My future office building.

Position applied for: NGO Development Advisor
Actual position on paper: Monitoring and Evaluation consultant with the government's micro-finance loan program under the Ministry of Youth and Employment
Actual position: TBD
Time frame: March 21 to mid-July

Jellaba Bead

Despite growing up in the technological age, I'm still a novice with my video camera. I'd like to blame 3 years of usage on this continent as the problem, but that would be a lie. Either way, here's my first video on how to make a jellaba button. Fatima, the woman whose hands are shown here, is one of the ladies who makes buttons for the Marche Maroc jewelry. She had a welder grind up a nail, which she used to hold the plastic inner tube.

In this culture, one learns by watching. It took me at least 4 demonstrations before I was kind of able to make my first bead. Thank Allah Fatima was so patient. However, I am an excellent shopper. So, mom, look forward to arts and crafts projects with +5,000 beads to choose from!

Soooo....my internet is too slow to load a video. Here are some photos instead:

(Fatima teaching her daughter how to make a button)

(Osama, Fatima's son, and our adorable distraction during the whole process)

(After observing, I finally had a hands-on opportunity)

PC in Morocco and Harassment

Someone kind of high up in PC Morocco may have told me that the reason PC still exists here is because Morocco is a Muslim country. If you want my point of view on that statement, let's chat in person.

This year, PC has also redesigned its program: discontinuing the small business development, health education, and environmental education programs to focus just on youth development.

This means that the training groups in the near future will consist mostly of fresh-out-of-college (FOOC) kids--worldwide 80% of all PCVs--who are assigned to work in the Dar Shebab (youth center). Reminiscing to my FOOC days, I find it unwise for a FOOC-me to be developing the youth of Morocco. Happy hours which turn into sloppy late nights? Learning to live on my own? A salary for shopping sprees? Yes, please. Useful here? Not really. Decades of life experiences definitely translate into skills that FOOC people don't have yet. Yes, I'm generalizing and digressing...

So...even though I know some PCVs spend much of their time watching movies, cooking feasts, and traveling around (allowing a couple hours a day for "community integration"), I was bummed to hear that the SBD sector would be no more. The mudir (director) of the artisanat center, the local artisans (weavers/carpenters/entrepreneurs/couscous makers/metalworkers/jewelry makers/crocheters), my budding artisans (the girls who make products and attend PC-planned national craft fairs), my friends, and my hanai ohana seemed more bummed by the news. On one hand, some cried and said I needed to stay in Morocco; on the other, some just wanted another American to associate with (especially if that American was just like me). Others are just friendly with me on the surface and could care less about the future of PC.

Awwwww, right? Even if it takes two years to really understand the language and culture, humble myself and my expectations, and feel integrated--

Oh wait; I'm still getting harassed daily for being "Chinese" or for my body. Now that the school year is over, herds (yes, herds) of boys are free to roam around town calling out Arabic/French/English obscenities to my face and mostly to my back.

So today, I realized I agreed that YES, PC should invest resources in YD PCVs (ones that actually care to learn, plan activities, and participate in their communities). Perhaps if more Americans collaborated with more Moroccan youth and made each Dar Shebab a bustling center of fun and personal advancement, youth wouldn't care as much about harassing me for their own ignorant entertainment. Be-my-girlfriend proposals from boys over a decade younger than me may or may not stop, but Asian PCVs like me may get less harassment. And yes, everything comes back to me.

Seriously though, there have been soooo many days of school strikes this past year, kids who don't even attend school, and neglectful parents who are too busy sleeping through the day or working 10-hour days to provide for whole families. There also are many qualified, unemployed Moroccans (and PCVs) who could teach school subjects, computers, music, sports, dance, and theatre (all activities kids in general have expressed interest in) to those who say they're bored in Btown. What about promoting unexpressed interests in business training, safe sex classes, debate teams, chess teams, reading rooms, etc.? Besides the Dar Shebab, Btown has a cultural house, meeting spaces, and artisanat center that are underutilized. Any extra-curricular activities paired with a dedicated teacher/coach/counselor in a safe (perhaps I mean gender-divided/drug-free/open-minded?) environment to occupy kids' free time and develop their creativity and interpersonal relationships = PRETTY AWESOME.

Bottom-line, volunteerism doesn't really happen in Btown when one must first take care of himself and his family, and appearing to keep up with the Jones' is uber important here. Who would fund or contribute resources to any youth-development activities? Especially when these kids aren't part of the same family or tribe? How would such activities actually develop the youths' character, view on life, and amount of harassment to Chinese-looking people? Are those even the point of having extra-curricular activities?

I'm completely satisfied (sometimes exhausted) with my work projects; very, very close relationships with certain Btowners, and many superficial friendships with everyone I know in this town. The policeman: townspeople ratio is 1:714; American, townspeople, 1:50,000 (to be updated to 1:25,000 next month!). With 4 months left in country, I am not willing and able to tackle this extracurricular activities proposal (or wherever I'm going with this blog entry...dinner calls soon).

Personal experience has shown me though that a frisbee and motivated instructor (ie me) can mean more than a game of ultimate frisbee to a group of kids. That being said, sidewalk art and a motivated instructor (ie me) can only be fun for 15 minutes when the sun shines too brightly at the same time. To end on a positive note, those kids did say they enjoyed the project (liars?), wanted to take photos with me (in the shade) afterward, and no "chinouiya" was yelled.

I’m From Morocco; Where the F*** You From?

My close friend does not like B-town. She says the real B-towners have moved away to work (like her), and they only return to visit family on holidays or if they have haneen (nostalgia). Everyone else in town is from the country-side. So all the verbal harassment I get from men (both little boys and wizened men) and shocked stares from women come from outsiders, not B-towners. The true B-towners know there is no future or economy here, a small town that can’t compete with Casa or Marrakesh.

