Life In Taroudannt

I cannot believe how quickly time has flown by since I last wrote on this blog. I have just finished my final week of voluntary work here in Taroudannt and will be making my way to Essaouira on Wednesday, before returning to the UK.

I find it hard to believe that two and a half months ago I was at home preparing for this trip, a little unsure and nervous as to what was in store for me; because the hospitality and generosity of the members of GMH and the Moroccan people in general couldn't have dissuaded any worries more efficiently.

It has been a thoroughly enjoyable twelve week stay in Morocco, the work tough but hugely rewarding. I've met a whole spectrum of different people, and made some good friends. I'm already envious of any future volunteers who have this experience to look forward to!

Have been asked to share some of my experiences and impressions of life in Taroudannt so far. I have been here a little over a month which has comprised a 2 week training period followed by the first two weeks of work. Overall, I am very content here and feel comfortable in my family situation and the town itself. The support network provided by Groupe Moroc Horizon (GMH) and Moroccan Childrens Trust (MCT) is extensive and ever available and have made every effort to ensure that I have settled in to life here.

I initially came as a tourist for a trip and decided to do a little research regarding worthwhile programs available to foreigners. I enjoyed Morocco after completing a standard 2 week tourist loop from casa to meknes, the sahara and finally essaoira where I was accepted and finalised my placement here. It is a great way to get so much more from Morocco than a 2 week tourist flyby and an opportunity to put something back in.

The work is rewarding but I have personally found it initially quite challenging although you soon adjust to the demands placed on you. I can recommend the experience to those looking for a mixture of cultural exchange, volunteer work and community interaction.

I've spent the past half an hour or so leafing through the posts of previous volunteers - it's really interesting to read about their experiences in years gone by. One thing above all stands out in it's consistent appearence in all of the posts: the friendliness of the people out here, and their drive for social improvement.

Five weeks have gone by since I first arrived in Morocco. The induction course flew past, and since then David and I have got down to working in the Lalla Amina Orphanage and the Al Wifaq Pre-School. We alternate our time at each institution, so I spend mornings at the Orphanage and afternoons at the Pre-School, and he does the opposite. I think the balance of this is just about right - I find caring for the babies in the Orphanage rewarding yet extremely tiring.

I think that one of the best reasons to come out to Taroudannt with MCT is the pastoral system. Being lodged with a Moroccan family allows a unique opportunity to learn about Moroccan culture and society. So far I've felt completely at ease in the hands of the members of GMH.

Six weeks to go!

I have been very poor at contributing to this blog. I can hardly believe that nearly two months have passed and i havent got down to it. Today seems to be a special day. All the ladies were singing as they changed nappies in the orphanage today and the sun is out. Weve ha drain for the last week of so which has been tremendously exiting for everyone at home apart from me. Fedwa, who is the only daughter of the wonderfull family im staying with, keeps rushing down the stairs asking to be let out to see the rain. Im in a fantastic mood today so far. For the last couple of weeks i seem to have been able to deal with the endless cat calling with good humour (private humour, i dont want them to catch even,a hint of a smile). I realized that i was going to give myself heart failure if i marched around feeling furious all the time. Today, i might turn around to everyone that says 'Ahh very beautiful, yes?' and shout ' YES, ITS TRUE, I AM. Thankyou my good man for reaffirming it'.

A couple of days ago Auriel and i were taken to Agadir. Which i found to be alarmingly simular to a day in Brighton or anyother see side town. We had lunch with the family of one of a GMH member. It was a fantastic meal and as another platter was brought in i exclaimed ' oh my giddy aunt'. 'What means giddy aunt?' Fouad wanted to know. After lunch we were dressed up in the families berber clothes. Which is a great honour so im told. We looked indescribably funny and i really struggled to take the event seriously. The wieght of the jewellery was emmence and it was a real effort to get to the door to pose for pictures.

I do feel really happy here and i feel like ive learnt a lot. I have travelled and lived in some Arab countries before but ive found this to be an entirely different experience. Before i was living with families and going to university which meant i saw how family relationships worked. But here in Morocco i feel that im getting a really good overall view. Its such a privaledge to live and be around people who are so comitted to bettering the lives of people in their society. They have really good strong values. Its an insperation.

My family here are the beas knees too. Many a night we sit up chatting about the world, Morocco, England, culture. Weve had some great conversations, among my favourites: Freedom of speech. Abdullah travelled to England last year with Africa trust and is generally very open minded and easy going. His wife Siham has never left Morocco and has had a limited education. Its amazing to watch the look on her face when he tells her about what he saw in England. The best being when him and other volunteers stumbled across a nudist beach. They hadnt understood the sign half way up the beach and had wandered into what must have been a very embarassing situation for them. Siham almost fell off her chair laughing.

