An unfinished project, now complete!

I've written pretty extensively on this blog about my work related to gender issues and women's empowerment as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco (if you're new to the blog, you can read some of those posts here). About halfway through my service in Morocco, I started a project with an amazing group of young Moroccan girls from GlobalGirl Media, an organization that empowers young women from underserved communities by teaching them new media and leadership skills. 

These girls were passionate about creating a video on an issue that affects girls and women in Morocco and in other countries throughout the world -- sexual harassment. I wrote a grant for their project, to cover the costs of filming people throughout Morocco - women and men, old and young, in small and large communities - as well as the editing and production of a video with their findings. Unfortunately, the filming took longer than expected and I left Morocco before the project was completed. I'm happy to say though that these dedicated individuals remained committed to the project along with other Peace Corps volunteers and have completed an amazing 3-part video! It's really exciting to see what these girls have been able to accomplish and to know that I played a role in helping them to express themselves and to stand up for issues in their country.

If you are interested, the 3-part video can be viewed on the below links (they have English voices dubbed over):
Part I: Is this Normal?
Part II: Let's Talk about Normal
Part III: Time for a New Normal

In other news, Justin and I are enjoying our time with the adorable Katie and exploring DC as much as possible when it's not covered in snow. We're counting the days until springtime, cherry blossoms, picnics and bike rides! More updates to come soon.

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.

Some of our newest projects

I mentioned a little while ago that we've been working on some exciting projects! One of those projects is a website that I built at the request of Peace Corps Morocco staff, to help promote Peace Corps and volunteers' projects with current and potential partners. Peace Corps Washington has fairly strict guidelines in terms of content and layout, so I didn't have a lot of creative flexibility, but I'm still pretty happy with the result. I actually finished the website at the end of last year, but the process of getting all of the approvals from Washington took a long time and it finally went live last week. Here's a  screenshot of the homepage, and you can check it out by clicking here!

There's more: This past weekend, Justin and I along with two local counterparts and close friends launched a project that has been in the works for the last 9 months or so. Unemployment is a major issue in Morocco, particularly for youth; according to a report that came out last year, 49% of Moroccan youth are neither employed nor in school. Although Justin and I are not in a position to address the lack of available jobs in Morocco, one thing that we realized that we could do was to help provide youth with the tools and skills to better equip them to find a job. So we worked with our friends to develop a workshop series on employability skills. We held the first two workshops this past weekend with sessions on creating/improving their CVs and the Moroccan versions of cover letters. We'll continue over the next 3 weekends with sessions on interviewing skills, goal setting and career planning, entrepreneurialism, conducting a job search, social media, and financial management. The first two sessions went really well, with participants asking lots of questions and expressing that they have already begun to gain new information. We're excited to see how the remainder of the program will go, and I'll post an update when it's over! Check out some photos from the workshops, and if you're interested, you can learn more on the Facebook page that we created for the program, which also includes some of the course materials.

What we've been up to, and post-Peace Corps updates

It's been a busy few weeks! How have they been busy, you ask?

Travels with Liz and Dave
The same morning that we said goodbye to my brother Neal and future sister-in-law Erin in Casablanca, Justin and I rushed up to the Rabat airport to meet his sister Liz and brother-in-law Dave. They visited during a school holiday in Morocco, so we were able to take some time to travel around with them to a few places: Rabat, Meknes, Azrou, Fez, and of course Tiflet. A few photos are below, and look for future blog entries about some of our travel experiences!

Dave and Liz in our riad in Rabat.

In Rabat's Kasbah, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

Justin and me in a beautiful old Koranic school in Meknes.

Liz and I try out Moroccan style scarf-wrapping in a cooperative in Fez.

Justin and me in an old Koranic school in Fez.

Dave shows off his scarf-wrapping, in Fez.

Liz and Dave, at a beautiful outlook en route to Azrou.

Justin and Liz in the Chellah in Rabat.