My home-stay family lived near the end of town in the same neighborhood as the screen-printers, my tutor, and association girls. Over the past year, these neighbors have seen me adjust to B-town, and they say I know the town better than they do. I’m probably closer to them than I am to my SBD stagemates. This one neighborhood consists of some of my most favorite people in town, and these people are not B-towners. Most speak fondly of the countryside, where there are animals, grass, fresh water, and clean air. People know and respect each other there, and they’ve invited me countless times to their country homes.

Officially, I am on my third year of PC service: 14 months in RIM and 15 months in ROC. ROC time flew by much faster than RIM time, as I’ve been busy with work projects (3 grants approved!), friendships, access to PC’s library, and home internet. Granted, here in ROC I do not have daily euchre games with interesting American sitemates. Despite spending a slightly longer time in ROC, I feel like I relate to my RIM time and RIM PCVs so much more. I’ll be visiting another ex-RIM PCV in Egypt next month, which makes me so ecstatic just thinking about it!

In the meantime, I have a difficult time commiserating with SBD PCVs here. I just came back to site from Mid-Service Medicals, where we meet with the doctors, dentist (yay, no cavities!), and program staff to recap our 1st year and plan for our 2nd. One of the doctors was my PCMO in RIM, and it was so nice to catch up with her and let out some tears. She said that half of the office shut down, the furniture was given to PC Senegal, housekeeping staff moved to the embassy, and our educated, dedicated program staff faced an almost non-existent job market and personal loans. If you think the economy is pretty bad in America, imagine Nouakchott. They were given a month’s notice that the PC RIM program would be “suspended.” My program manager appeared to have gone into depression. It is such an unfortunate situation, and I am reminded that I'm so blessed to have had the option to move to Morocco.

During MSMs, we had a whole session about how some PCVs feel like they aren’t paid enough and want to be compensated for their "business expenses." I know first-hand that some events, like the craft fair in Kesh, require lots of personal floos. Accordingly, inshallah, PCV expenses will be compensated for grant projects. Yet, that wasn't enough for everyone. These same PCVs grocery shop at the fancy supermarkets (as opposed to the local souk or hanuts), bump into me at expensive restaurants that target foreigners, travel like tourists around country, and some don’t even drink alcohol. How the hell did I save 700 Euros (not dirhams), pay for work projects out of pocket and monthly internet/landline, and treat myself to all the food/beverage luxuries available? Care packages help, but they aren't the reason (thanks for sending the boxes though!). Regardless, I also turned in my Living Allowance survey (apparently only 2/19 SBD PCVs did), which lets PC know how we spend our money. If PCVs want more money, why didn’t they turn in their overdue paperwork? One older woman said to everyone that she doesn’t budget and so couldn’t fill out the form. My silent response: that’s a life skill, not PC’s problem.

Okay, yet another blog entry turned into a rant entry. Believe it or not, I am actually very satisfied here. The Tataoua girls had a blast in Marrakesh: understanding better firsthand business concepts, networking their hearts out, flirting with the PCV boys, and selling a necklace to the US Ambassador’s wife. They made enough profit to invest in new materials for the next fair, and many PCVs complimented their colorful, hand-drawn inventory system. We also saw Keanu Reeves together!~~My rug/couscous artisan introduced me to new parts of Marrakesh’s medina that foreigners don’t enter, and he volunteered to help plan the next Marche Maroc craft fair.
~~All PCVs were invited to the Ambassador’s house for a fabulous dinner (Aunty A: first course after drinks was borscht!), and I bumped into my Moroccan friend there.~~My Marrakesh and Rabat hotels had friendly staff, hot showers, and plenty of stairs for free exercise. The Marrakesh receptionist told me that he loves PC and the tv show LOST, and that I spoke Darija better than any other PCV (that is perhaps an exaggeration on his end).~~Despite feeling completely fine (except for my small cold now), I have a parasite. Nicknamed Lucy, she must be the reason I’ve lost 5 pounds here. Or, it could be due to the abundance of fresh produce and meat (granted I’m a sucker for salt & vinegar chips and local pastries).~~I just ate corn/clam chowder with dill, but I started off with Aunty M’s cookies. Life’s pretty sweet. Happy Holidays!

To end on musical note, another PCV showed me the music video to one song I hear on so many boys’ cell phones in B-town. Check it out here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVirGjPrT1s

PS: 1st pic is from the "certificate ceremony" at Marche Maroc. 2nd pic is my SBD eating buddy and I sharing chicken caesar salad, lasagne, a bacon cheeseburger, and a milkshake for me and root beer float for her. Love the American Club and friendly waiter who gives us poor PCVs larger portions!

New Business

So how have I kept busy with one association after Ramadan? Some girls decided to start their own business!

With funding from K2K and PCPP, one girl taught 16 other girls how to screen-print and sew their own jellabas. Girls from this class combined their sewing, crocheting, knitting, and traditional bead-making skills to produce products that will appear at a Marrakesh craft fair I'm planning with other PCVs. Learning business skills along the way, these girls have come up with their own business name and logo, sourced and costed their raw materials, conducted market research online (and created an email account), filled out a budget and project outline, and so much more (too full from dinner/tired from long day). "President Worker" Fatiha is becoming a seasoned traveler: her first trip to Casa was to source fabric and materials for the screen-print class and her first trip to Kesh will be this week for the fair!

(A small sample of their work-in-progress. This collage was created for my personal notes, not as an advertisement. I'm just too excited to wait to share their stuff with my biggest fan, my mom!)