Having just been back to visit home, I had many people asking me if I needed anything. Well, I think I'm finally taking you all up on that offer.
Drumroll.....
The East of Morocco is about to experience its Very First Science Fair Competition!
A little background: Education here is completely based on rote memorization. This has some value but the education system here seriously lacks in 1. Critical Thinking and 2. Hands-on learning. I have realized through my time teaching English here that the ability to ask the question "Why?" does not come naturally to all people. Open ended questions where there is no "right" answer are taken to be very difficult. [An example: we did essay writing for my upper level English class. I asked the class "Do you think its better for a youth of Morocco to grow up in a small town or a big city?" The room was silent. Why? Because they weren't sure of the right answer and nobody wanted to be wrong.]
Also:
Environmental Education is only just beginning in Morocco. Some people are aware that littering is not Ok, but everyone still does it. Daily I'll walk behind a crowd of people and watch them throw gum wrappers or empty potato chip bags on the ground with no thought at all that it is causing OUR city to look disgusting and junky... and having an effect on the environment they live in.
THIS PROJECT WILL INFLUENCE A CHILD'S ABILITY TO THINK CRITICALLY AND TO DO IT IN A WAY THAT THEIR OWN ENVIRONMENT IS AFFECTED POSITIVELY.
Here's what's happening:
About 7 cities in Eastern Morocco are going to have a regional Science Fair Competition.
Theme: "Environmental Problems in Morocco and Ways to Combat Them."
My city will be having its first ever Science Fair! It will be in small groups (3 or fewer) of middle school and high school-aged students. They will research to identify the environmental problems of the region and devise a way to combat them. They will then present their findings and ideas to local judges. They can do this with an oral presentation, a video, a powerpoint, a play, a display, a live demonstration...etc. etc. They are, for the first time, being encouraged to be Creative! The winning group from the middle school division and the winning group of the high school division will get to compete in the final competition, which will take place in Oujda in April, near Earth Day 2012.
How this Benefits Our Youth!
- Develops Critical Thinking Skills
- Develops problem solving skills
- Will help students gain a consciousness about the environment
- Will help adults in the community (like parents, teachers, and other local adults) gain a consciousness about the environment. (This is a new concept to everyone- not just kids!)
- Will have students learn through a hands-on technique, possibly for the first time
- Will provide the winning students with an opportunity to travel, where most of them likely have never left our town.
- It's not just hands-on, but they have the ability to get CREATIVE with it; something not generally encouraged in school.
- Will give students an opportunity to meet other students from all over the Eastern region and network with them and share experiences.
- Will help students hone their public speaking skills, since they must present their projects to the judges and audience.
But How is This Sustainable?!
Some of the money that we are raising will go to translation and printing of the actual Manual of "How to put on a science fair" that has been written as a result of this project. An important component of Peace Corps is Sustainability. We must ask ourselves "Can this project be duplicated and carried out again, once the Peace Corps volunteer has left?" And the answer is YES! This one can! So far people here seem very motivated and excited about this project and, Inchallah, it can become a yearly tradition and perhaps spread to other regions of the country, without the help of Peace Corps volunteers in the future.
The total amount we need to raise is $1,332. (about 10,660 dirhams) and what's left to raise is still $1,092 (8,750 dirhams). Dollars go a very long way here and if you are inspired by what we are doing, then I would love for you to visit the donation page on the Peace Corps Website and donate whatever you are able. (For $6.25 you're paying for one of the students from my city's transport to Oujda, which is about 5 hours away, by bus.It really doesn't take much to make a difference out here.)
Things to know:
- The type of grant you are donating to is called "Peace Corps Partnership Project Grant" or PCPP. Why? Because, as always with Peace Corps, it's a partnership. As a rule, the host community has donated a full 25% of the budget! That has been mostly in contributions of lodgini for the participants. (not the volunteers!! We will pay for that ourselves) The money donated will go to provide 3 meals a day/tea break for two days for 100+ people.
- 100% of the contributions of PCPP goes to the project. There is not a single cent tied up in administrative fees. Once all the money has been raised, it'll be transferred to an account where Socorra Camposanto (The leader of this whole project) will have access to it and it can be spent as allocated.
I'll keep you updated!! Here's the link again where you can read about the project and donate: https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=378-178
And here is the facebook page for our main Moroccan counterparts: The Oujda American Corner
Monday, December 26, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Gender Relations/Site Mate
***DISCLAIMER: This entry is NOT politically correct, although I tried. It could be perceived as insulting to Moroccan men of my city.... my response? This is what I have experienced and understood. If it's a reality not appreciated by Moroccan men when reading, then CHANGE IT.***
It has been a while since I posted because I've been in America and just got back to my wonderful little apartment this morning. I'll blog on that experience when I have had a few days to know how I feel about leaving and then coming back.