Springtime in Tiflet
Even though we were traveling, it was very much a working holiday! We have lots of exciting plans for the coming months, and now that we're back in Tiflet, expect more posts soon as projects come to fruition. Meanwhile, spring has (finally) arrived in Tiflet with beautiful sunny weather every day! And with that beautiful weather, I have proven myself as a gardener. Check out my handiwork:

I harvested the spinach to make a birthday pizza for Justin, at his request. But I've planted a new round and am keeping my fingers crossed that the green thumb wasn't just beginner's luck :)


Women's Leadership Workshop
One of the projects that I had been preparing for was a women's leadership conference in Rabat, that a fellow Peace Corps Volunteer planned along with a Moroccan NGO called "Association Démocratique des Femmes du Maroc."  I brought 2 women from my site to the training, and I stayed for the weekend to help the Volunteer. Being around this group of 20 women, of all ages and backgrounds, from small and large towns across Morocco, was absolutely inspiring. Here's a photo of all of the workshop participants and the trainers:

Post-Peace Corps Plans
I haven't really written much about it on this blog, but post-Peace Corps plans have been a topic of much discussion, consideration, and anxiety for Justin and me, really since before we even came to Morocco. One of the things we knew we wanted when we left the US was change, and Morocco has given us plenty of that. As we think about returning to the US, what seemed impossibly far off when we first got here is now surreally close, and we’ve finally decided to continue that theme of change by readjusting back to life in the US while at the same time integrating into a new community, the Washington DC area. Granted, it won’t be nearly as different from New York as Morocco was, but will certainly be quite the change from our lives now! We’re confident that our skills and experiences from integrating into a new community here in Morocco will serve us well as we return and reintegrate in the US.

Now here’s where you come in, dear readers. I plan to return to the marketing/advertising world and am seeking opportunities as a Marketing or Brand Manager in the Washington DC metro area in late summer/early fall. If you are involved in the marketing/advertising scene in the DC area, know people who are, or your company is looking for a new marketing person, I would be immeasurably grateful for any and all tips, leads, referrals, or introductions! The same goes for any insights on places to live in the area. Click here to view my resume, or here for my LinkedIn profile, and read a bit more about my marketing and advertising background. And you can be sure that we’ll be experiencing as much as we can of this amazing country as our remaining time ticks by - and of course sharing it here! 

Old Friends and New Friends

Before Justin and I left for Morocco, we spent a lot of time with our old friends. We had a two week-long NYC tour, we took a road trip along the east coast, we even threw ourselves a grand goodbye party with our New York friends. And we took a piece of our friends with us - Here's a picture of our wall which is covered with cards, pictures, and memories of our time back in the U.S.

I didn't really know what to expect in terms of forming relationships in Morocco. I knew that we would be expected to integrate, to get to know a community and to form relationships with counterparts to help plan activities... I didn't know what that meant in terms of friendships. But after 18 months of living in Morocco, I have been able to form real, true friendships with some people in my community. And when I leave Morocco, I will be overjoyed to return to the friends that I have left behind in the U.S. but will also be incredibly sad to leave these wonderful people who have become such an important part of my life.

The last week has really intertwined this idea of old friends and new friends. Last week, one of my closest friends of more than 18 years, Ellis, came to Morocco along with her boyfriend Alex. They drove far out of their way to spend 2 days with Justin and me and it meant so much to get to spend time together in our home. Ellis now lives in Portugal, and it was also really interesting to discuss our similar experiences in being ex-pats and in creating new relationships and learning a new language and culture. Here's Ellis and me from then and now - nothing has really changed :)

A few days after Ellis left, I planned a program for girls and women along with one of my closest friends here, Riham. Riham shares my belief in the importance of giving women a safe space to speak and to express themselves and we created a program together about dreams, goals, and obstacles. Getting to work with Riham on the program and to share our own dreams, goals, and obstacles was really inspiring and brought us even closer together. The program was truly amazing and I think that Riham has been inspired to do more good work in the community. I certainly hope to do more with her in my remaining few months here and I can't wait to see what she will be able to accomplish in the future for the women of Morocco. Here's a picture of Riham and me, and a few other photos from our women's event:

I'm so thankful and happy for both the new and the old friends in my life, and that I've been able to create new relationships where we can teach and learn from one another!

Some of the work I've done recently

You might already know that International Women's Day was last week - If you didn't, you can read a bit more about it in my blog post from last year. This day marked the culmination of a few fun projects that I've been working on, so I wanted to share them with you!

