Our Last Days in Tiflet

A short update: We said tearful goodbyes to friends and family and left our 2-year home on Wednesday morning. For the last few days we've been finishing up paperwork at Peace Corps headquarters in Rabat. We will be returning to the US tomorrow and I'm excited to come back, but I remain very reflective about our experiences living in Morocco.

In our last days in Tiflet, we took some photos to help remember things by. I realized that I haven't posted a lot of photos of our community on this blog, so I thought I'd share some of my favorites.

Tile pieces inlaid into cement - lots of houses in Tiflet have this and I love it!

In downtown Tiflet.

Justin in front of our Youth Center, where we worked.

Our favorite animal in Tiflet! Most donkeys/mules are used for work purposes
and are usually tied up by the legs or neck. This guy, on the other hand,
does not appear to have an owner and we often see him lounging in the
grass or slowly meandering across the street blocking traffic. I tried to get
close for a photo but being the independent donkey that he is,
he wouldn't let me too close :)

Wood piled up for burning to heat a hammam, or public bath.

Traditional honey-covered Ramadan sweets.

Piles of fresh vegetables at our daily market.

Our post office. Justin and I have a side hobby of taking photos of
post offices which we haven't done much in Morocco but look forward
to resuming when we're back in the US!

Sunset along the main road to Rabat, with a mosque minaret on the right.

Drew U. Visits Tiflet! [Guest Post]

GUEST POSTER: Justin
When I was in college, my school had a pretty amazing program called the Drew International Seminar (DIS). Participants enrolled in a course at Drew focused on a particular issue related to a specific country (occasionally two countries). Then for three to four weeks after the semester ended, the students visited the country/ies they had been studying for an on-site seminar to continue studying the same topic. The DIS program was like a mini study abroad, and in addition to the academic component, students had time for sightseeing, to learn about the country and its culture more generally, and to meet people from the country. 

In February of 2012 I happened to be on Drew’s website and was suddenly curious whether the DIS program still existed. Several years passed since I had been a student, and given the way the economy has been the last few years, I knew many schools have had to cut costs due to financial difficulties. It turned out that not only did the DIS program still exist, but two professors would be bringing a group of students to Morocco in May or June of 2013. Their DIS is on mobility and identity in the context of globalization (seminar description here).

I got in contact with the professors to offer to help however I could, met up with them last July while they were in Morocco making arrangements, have been in correspondence with them, and last week they and sixteen students visited Tiflet during their DIS. It is exam time in Morocco, so a lot of young people are busy studying, but we were able to bring the DIS together with a group of five strong English speakers from our site, and it was a great opportunity for Goals 2 & 3. We have of course explained to our Moroccan students about American diversity, for example, that we have people from all over the world and with all kinds of backgrounds. But us telling them is different from them seeing a group of Americans where the people look very different from one another. The Moroccans loved the opportunity to practice speaking English and both groups seemed to enjoy meeting the new people.

Here's a group photo (a few more are on the DIS Facebook page):

The DIS spent most of its time in Morocco in large cities – Rabat, Tangier, Fez, Meknes, and Casablanca. While in Rabat the Drew students met up with some Moroccan university students, who told them that they needed to get out of the big cities. Some Peace Corps Volunteers also will dismissively tell people that those are not “real Morocco.” It’s not true, as there is no single “real Morocco.” As with anywhere else, Morocco is multifaceted, and particularly since the majority of Moroccans live in urban areas (source: CIA World Factbook), large cities represent a large facet of Morocco. The DIS also visited Chefchaouen, which while small receives a lot of international tourists. But in Tiflet the DIS participants got to experience yet another facet, seeing a minor city that is not often a destination for foreigners and meeting with its youth. While Tiflet is by no means the smallest community in Morocco, the mere thirty-five miles which separate it from the capital city make it far removed from big city life. According to one of the professors at least, the Tiflet experience provided a good point of comparison to some of their other experiences.

Job Skills Workshops Conclusion

This past weekend, Justin and I, along with our two Moroccan counterparts Abdellah and Badr and new Peace Corps Volunteer Tim, presented certificates to 25 Moroccan youth who completed our month-long "Vocational Skills for Moroccan Youth" training workshops. 

Workshop participants with us and our counterparts

Participants attended 7 workshops in total, ranging from writing a CV, preparing a "Demande d'Emploi" or "Lettre de Motivation" (the Moroccan equivalents for our cover letters), interviewing, job search and social media skills, entrepreneurship, financial management, and career planning/goal setting. Participants completed homework assignments including making a CV, writing a cover letter, and even doing a mock interview.

Here, I'm talking about needs and wants, related to financial management.

When Justin and I first began the process of developing these workshops with Abdellah and Badr, we were blown away by how little education students receive here on goal setting or potential career/educational paths and what it takes to realize their potential. We've been told that there's one person in our community who is like a guidance counselor and visits each of the high schools once a year, gives a long-winded speech to students, and leaves without spending individual time or taking questions. Many students end up on a career path based on what a family member or friend does because they don't have a sense of what opportunities are out there, and no one has ever encouraged them to think about their interests and pursue them. Then, when it comes time to look for jobs, not only do many students not know how to create a good CV but many also lack the knowledge of where or how to look for jobs or the self-confidence to express themselves to a company.

