In Peace Corps Morocco, some volunteers are specifically assigned to work at Nedi Neswis, or Women's Centers. This is a reflection from a current PCV on her experiences being one of those volunteers.
I am assigned to work in Nedi Neswi, a center for Women and girls. My boss is female, and so is her assistant, my counterpart, and everyone else who belongs to the administration of our center. The few times men enter the building, or even the gates, it’s always a little bit of a shock. Not fear, but surprise, because this isn’t their place. Even the fathers of the children in the preschool hover by the door and wait for their children to be sent out to them. It’s been both wonderful and challenging to have this opportunity to work in a space designated solely for women and run by women.
My center has the following: vocational two year diploma-granting training programs for sewing and cooking, a daycare, classes in crochet, embroidery, and exercise classes. For the majority of my projects, I work with the girls and women in the vocational training programs, a population who (most but not all) have had limited access to formal education beyond elementary school. I also have weekly activities with the preschool students.
Some of the challenges: unlike many Dar Chebabs, the Nedi Neswi is a controlled and closed space. People can’t just come in and sit in on classes, sessions, or activities. They have to be enrolled in one of the programs, and they risk losing their spots if they don’t attend. This makes for a relatively fixed audience for Peace Corps work, which is helpful in creating an intimate and invested group, but frustrating because awareness activities based around certain days/events (like World Aids Day or International Day of the Girl Child) can’t ever include more women and girls than are already at the Nedi. I spent my first several months assigned to the Nedi telling my life story to every single woman, but it paid off and now if I don’t come daily everyone thinks I’m dead, sick or in America.
The perks: I have a consistent attendance to my activities, I have the opportunity to address sensitive topics in a safe space for women, I develop and work with my counterparts knowing that we can address long-term goals, and I get to do all kinds of YD work from 4yr olds to 72yr olds! The Nedi Neswi is a great and safe space to do GAD activities, test out toolkits, and form deep bonds with the attendees. I never planned that my Peace Corps service would take place here - but as a female volunteer in Morocco I have come to cherish the safe space and relief from public life that a women's center offers.
I am assigned to work in Nedi Neswi, a center for Women and girls. My boss is female, and so is her assistant, my counterpart, and everyone else who belongs to the administration of our center. The few times men enter the building, or even the gates, it’s always a little bit of a shock. Not fear, but surprise, because this isn’t their place. Even the fathers of the children in the preschool hover by the door and wait for their children to be sent out to them. It’s been both wonderful and challenging to have this opportunity to work in a space designated solely for women and run by women.
My center has the following: vocational two year diploma-granting training programs for sewing and cooking, a daycare, classes in crochet, embroidery, and exercise classes. For the majority of my projects, I work with the girls and women in the vocational training programs, a population who (most but not all) have had limited access to formal education beyond elementary school. I also have weekly activities with the preschool students.
Some of the challenges: unlike many Dar Chebabs, the Nedi Neswi is a controlled and closed space. People can’t just come in and sit in on classes, sessions, or activities. They have to be enrolled in one of the programs, and they risk losing their spots if they don’t attend. This makes for a relatively fixed audience for Peace Corps work, which is helpful in creating an intimate and invested group, but frustrating because awareness activities based around certain days/events (like World Aids Day or International Day of the Girl Child) can’t ever include more women and girls than are already at the Nedi. I spent my first several months assigned to the Nedi telling my life story to every single woman, but it paid off and now if I don’t come daily everyone thinks I’m dead, sick or in America.
The perks: I have a consistent attendance to my activities, I have the opportunity to address sensitive topics in a safe space for women, I develop and work with my counterparts knowing that we can address long-term goals, and I get to do all kinds of YD work from 4yr olds to 72yr olds! The Nedi Neswi is a great and safe space to do GAD activities, test out toolkits, and form deep bonds with the attendees. I never planned that my Peace Corps service would take place here - but as a female volunteer in Morocco I have come to cherish the safe space and relief from public life that a women's center offers.
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