How Health and Fitness Can Be More Than a Class

R.A. Wilson is a Master’s International student in Political Science: Applied Economic and Community Development from Illinois State University. Wilson has served with the Peace Corps in a small Moroccan village near Marrakech since April 2015 while simultaneously researching for and writing her final capstone project required for her master’s degree. In her village currently, Wilson is promoting women’s empowerment through teaching English, facilitating a Girls Leading Our World club, and a health and fitness club. Her passion to ignite a commitment to health and a love of education within the girls of her village despite barriers is a lesson she has personally realized and one she hopes to impart.

See more at her blog, passportandpack

How Health and Fitness Can Be More Than a Class

by R. A. Wilson

Women's Health and Fitness Through a Gender Lens

When considering women in Morocco, it is impossible to ignore the culture's relationship with women's bodies. Criticized by some and celebrated by others, the societal norm in this culture is one of full-body coverage. Many women perceive this practice as one that fosters respect of woman's body by preserving its beauty for one man only. And while the intention of such practices clearly stems from a place of respect, women and girls in every culture are sometimes tempted to feel the pressure of society in a way that isn't always positive. 

With the expectation to cover one's body there is a potential misconception that this means a woman's body is something of which to be ashamed, something that needs to be hidden because there is something wrong with it. Combining that with the increasingly prevalent standard of beauty originating in Hollywood, Moroccan women and girls are being pulled at from all directions regarding how they should look, dress, and behave. With so many mixed messages and surmounting expectations, it's no wonder health is often times the last concern to enter the conversation about women's bodies. 

So much of a Peace Corps service is comprised of lunch-time conversations and informal cultural exchange; it is natural to use these small daily opportunities to slip in a topic you might perceive as an area of need. After over a year of chatting with my Moroccan friends about the concept of beauty and why taking care of our bodies is important, I felt it was time to do something more. And while exercising with women and girls in my town is something we have done almost since I set foot in the town, I feared that if I didn’t somehow impart the importance of the practice, these weekly exercise classes would fade the moment I left. 

How Health and Fitness Can Be More Than a Class

In hopes of creating something more sustainable, I envisioned a workshop where women and girls would come with their volunteers and we would all learn about our bodies and health together. After sharing this idea with others, several other volunteers had a similar idea and we decided to work together to make this a reality, a partnership that I now realize was the only way a project of this size would have ever come to pass. 

Posing with a self­portrait labeled with 5 things we love about ourselves. 

An idea which was fighting to become a reality since April 2016, this Health and Fitness Training of Trainers finally came to fruition the weekend of November 12 and 13. With a total of five Peace Corps volunteers, one Corps Africa volunteer, and nine local counterparts from various PC communities, the weekend was one where each participant had many things to give and many things to learn. The two-day workshop vacillated between active sessions and informational sessions, all of which came together to promote a healthier lifestyle, sharing one's knowledge, and leading others on this health and fitness journey.  

We opened the workshop by discussing potential motivations for fitness and how one's mindset towards exercise can sometimes stem from a negative self-image. We were happy to find that many of the young women were already rocking body-positive perspectives! This allowed us to take the discussion a step further and explore ways to inspire others in the community who may struggle with body-negative mentalities. This session was a wonderful way to kick off the weekend by ensuring that everything we did was framed with the mindset of body-positive rhetoric. 

Seeing nutrition as a primary component of health, we made certain to incorporate nutrition sessions throughout both days. Ranging from the importance of hydration, to understanding the food pyramid, to the evils of excessive sugar, to interactive cooking lessons, all of the participants were exposed to something new and provided with the tools to take action regarding their diet. Understanding that big changes don't happen overnight, we made an effort to present many options and provide little ways they can make a difference every day.

Adelia share about the importance of hydration. 

Adelia provides an interactive demonstration to show how much sugar is consumed in one day. 

Rasha gives and interactive demonstration on how to make a mayonnaise substitute with sugar­free yogurt. 

We also provided fitness sessions focusing on either yoga or aerobics. These sessions were the backbone of the training, as we focused on empowering the young women to feel confident leading others in fitness sessions. This workshop ensured that the girls were able to learn new moves as well as understand the components of an effective workout plan and how to lead others. By the end of the workshop, each participant was able to lead their peers in a number of newly learned moves and demonstrated an increase in leadership ability. A major aim of the workshop was to empower local counterparts to either begin their own fitness class or to help make a PCV's class more sustainable. We closed the workshop by having the participants meet with their volunteer to plan either a transition of leadership or how to start a fitness class in their community. 

Loubna and Souad lead their peers in some newly learned yoga poses. 

Anne teaches a fun yet challenging combination of yoga poses. 

By the end of the weekend, the participants, who already came with a wealth of knowledge, seemed energized, confident, and ready to lead their communities on the health and fitness journey. Reports of newly implemented yoga classes have already come in! We have every faith that the effects of this workshop will continue to unfold as the girls become more comfortable with using their new skills in leadership roles and sharing their body-positive perspective with others.  

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Posted By Shawn Dubberly