Justin in action! He is teaching about the qualities of a successful person.

For our final session, we gave out certificates, had a small party, and asked participants to fill out evaluations about their experiences in the workshops. The responses were overwhelmingly positive. Not only did participants highlight tangible new skills that they learned in the workshops, but they also noted some unexpected new qualities that they gained: self-confidence, motivation, and leadership. One participant said that in the interview she/he "learned how to be me in that moment." Another participant learned that he/she "could be a manager, not just a worker." And another participant told us about learning "how to reach my dreams, how to have a will for success, and how to be an accomplished person." Many participants said that the mock interview was one of their greatest experiences. For many it was their first interview - two participants were so nervous that they actually walked out before the interview! Their peers were able to get them to come back in; the group as a whole was really supportive and the mock interviews presented a great opportunity to learn how to express themselves in a safe and comfortable space.

The workshop team! 

Next week, we'll be going to Marrakech to share the program with other Peace Corps Volunteers. We hope that we can encourage others to replicate the workshops in their communities, and maybe this will be one of the legacies that we can leave behind here. For us, it was one of our last big projects and it was great to end things on such a high note. 

A signed banner with all participant names.

A big shout out and special thanks to Abdellah and Badr, who were the primary facilitators and worked with us in every step of the planning process, and without whom we could NEVER have pulled this off.

Justin's first event!

Back in March, I wrote this post about the first big event that I did in Tiflet (outside of teaching English classes and miscellaneous smaller activities). Now, it's Justin's turn! 

A couple of months ago, Justin was approached by a friend of ours, who is also the president of one of the local associations in Tiflet. He wanted to put on a festival for a rural underserved community, and explained that with Tiflet being a larger city (about 80,000 people), youth have access to resources that can help them to learn and develop in new ways - for example, a Youth Center and along with it, clubs and associations that do activities involving sports, music, theater, or art. This association wanted to provide something for rural youth that would give them access to some of those same resources, help to teach them skills, and forge a partnership with the community for potential future activities. Justin had previously mentioned that if the association ever needed money for an event, that he might be able to help them find funding sources - and this was a great opportunity.

For several weeks, Justin worked with the association to apply for a microgrant, which helped to provide the funding for supplies, transportation, food, etc. Once the grant was approved and the planning continued, Justin helped along the way, talking with the planners to help make sure all of the bases were covered. And Justin and I both attended the 2-day festival and helped out in any way that we could with limited language - setting things up, taking pictures, dancing with the kids, and helping with a workshop. I watched a lot of the kids from this community really come out of their shells over the two days and was really inspired by what our community's youth were able to do for others. Enjoy the photos and descriptions below which will tell you a bit about what went on there.


Day 1:

Arrived bright and early to help set up a stage, banners, some speakers, and lots of other fun stuff, along with other youth from Tiflet and teachers at the community's school:

The first activity was a soccer tournament, starting with 4 teams/2 games on the first day, and a final on the second day.

If you noticed, the photos above were all boys - That's because soccer here is mostly focused on boys. For the girls, the association put together a running competition. Not quite as big of an event as the boys', but still good for them to participate, and it's great that the association included physical activity for girls, something that often seems to be overlooked.

Next came a puppet show, with the theme around the importance of studying and going to school (at least that's what I think, based on not totally knowing everything they were saying!).

Then, a set of clowns to get the kids excited!

After some dancing with the clowns, we continued with a "cultural competition" - sort of like a quiz show around Moroccan and Islamic culture.

Next was an art workshop which I helped to run... just a chance for them to draw and express themselves.

And last (but very important) for day 1 was LUNCH! And since it was Friday, it of course had to be couscous. This was one of the MANY platters of couscous passed around.

Then, Justin and I went home and COLLAPSED.


Day 2:

The day started with the final soccer game to determine the tournament winners. Tensions were a bit high amongst the coaches (the kids' teachers) and lots of cheering went on!

After the game ended, we continued the excitement with a small dance party - And I learned some moves!

Next was the awards ceremony for the soccer and running. All of the kids were given certificates for participation in the festival too.

Somehow in the midst of all of this, Justin got put into a "jellaba" - a traditional Moroccan outfit. Quick photo break :)

 

Activities continue with performances that the kids have been practicing in school in preparation for the event - comedy routines, dances, theatrical performances, songs, even short speeches. All really impressive!

And last but definitely not least - the festival concluded with a "fantasia" performed by members of the community - a traditional equestrian display in Morocco that has been practiced for centuries (you can read more about it on the Wikipedia page). The fantasia involves horses and riders in traditional dress, riding along a straight path at the exact same speed so that they form a perfect horizontal line. All riders are carrying traditional guns and at the end of their short ride towards onlookers, they all fire into the sky at the exact same time. Pretty cool! As they were setting up, Justin and I got to pose with one of the horses, and I also spent time taking photos and admiring the beautiful traditional dress on the horses.

 

All in all, a really successful event, and I'm proud of Justin for the work he put into it and even more impressed by the amazing youth in our community who conceived of and organized the festival. I can only imagine how many more great experiences like this we will witness over the remaining year and a half here!