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08 April, 2010

Revelations at Spring Camp

All last week, Amber and I, along with 8 other PCVs and 10 Moroccan councilors, participated in an English Spring Camp for Moroccan students ages 13-17. About 80 students attended from all over the country, (primarily Taznaghkt, Ouarzazate, Casablanca, and Rabat). Of these, English levels ranged from complete beginner to conversational. For the entire week, all the students and councilors lived together in the same building. Each day, students participated in English classes, sports, activities and afternoon clubs. During the course of the week, there were also two talent shows and a full day field trip to Ait Ben Haddou (the famous kasbah/village that has acted as backdrop from movies like Gladiator and others). Too much happened to possibly explain in one blog post, but two major revelations should be noted.
First of all, I think I learned more about Moroccan culture in this one week, than I have in almost any other time since I arrived. The fact is, I have been learning about only one side of Morocco. This is a country that has naturally divided itself between urban and rural since before it’s borders and governmental structure were even defined. I live and experience the rural side of Morocco, and while I sometimes visit the urban centers, this camp was my first and only chance to closely observe and interact with urban Moroccan culture. More importantly, this camp was unique in that it mixed rural and urban denizens into one function, with infinite opportunities to compare and contrast. Not to mention the fact that camps (think about summer camps you did as a kid) are inherently social/culture activities.
On the first day, almost all the girls from the country wore conservative clothes and “hijab” (headscarves). The Rabatis on the other hand, were all without “hijab“, and in fact, were dressed no more conservatively than American teens at the mall. By the second day, girls from the country were exposing their hair and boys were flipping their collars up, wearing cologne, and gelling their hair. All the city kids were dressed better than me and the other PCVs, who have learned to dress a little “country”. These kids looked fantastic! And they had a change of clothes for every conceivable activity. In addition to their well fitting, brand-name clothes and chic hairdos, city kids also tended to carry with them expensive portable electronics, and in general, had surprisingly high-quality educations compared to the education expectations in rural areas. They were also much more likely to know about the world, to have traveled, and to be trained in some skill or sport like singing or tennis. So am I saying urban Moroccans are better than the rest?
Not by a long shot. What rural students lacked in sophistication and style, they made up for with culture and ingenuity. On the first night, three of the boys from Taznaghkt mesmerized the entire student body for hours in a music circle, with just one hand drum as their instrument. They continued to entertain for the rest of the week with their energetic and captivating music and dance, and a knack for social loafing. They also proved to be excellent language students, making incredible strides towards English proficiency over the week period. Since the majority of students did not speak TashlHite, it could have become the marginalized language, but since most of us volunteers speak Tash instead of Darija (Moroccan Arabic), rural Berber students were often put in leadership positions translating our lessons. And since all Berber speakers also speak Darija, knowing Tash isn’t a detriment, they just have that much more accessibility.
What I got from all this, was a clearer vision for the Morocco of the future. Obviously, Morocco has taken great strides towards development in urban areas. While there are still huge populations living in urban slums (check out the movie “Ali Zaoui” about the homeless of Casa), a respectable percentage of urban Moroccans are getting quality educations, living healthy lifestyles, and being given most of the rights and opportunities that any person can hope for. On the other hand, in the bargaining for quality of life, they traded away important aspects of their culture. Meanwhile, the rural areas are also making large steps towards development, but they are far behind. While they still need to progress in terms of access of education, health care, and infrastructure, it is important that they keep a firm eye on the special assets they do have; a unique quality of life that comes from depth of culture and social unity.
These two sides of Morocco can help each other to create one great Moroccan society. I witnessed rural children who taught kids from Casablanca how to drum, play the banjo, and sing traditional Moroccan songs. But I also witnessed children from Rabat teaching rural students about the dangers of AIDS and the negative health effects of eating too much oil or sugar. Most importantly, I witnessed students whose parents speak different languages and with opposite socioeconomic backgrounds, become best friends over night. These are people who can help each other. They just need to be told they are helpful. Which brings me to my second revelation...
I have been here in Morocco for over a year now. I have been working in my site for over 10 months with the singular goal of local community development. I have tried to approach this goal with a constant consideration for sustainability and future impact. As a result, I have focused most of my efforts on large scale projects, which are seemingly more sustainable because they can effect an issue more holistically. But working with students at the Spring Camp made me question this approach.
Without a doubt, we made a huge difference in these students lives. One student was completely unknown by the volunteer in his town, and by the end of the camp, he was so inspired, he single-handedly conceived of recording interviews with students and teachers to show on the last day of camp. A timid young girl from Rabat whose artwork shined in my AIDS/Art club, became a confident advocate for AIDS awareness at the end of the week awards show when I recognized her for her talent and asked her to tell the audience what she learned. A week long troublemaker exercised his demons when he discovered a natural talent for English numbers in the Beginners English class I assisted. A self-proclaimed “awkward computer nerd” from Ouarzazate, spent the entire last afternoon of camp rehearsing a play he wrote in English with the most popular girl from camp. In the play, which they performed live at the Finale Talent Show, and which received loud ovation, he proposes to her over a romantic dinner. And all I had to do was be there to encourage him when fear reared its ugly head. Each of the PCVs connected with students in this way. These kids blossomed into greatness in just one week!
Our success with these students was not derived from a holistic approach, but rather, from a one-on-one approach. With this new wisdom, when I think back to the most important impacts that I have made in the last year, none of them are the fruits of large projects. They are human-scale interactions. Like recognizing artistic skill in my friend who works at the cyber, and teaching him how to use Photoshop. Or empowering our neighbor/tutor enough for her to create a women’s association, just by being here and believing in her intelligence and perseverance. This leads me to believe that people do not need help, but rather, they need to know how they can help. They don’t need to be taught skills, they need their existing skills to be acknowledged. They don’t need to be shown how to do things, they need to be seen for what they do. They need to be respected and celebrated. The rest, they can do the for themselves.