavored thing that my sisters sing along with every night.