Regional Meeting Roundup

While we didn't have any formal GAD presentations during the recent regional meetings, we were really excited to talk to PCVs individually to hear about the great projects that you are doing and to also hear your feedback on GAD resources. We are always, always wanting to hear from you, so if you have questions, thoughts, feedback or recommendations, please email us to share them!

Some of the MANY AWESOME GAD activities we are hearing about around the country:

* Lots and lots of women's and girls' clubs: All around the country PCVs are creating safe and comfortable spaces for women and girls to express themselves, through fitness and sports, cooking, art, music, leadership programming, health activities, and rich discussions about women's issues.

* Programming with men and boys: Both male and female PCVs have done programming with boys, some using the "Honorable Man" toolkit. We're hoping to work on more resources for you on this!

* GLOW Camps: PCVs worked together on some AWESOME GLOW camps in the last few months, with more to come this summer! Thanks to Gussie for passing along a new GLOW Camp Facilitator Guide, which can now be downloaded on our Resources page.

* Leadership Training: PCVs Meredith Stillwell and Maggie Bridges, along with others in the Tata region, facilitated a series of counterpart-run women's leadership programs. Maggie will be at the new stage's IST to share this awesome program with others! And in Region 2, a number of PCVs sent women from their communities to a leadership training in Rabat in conjunction with the association ADFM and RPCV Katy Howell-Burke. Earlier in the year Katy and ADFM also did this training with PCVs in the Ouarzazate region too.

* Sports and Fitness: Not only are we hearing about aerobics, yoga, and dance classes for girls and women, but lots of PCVs have done or are planning awesome programs in their communities for running, soccer, and basketball!

Some of the GAD feedback we've heard that we'll be discussing in our upcoming June committee meeting:

* More programs/resources for working with men and boys

* Translating as much as we can into Arabic

* Connecting PCVs with GAD-focused NGOs and other organizations throughout the country

* Resources for incorporating GAD into the classroom (within English classes)

* Anything else???? Please email us!

Spring Camp

On the last day of spring camp the children were given permission to explore the city grounds unsupervised.  Everyone seemed to have fun except three girls, who had a different and unfortunate experience.  I noticed one of the girls crying and asked what had happened.  She explained that some boys on the street had called out to her and her friends.  One of the boys grabbed her arm and pulled her in towards him.  Shaken up she finished the story with, “he then unbuttoned his white shirt in front of us.”  My first reaction was to go outside and find the boy that had done this, but luckily my fellow PCVs advised me that I wouldn’t like Moroccan jail very much.

The other PCVs and I started working on what the best course of action should be.  We decided first to call one of the Moroccan staff for guidance, but that quickly resulted in a shouting match and blaming of the girls.  Next, another Moroccan staffer chimed in, and what seemed to be a second shouting match was in fact the other Moroccan staffer explaining that the first Moroccan staffer was wrong for blaming the girls.  None of this was really working because the girls were still crying.  Other fellow campers were also blaming the girls.

Finally, we decided to call Fatima Kamal.  Who better to speak to these girls than a strong, independent, caring woman?  Fatima reassured the girls they did nothing wrong.  Slowly, the tears disappeared and the girls continued to listen silently to Fatima's gentle words.  After the phone call, we explained to the girls that they should ignore the people blaming them and to understand it was not their fault.

As I stood up, I noticed in the room stood five strong, independent caring women surrounding the girls.  At first we had no idea what to do, but we figured it out step by step and what could have been disaster instead became a learning experience.

The tears stopped and the girls ended up joining the party the camp was having and danced with their fellow campers.  The first day of camp, I remember how these same girls were making fun of us and whispering God knows what, but I will take with me the tight hugs, the kisses on our cheeks and the thank yous they gave us on the last day of camp. I wanted to do more, I know we all did but without realizing it we did exactly what was needed.  Sometimes, to truly make a difference, requires only that we be present.