Developments!

It's been a month since I last posted and a TON has gone on both in my town in Morocco and within Peace Corps.

The day after my last post there was civil unrest here in my very own town here in eastern Morocco. Did it make the news? No, but it was definitely news-worthy. There is no reporting agency out here. I don't want to put a lot of info about it on here, but if you'd like an account, I wrote a long document on it for Peace Corps Safety and Security department, and I can forward it to you.

Let me just put it this way: following the unrest, Oujda, the nearest big city and kind of an eastern "hub" sent in dozens, if not hundreds, of police here- and they were lodged at my Dar Chebab (youth center)

So this was a month ago and the police are still occupying my Dar Chebab. This has really messed with my routine because that's the building I work out of. To occupy my time I decided to visit the Dar Taliba-- a girls' residence hall-- for children of nomads who are here to go to middle or high school, or girls who are studying computers or accounting at the "tquin" (vocational school). I went a few times and they were quite welcoming but were honest in saying that they were done with school and didn't want to get started with any activities until the Fall.

Conveniently, after that I went to Tangier and worked with the Moroccan Special Olympics. I was hoping the police would be gone by the time I came back...but no, they weren't. Then I just had a week in Bouarfa before leaving for "IST" or In-Service Training that every volunteer does throughout every Peace Corps country after six months in country.

I just got back from IST and my regional meeting yesterday to find the police STILL occupying my Dar Chebab, citing some more unrest last week while I was gone. These are new police too- it appears they've had a personnel change- all from Oujda though.

So I had quite an overwhelming feeling of guilt because I was traveling so much and many of my students are about to sit the baccalaureate exam next week. Now that I know the Dar Chebab has essentially been closed for a month though, I do not feel as guilty.

Today I was brought by three of my Dar Chebab kids to the local Dar Taqafa (House of Culture- like a theater center) which has just opened to give kids a place to study for exams, since they're not in school. It's set up a bit like a school cafeteria, with large tables and chairs and I was able to help kids with a sample bac exam that I had photocopied.

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Basically, what I'm figuring out is that summer is kind of a dead time. It's VERY hot and people don't seem to want to do much. I plan on staying here as much as a can for the summer, including Ramadan which begins August 1st. I will be gone two weeks in July or August for the Ministry of Youth and Sport's summer camp in El Jadida. It's a very expensive summer camp for wealthy Rabat kids and the ministry allows each Youth Development volunteer to bring 3 kids to camp from our towns on scholarship.

Because summer is not a real "action" time, I plan on using it as a time of planning so when Fall kicks off and productivity shoots up, I can move straight into activities and projects. These are some of my ideas, many of which were inspired/borrowed through brainstorming and collaboration with other volunteers at IST.

- Job Skills workshop
- Misc. activities with girls at Dar Taliba (including yoga or aerobics, inchallah)
- Women's Wellness weekend- possibly coupled with a "Spa day" of sorts- with treatments made of natural ingredients. The women here work their hands and feet to the bone daily and never seem to get a break- they would really enjoy and deserve some pampering...plus a health lesson!
- Pen pal-ling my students from the Dar Chebab with an American classroom for a letters exchange
- Newsletter publication for Dar Chebab and its happenings
- Study skills weekly workshops- the concepts of flash cards and mnemonic devices are totally foreign here.

I also need to look at the UN's millenium development goals and see how they fit into my possibilities here- plus continue brainstorming ideas.

One thing I realize is REALLY lacking in the education system here (that I never realized was so valuable before) is CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS! The ability to think outside a given structure and formula is KEY to Development. How can one possibly think outside one's situation and then go on to achieve those goals/dreams if one lacks critical thinking abilities?

I vow to work this into as many activities and projects as I can from now on.

I look forward to seeing how many of these materialize. Feel free to hold me accountable and ask me about them or give me any suggestions you may have.