My role as the Chair of Peace Corps Morocco's Gender and Development (GAD) Committee is to help motivate Peace Corps Volunteers to plan gender awareness activities for women and men, boys and girls, in towns throughout Morocco. The Committee tries to create resources to provide Volunteers with ideas for projects and helpful information on gender-specific language, cultural ideas, and current events. As International Women's Day is a great opportunity to do gender awareness programming in Moroccan communities, we wanted to focus great effort on motivating and supporting Volunteers during this time. So here are some of the things that we did:

• Created a toolkit for Volunteers with 5 different types of activities that they could do during International Women's Day, with topics ranging from volunteerism to leadership, harassment to empowerment. If you are interested in seeing the toolkit, you can view and download it here.

• Partnered with the "Division des Affairs Feminines" (the Division of Women's Affairs) of the Moroccan government to plan a special event to celebrate women and to symbolically launch a week of gender programming throughout the country.

• Partnered with the U.S. Embassy to print t-shirts that we distributed to Peace Corps Volunteers who committed to leading a gender awareness activity during this time. We also printed stickers to match the t-shirts that Volunteers could give out in their communities.

I'm so excited to say that almost one-third of the Peace Corps Volunteers in Morocco committed to leading a gender awareness activity in their communities! Which means that if each event has 20 people, we will have reached thousands of people with programs ranging from leadership to volunteerism, running to empowerment, women’s and girl’s health to film screenings, harassment to art, women's rights awareness to employment, self-esteem to gender roles and stereotypes… and the list goes on and on!

Yesterday, I attended the event that I helped to plan in conjunction with Peace Corps staff and the Moroccan government. I was asked to deliver a speech at this event on behalf of the Peace Corps, highlighting Volunteers' gender-focused work in Morocco during this time. The most exciting part of the speech, for me, was that I chose to challenge myself and deliver the speech by myself in ARABIC, instead of with a translator. I wrote the speech in English, translated it into Moroccan Arabic, then sat with a friend to review the speech line by line (special thanks and a shout-out to Abdellah Boutahar!). I was really happy to see that I was able, fairly successfully, to write most of the speech by myself, and when an American started delivering a full speech in Moroccan Arabic, the crowd was blown away! I gave my speech alongside several Moroccan government officials, and I was told that many people thought my speech was the highlight. It was a massive language challenge and I'm so excited that it was a success.

So that's what I've been doing lately! Justin and I have a few other projects up our sleeves in the coming months, so you'll be hearing more about those soon. Enjoy a few photos from yesterday's event:

Schmoozing with the Minister of Youth and Sports,
along with the Peace Corps Country Director.

With other members of the GAD Committee, showing off our t-shirts.

Dancers from Casablanca perform at the event.

Last minute language prepping before my speech.

Delivering my speech!

I love this paparazzi shot - I am being audio recorded,
video recorded, and photographed all at once!

Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World)

I am happily back in Tiflet after a few weeks of being on the road! The first half of my travels involved an 11-hour journey to a small town in the south of Morocco called Taznakht. One of my Peace Corps friends organized a camp called Girls Leading Our World (GLOW) and I joined 8 Peace Corps Volunteers and 10 Moroccan staff to help run the 4-day program. 

GLOW camps were first started back in the 90’s by Peace Corps Volunteers and since then have spread throughout the Peace Corps network as a way to educate girls on important life skills and to empower the girls to use those skills in their lives and to share with their communities. Our camp had a variety of workshops ranging from very serious topics to more lighthearted: gender roles, self-esteem, Morocco’s family code law, goal-setting, self-defense, women's health, beauty, calligraphy, rape laws in Morocco, harassment, henna, belly dancing and cinema. In between the workshops, we led them in singing, dancing, games, scavenger hunts, field trips, and did I mention dancing?

For many girls, this is often the first opportunity to leave their town and participate in a camp-like experience and it was really amazing watching them grow over the course of the 4 days, develop a sense of comfort with the group, and make lots of new friendships. For me, it was also a welcome challenge with my language skills - the camp was run almost entirely in Moroccan Arabic, and in leading some of the workshops and participating in others, I found myself talking about topics that I had not yet discussed with Moroccans. It was nice to step outside of the boundaries of typical language that I use in English classes and in day-to-day interactions. 