If any one is reading this and is humming and harring about coming out here i say do it. I was sceptical about the organization before i came but all my doubts have since vanished. They are doing a fantastic job here. This certainly isnt Marakesh but its a good town and not too overwhelming. The souq is big enough to lose your way in but small enough not to panic in. There arnt too many tourists either which i think is a bit of a blessing and we've really been taken care of. What more can you ask for?
Antonia

Feeling extremely tired after my day at the orphanage yet content also.I decided I would like to paint the main room in the house for handicapped children a fresh roseè _which after hurrid bargaining over 30 kilo of white water based and mixing with( miscommunication )5 kilo of oil based red I had the roseé!!! As I asked the director for permission to paint he said of course I can, if Azziz ( the oldest there) would let me ! followed with many "bon courages"! all in all, Azziz danced around me a sleepy smile on face, Buchra and Issam occasionally came over to touch or stroke the wall... checking my process!...became a project with all and at the end the wonderful women who work here said it was "zweena" beautiful... so hoping this is true inshallah.
my mornings are with the handicapped children and the afternoons with the babies, truly humanitarian work that you can feel in every part of the women who work there and a companionship am happy to be apart of.

Hoping you,ve enjoyed the small note...have a mint tea awaiting me now that i do o so love yaaloo to all potential volunteers(and past!) love from the mud red walls of taroudannt,poor yet smiling children and the maroccon warmth of all in GMH that are creating these possible horizons.
p.s come here!

salaam alaykoum,

auriel
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This is to warn and inform all future volunteers about WCs in and around Taroudant. What is the toilet etiquette?

Toilets in Taroudant are generally like they were all over France 20 years ago- a porcelain hole in the ground.However, toilet paper is usually supplied, and a tap on the floor with a little bucket. One assumes teh squatting position, whilst paying particular attention to one's whites. When the deed is done, remember to use the tap and bucket provided to wash your hands and wash away your waste.

An important thing to note whilst packing is that you will most probably suffer from diarrhea during your first one or two weeks. Fear not! Your yearning for an English toilet will soon be fulfilled. When you are least expecting it and just when your thigh muscles have straightened an English toilet will appear.

However, the luxury of a hole in the ground in a room with a door is nowhere to be found in the beautiful surroundings of the Atlas mountains. After a bumpy four hour journey in the back of a pick-up, on roads barely wider than a goat track, we were shown to our "toilet". This was a multipurpose stable equipped with eery darkness, several sheep and some goats a horse next door, two cows and a clutch of chickens. No bucket here...

If however this is not to your liking, a short walk a la nature is advisable. Don't wait until you are desperate though!

Whilst we are on the subject we'd like to tell you what we discovered at the tannery. Our purchases (a trendier than Topshop bag and a pair of sandals) were made with the help of pigeon poo. The acid of which apparently softens the leather.

So talk about it however you like, use all the euthanisms you like, at the end of the day, when nature calls, you have to answer.

Christina 2007 and Shafiqa

Saalam alaykoum,

Prepare yourselves for some shocking typing errors; this email is not for the avid readers of "Panda Eats Shoots and Leaves." The following is my first blog entry for Africa Trust.

How can I describe such an experience? Photographs help enormously to convey the surroundings but sadly they cannot communicate the warm (ho hum) atmosphere! Never before have i appreciated just how flexible the hour can be. If you wish to meet at a particular time, or even within 20 minutes, it is necessary to specify "European time."

Rather than attempting to describe every action of the last ten days I'd like to give you some idea; f you don't already have one; of my experience of the friendly Roudanise attitude. I never expected to feel so at home, or at least so relaxed; so quickly. When I boarded the airplane 10 days ago Morocco was a void and two months a seemingly infinite amount of time. Now though,I have already become quite attached to Taroudannt and when I think back to my nerves on departure I can safely render them quite unjustified. However it would be wrong to give the impression that i have become used to all the goings on! Each day brings with it a multitude of surprises, and I'm quite sure they could continue in the same manner for some months!

The program seems to change hourly and occasionally...more often than not....the explanation doesn't quite breach the language gap. Worry not thought I never feel in the slightest bit neglected! I think the house key is possibly my most proud possession, it's the key to my Moroccan family and home! (Not that I'm not missing you both Mummy and Daddy!!!)

An introductory blog would be incomplete without reference to mint tea and the ceremony that surrounds it! The water goes into the silver tea pot then the tea then the desired amount of tea leaves and finally enough sugar to make a small sponge cake. The pot is left, peered into, left again, poured out; tipped back in, peered into, poured out again into little glasses from such a substantial height that if the wind were to gust then i feel sure the tea would become a new pattern on the table: Finally it is drunk. As for the taste it improves with experience! The first day it tasted a lot like heated up mouthwash....now it resembles mint flavoured glucose..