What is a site mate? A site mate is the term we use for a Peace Corps volunteer who lives in the same city as another Peace Corps volunteer.
Why do I have one now? At first I told Peace Corps, when I arrived, that I did not want a site mate. This was for a number of reasons but mainly because I wanted to blaze my own trail and do my own thing. I worried that having a site mate would kill my independence. I was fine with being alone. What Changed? Essentially, I figured out how Morocco and I work together, and I discovered, that pairs are better.
Verbal Harassment
When I first arrived here, in my permanent placement in Eastern Morocco, I knew that the verbal harassment would be bad. From the moment I step out of my apartment in the morning until the moment I come back inside at night I cannot go five minutes on the street without being whispered to creepily, kissing and/or hissing sounds made at me, sincere/insincere marriage proposals, etc. etc. In addition to that being a daily nuisance, periodically I am hit on/proposed to by men I thought respected me/wanted to work with me/take English class with me, etc. Now, of course, there are GOOD men here too. And I've met them. But they are not the ones hanging out on the street corners yelling at me, or professional men who have my phone number for business purposes and call/beep me constantly for, I assume, non business purposes. Is all of this tolerable? Yes, it's tolerable but tiring.
Basically, what I realized is that my Peace Corps service in rural Morocco will be more effective and productive with a male site mate. As I usually put it: It's difficult for me to be proactive when I'm constantly being defensive.. I'll give you a hypothetical example: Let's say I had an idea about a project to do with an agricultural association. I'd probably pass by the doors of the association 15 times before actually going in to introduce myself...that is if I ever worked up the courage. Why? Because, simply, I walk in expecting either 1. To be disregarded as a woman/foreigner (re: unfriendly response) or 2. To be welcomed extremely cheerfully and later in the conversation be inquired as to whether I "live alone" (the opening discreet question to find out whether I'd be down to have an illicit romance.) (re: overly friendly/insincere response). That creates a kind of anxiety leading to me draggin my feet when seeking out projects/networking opportunities.
So as the reader you're probably thinking "So What, Abby?? Go in there! Show them that you're serious and want to work and make them see you as a human being and not just as the opposite sex!" But, I'm telling you-- it's not that easy. Sure, I would have said the same thing but after a year of enduring the same behavior from so many men here over and over again it really does wear a person down. It bears repeating: It's difficult for me to be proactive, when I'm constantly being defensive. So when I finally admitted to myself that I had been defeated, so to speak, was when I sent peace Corps an email requesting that with the new cohort of trainees, I be assigned a male site mate. They responded positively and after much searching for a host family, we found one and at the end of November, my beautiful new site mate arrived.
INTRODUCING!
Hubbell M.!
Name: Hubbell M.
Age: 27, days away from 28
Zodiac Sign: Capricorn
Profession prior to Peace Corps: ESL teacher
Hobbies: Kung Fu, runnning
Likes long walks on the beach
I only got to know him for about 3 days before I left to Miami for my brother's wedding but my impression is that he is an up-beat, positive, and ambitious guy who is ready to get his feet wet. That is the best attitude to take in to a situation like Peace Corps/Morocco.
It's not all about me: How does our site benefit from having Hubbell here?? The better question is how does our site NOT benefit from having Hubbell!? For 10 years now PC volunteers in this city have been girls. So the girls of Bouarfa have certainly benefited! We get to create special friendships and relationships with so many girls and their families. The culture of Morocco is incredibly guest-oriented and not a day goes by that I don't have a standing lunch/tea invitation from many of my lovely female students and neighbors. The relationships I've been able to make with women here have been worth the disappointment of not being able to make equal friendships with men (tried...failed... ) But, while this is wonderful and important, that leaves a whole half of the population here neglected. The "chebab" or teenage/early20s males do not have the same opportunity, which is truly a shame. The cross-culture opportunities created by the "chebab" being friends with a male volunteer are endless.
Our site is now more complete, having both a female and a male volunteer. I also believe that this should be a standard practice for Peace Corps/Morocco, if they have the personnel to fulfill it.
Hubbell and I are going to have a wonderful year together full of independent activities and hopefully some collaborative "GAD" activities ("Gender And Development" formerly known as "WAD" "Women And Development." Changed for good reason!) And, inchallah, some collaborative activities that are not GAD related.