I left the camp feeling mentally and physically exhausted but so grateful to have had the opportunity to share this amazing experience with 45 of my newest Moroccan friends ;) Fortunately, my recovery came in the form of an awesome vacation with Justin. More on that in the next post - In the meantime, enjoy the photos from the camp!

First day of camp, getting everyone up and moving.

Homemade face masks in a beauty workshop.

A "Hands of Peace" poster that girls created.

One of the MANY impromptu dance sessions during the camp!

Girls practice moves in a self-defense workshop.

Some of the Peace Corps Volunteer staff, on field trip day.

Playing games with the girls on field trip day.

In my harassment workshop, girls wrote on slips of paper how
harassment can make them feel. In the middle, in Arabic,
it says "Everyone deserves respect."

Girls create a poster about a world without harassment.

With 2 other Volunteers, enjoying the beautiful weather!

Winter holiday!

It’s a winter break from school in Morocco and Justin and I are using the time for work and for play! We finished up our fall/winter session of classes and had small parties with the students to celebrate the completion of our “semester” – check out some photos below from some of our classes:

Our adult conversation class

Justin and 2 students from our beginner class for young students.

Our beginner class for high school students and adults.

We’ll be starting a new semester of classes in February, but in the meantime, some new experiences and adventures: First, I am currently in Taznakht, (a small town near Ouarzazate, in the south of Morocco) helping a Peace Corps Volunteer to run a girls-only leadership and empowerment camp called GLOW (Girls Leading Our World). The camp is geared towards girls in underserved rural communities, and includes 4 days of programming aimed at building leadership and self-confidence, developing a safe and supportive community, and teaching girls valuable lessons related to gender roles, health, and future planning. I’ll be running one program about gender roles and another about sexual harassment. I’m extremely excited about this unique opportunity and can’t wait to share more with you in February!

After the GLOW camp, Justin and I are taking some time to explore some parts of Morocco that we have not yet seen! With less than a year left we still have a long list of places we want to visit, and we are going to try to get to as many as we can. More on these when we return, I promise with lots of photos :)

Goal #3

Pop quiz! Who knows what the 3 goals of the Peace Corps are?

Just kidding, I'll tell you, they are quite simple (and I am paraphrasing here):

1. Helping the people of my host country to develop new skills.

2. Helping to promote to my host country a better understanding of Americans.

3. Helping to promote to Americans a better understanding of my host country.

Goals 1 and 2 are part of my everyday life - teaching English, doing activities with women, talking to people about American culture, lots of the things that I often write about on this blog. What I don't often write about is Goal 3 - teaching Americans more about Morocco and Moroccan culture. That's where all of YOU come in - part of the purpose of this blog, in addition to chronicling our travel/cooking/work adventures, is to teach you a little about Morocco - its people, culture, religion, food, history, geography, you name it. And hopefully I've done a bit of that over the past year.

One of my intended goals over the next year is to do more "Goal 3" activities - and I've started it off with my first pen pals! Through a Peace Corps program, I have been matched with a family who runs a home school in Connecticut and I will be starting a monthly correspondence with them, talking about my experiences and teaching a bit about Morocco along the way. Check out excerpts from my first letter - Got a little excited about writing real letters and had some fun with the markers :)

What I would LOVE over the coming year is to have more opportunities to talk to people in the U.S. about Morocco - with so much ignorance and misinformation out today, particularly about the Arab/Muslim world, I think it's important for Americans to hear voices of people (particularly other Americans) who are actually living here. And I knew so little about Morocco before I came here and have discovered that it truly is a wonderful country with an amazing culture that others should know more about. So, if you can think of any opportunities for me to speak about Morocco, I'd love to have as many as I can! Some ideas could be:

- Writing a guest blog post

- Skype calls or taped videos with a classroom or another group

- Articles in a local newspaper, journal, or magazine about culture, travels, recipes, music, etc

- Corresponding with a religious group, or a religion class in school, about things I've learned living in a Muslim country

- Setting up an information exchange with one of our English classes

If you might have opportunities for groups with which you are associated, please leave a comment or email me. I'd love the chance to tell more people about this great country!