I fear another meeting with the silver teapot awaits at Abdulla's house and so I must be gone. I would like to devote more time to my description of the orphanage and the work of gmh and a few reflections, but all that shall have to wait.

I hope you've found this interesting

Christina 2007 xxxxx

I've only been in Taroudannt for 10 days, but already it feels like home. I'm living at Karima's right by the school which is very convenient, though I'm always late!! I don't think I could have asked for a better host family because they helped me with all the little, but important things you need to do like get a Moroccan sim card and a telephone card to ring home! They also taught me a lot about Morocco and its tradition, about life in Taroudaant, the food (Lubna has kindly offered to teach me to cook) and most importantly, the shopping!

We've done a lot already and our two introductory weeks are nearly over. I've found the Dialect Arabic lessons the most interesting though I have no idea how I'm ever going to pronounce the sounds properly!!! I can't even pronounce my own name correctly! Christina and I have been practising though we sound like chickens when we do!

Before I finish, I'll tell you about our trip to Taraghzout which is a little village near Agadir. It was very pretty and calm near the sea. But my favourtie has to be the transport we used. There seemed to be no way of knowing when or where the taxis could come. So, we decided to get a bus. Chris had warned us beforehand about what it would be like but it was the most fun journey I think Ill ever go on. The bus appeared and there was a mad rush to get onto it - one guy even got in through the bus window!! The atmospehre was great with the traditional singing and music. I cant wait to go on one again!

Basslama!

Shafiqa xxxxxxxxxx

The latest team of volunteers has arrived in Taroudannt, accompanied by the usual fanfare that greets guests in Morocco. As they get used to the heat, and plan their work timetable for the next two months, I've had the grandee's tour of what's been happening since the departure of the last team. The volunteer donations at the Ecole Wifaq have allowed the creation of two pre-school classes, which are led by volunteers from GMH. GMH has gradually taken on a very substantial role in the provision of education in the Taroudannt area, and has been allocated funding by the Ministry of Education to employ extra teachers.

Similarly, volunteer donations have been enormously useful at the Lalla Amina orphanage, which continues to do very important work. Some of the children will be able to go away to the colonies de vacances during the summer - an exellent break from Taroudannt!

My time teaching basic IT at Al Wifaq school finished last week with a grand little party, cakes and all, thrown by the children. It was a really nice way to draw all the lessons to an end. The last week or two had been mainly focused on doing more fun activities in an end-of-schoolyear style. The penultimate week I’d organised a “Paint” competition, with chocolate for the winners of each group, in a bid to get the children to apply themselves and get pictures that I could put up on a big board in class, in honour of their efforts! It worked, though I quickly learnt that I needed to give the kids a bit of inspiration and show them ideas for what could be done in order to get their best work. Otherwise, I would be presented time and again with the same old house drawings! To be expected, maybe. Anyhow, once I’d honed the format of the lesson, all went well, I got the good drawings I wanted and at least one group left the room at the end of the class with big smiles and chocolate smudges on their faces!

My final class was even more fun. I taught the children how to upload digital pictures (unsurprisingly, none of the children possess digital cameras- but maybe following Morocco’s development, things will have changed…we can hope!) and then open them in Paint. My focus on Paint was the last section of my programme which had previously taken in Microsoft Word, Excel and a touch of Powerpoint. Unsurprisingly, it was one of the most enjoyed, though Word too was very popular, especially with the use of WordArt, different fonts, colours and pictures. The kids are more than happy to have a go at learning the basics of using computers- the latest technology, webcams and headsets have landed in Moroccan cybercafes littering the streets, and surfing the web and chatting by MSN have become adolescents’ favourite pastime! It was a big surprise when I first got to Morocco to discover that broadband and Pentium 3 computers could be found in cybers everywhere. The other shops to be found pretty exclusively consist of fruit and veg stalls, all-purpose foodstore shopfronts, carpenters, hairdressers, bike repairmen and cafes- all age-old services. Moroccans are becoming increasingly computer-savvy, so providing IT lessons, especially to children who have not previously had access to computers, are useful for the community and are met with eagerness from the children.

That said, my final lesson with each class did turn into riotous affairs. I’d taken each group to the garden where I took a series of pics of them, before loading them up into Paint, where they could draw clown’s noses on each other and transpose their heads onto each other’s bodies to their heart’s content. It was very enjoyable, even if I did take exception when my head was drawn into the fray (as it were) and placed on the body of a particularly rotund little girl! Getting the kids to leave the room at the end of the final lesson was particularly difficult, with my tactics of locking the children in for a few seconds seemingly not going down well with a fellow member of staff…Oh well. It was sad to leave the children, but I hope to return to Taroudannt to see them- and, with any luck, they will have been able to take on what they have learnt and use their new knowledge for other subjects (or impressing their friends in chatrooms)!