It has been a while since I posted because I've been in America and just got back to my wonderful little apartment this morning. I'll blog on that experience when I have had a few days to know how I feel about leaving and then coming back.
What is a site mate? A site mate is the term we use for a Peace Corps volunteer who lives in the same city as another Peace Corps volunteer.
Why do I have one now? At first I told Peace Corps, when I arrived, that I did not want a site mate. This was for a number of reasons but mainly because I wanted to blaze my own trail and do my own thing. I worried that having a site mate would kill my independence. I was fine with being alone. What Changed? Essentially, I figured out how Morocco and I work together, and I discovered, that pairs are better.
Verbal Harassment
When I first arrived here, in my permanent placement in Eastern Morocco, I knew that the verbal harassment would be bad. From the moment I step out of my apartment in the morning until the moment I come back inside at night I cannot go five minutes on the street without being whispered to creepily, kissing and/or hissing sounds made at me, sincere/insincere marriage proposals, etc. etc. In addition to that being a daily nuisance, periodically I am hit on/proposed to by men I thought respected me/wanted to work with me/take English class with me, etc. Now, of course, there are GOOD men here too. And I've met them. But they are not the ones hanging out on the street corners yelling at me, or professional men who have my phone number for business purposes and call/beep me constantly for, I assume, non business purposes. Is all of this tolerable? Yes, it's tolerable but tiring.
Basically, what I realized is that my Peace Corps service in rural Morocco will be more effective and productive with a male site mate. As I usually put it: It's difficult for me to be proactive when I'm constantly being defensive.. I'll give you a hypothetical example: Let's say I had an idea about a project to do with an agricultural association. I'd probably pass by the doors of the association 15 times before actually going in to introduce myself...that is if I ever worked up the courage. Why? Because, simply, I walk in expecting either 1. To be disregarded as a woman/foreigner (re: unfriendly response) or 2. To be welcomed extremely cheerfully and later in the conversation be inquired as to whether I "live alone" (the opening discreet question to find out whether I'd be down to have an illicit romance.) (re: overly friendly/insincere response). That creates a kind of anxiety leading to me draggin my feet when seeking out projects/networking opportunities.
So as the reader you're probably thinking "So What, Abby?? Go in there! Show them that you're serious and want to work and make them see you as a human being and not just as the opposite sex!" But, I'm telling you-- it's not that easy. Sure, I would have said the same thing but after a year of enduring the same behavior from so many men here over and over again it really does wear a person down. It bears repeating: It's difficult for me to be proactive, when I'm constantly being defensive. So when I finally admitted to myself that I had been defeated, so to speak, was when I sent peace Corps an email requesting that with the new cohort of trainees, I be assigned a male site mate. They responded positively and after much searching for a host family, we found one and at the end of November, my beautiful new site mate arrived.
INTRODUCING!
Hubbell M.!
Name: Hubbell M.
Age: 27, days away from 28
Zodiac Sign: Capricorn
Profession prior to Peace Corps: ESL teacher
Hobbies: Kung Fu, runnning
Likes long walks on the beach
I only got to know him for about 3 days before I left to Miami for my brother's wedding but my impression is that he is an up-beat, positive, and ambitious guy who is ready to get his feet wet. That is the best attitude to take in to a situation like Peace Corps/Morocco.
It's not all about me: How does our site benefit from having Hubbell here?? The better question is how does our site NOT benefit from having Hubbell!? For 10 years now PC volunteers in this city have been girls. So the girls of Bouarfa have certainly benefited! We get to create special friendships and relationships with so many girls and their families. The culture of Morocco is incredibly guest-oriented and not a day goes by that I don't have a standing lunch/tea invitation from many of my lovely female students and neighbors. The relationships I've been able to make with women here have been worth the disappointment of not being able to make equal friendships with men (tried...failed... ) But, while this is wonderful and important, that leaves a whole half of the population here neglected. The "chebab" or teenage/early20s males do not have the same opportunity, which is truly a shame. The cross-culture opportunities created by the "chebab" being friends with a male volunteer are endless.
Our site is now more complete, having both a female and a male volunteer. I also believe that this should be a standard practice for Peace Corps/Morocco, if they have the personnel to fulfill it.
Hubbell and I are going to have a wonderful year together full of independent activities and hopefully some collaborative "GAD" activities ("Gender And Development" formerly known as "WAD" "Women And Development." Changed for good reason!) And, inchallah, some collaborative activities that are not GAD related.
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