Everybody Has a Voice Workshops in Ouarzazate, Zagoura and Tinghir.

By Thomas Duncan, 2013-2015 Stage

This winter we organized "Everybody Has a Voice" workshops for women’s associations from the provinces of Ouarzazate, Zagoura, and Tinghir.

They were huge successes. 15 different communities throughout the three provinces were represented, with a total of 57 participants, 50 of them women.

The workshops aimed to give women a forum to discuss their issues, collaborate on how to move forward together and provide professional experience, networking opportunities, and communication skills development. We also wanted to give women tools to do further collaborative work on their own.

To prepare for the workshop, we asked each participating association to create an artistic representation of an issue/issues facing women in their particular community. While the assignment was abstract, the women responded with some really powerful artwork
about really tough issues.

For many of the women, this was their first professional event. We discussed how feeling nervous was natural, but that everyone was in it together and that they could help each other, encourage each other to speak out and to offer ideas. Most of the women said that in their communities they do not have a place to discuss their issues, and often feel ignored. This meant that encouraging them to really discuss tough issues was actually a bit of a challenge.

Dar America from the U.S. Consulate funded the workshops, and we collaborated with CorpsAFrica on the framework.  A number of local associations contributed as well. Ouarzazate eNews, a youth journalism organization, covered all of the events. The added elements of journalists and photographers—snapping photos during the workshops and interviewing some of the women—really provided participants with a sense of importance and professionalism.

Individual event highlights:

Zagoura Province:
The women said they never considered before to gather with similar associations to work together or share ideas. Through conversation they discovered they all face the same issues, but on different levels, and can really use each other's help and perspectives. They said that as women in rural Morocco they feel ignored and have no place to discuss their issues. Other topics discussed included poor health care and having to do all the work for their families in harsh natural conditions, as well as violence against women.

Artistic Representations included paintings showing women doing all the farm work, having to trudge through sand dunes to carry harvests, and falling ill with no access to medical care. Youth from Zagoura put on a play about violence against women and families.

Ouarzazate Province:
Ouarzazate is home to a well-established women's association called Oxygene. Oxygene was able to collaborate with very rural and relatively young associations, such as the women from Ouiselsat where women weave carpets for a living and often feel taken advantage of by the vendors (all male) who buy their carpets and sell them at huge markups, with the women seeing none of those profits.  The ability to learn how to articulate this issue was a big benefit to a number of the associations. The women from Taznakht made a carpet especially for this workshop, depicting a woman with her hands up, as if saying "I've had enough of all that I have to deal with!"

Tinghir Province:
Most of the women in Tinghir said they have no place in their communities to discuss their issues and that they had never been to any formal professional event like this before. One woman said she was so nervous/excited she could not keep her legs from shaking!

Artistic representations included a painting from an association in Mcissy, depicting a pregnant woman who had been abandoned by her husband, left to do all of the work providing income for and taking care of her other children.

The organizing committee of these workshops intends to follow up with these associations to see if and how they are using each other’s help.  We hope to offer these workshops again next year and extend that work, bringing all of the women from the individual provinces together for a conference.  

Breaking the Silence about Sexual Harassment: Stories from the Field

Breaking the Silence about Sexual Harassment: Moroccans Speak out!, the three-part video series produced by GlobalGirl Media in partnership with the GAD Committee, addresses the important issue of sexual harassment from the perspective of Moroccan men and women.

Since it was released in November 2013, PCVs across Morocco have been utilizing both the video and the GAD-created toolkit to facilitate meaningful discussions about sexual harassment in their communities. The toolkit includes discussion questions and activities for all three parts of the video, with translations in French and Arabic for working with counterparts.

Over the course of the last few months, several PCVs have had success showing the video and leading the corresponding discussion questions and activities in a variety of settings and with a range of audiences. Mike Maruca, for example, screened the video in the Berkane Dar Chebab with a group of young men and one young woman. Krista Jorstad, also in Berkane, showed the video and facilitated a lively discussion at the local Women’s Center. Down south in Akka, Kate Grey showed the video over the course of 3 Saturdays to a group of girls with great results. Jeff and Jessamyn Yoder showed the video to a mixed-gender group of university students as well as to a group of younger girls at the Nedi Neswi. In Ted Rizzo’s site, an enthusiastic counterpart led a screening and discussion with a group of girls at the local Dar Taliba. Bonnie Torre hosted an event with 75 high school students that has inspired additional events like it in the upcoming months.

Below are the stories and comments from just a few of those who have led successful activities with Breaking the Silence about Sexual Harassment: Moroccans Speak out! in their communities. We hope their experiences will inspire you as much as they have us!

Mike Maruca, Berkane:

On December 19th I screened the GAD movie "Breaking the Silence" video at my Dar Chebab. Last year, I had problems after doing a GAD-themed class on street harassment with my usual English class. Many of them didn't return after that day. I think the main problem was that I taught the class too early in the course. The participants hadn't had enough of an opportunity to bond together beforehand. This year, I have an IYF class which has been meeting for a couple of months, and we'd already done a class on gender roles and stereotypes, which went fairly well.

December 19th is one of the shortest days of the year. Since it gets dark so early, I decided to do a 'Movie Week', hoping in part to kick off a film club (which has not taken off). Each day I showed a movie in the evening. I scheduled the "Breaking the Silence" video for Thursday, when my IYF group was meeting anyway. The majority of viewers and discussion participants were drawn from my class- mainly high-school men and up, with only one young woman participating (and 18 young men). We watched all three parts of the movie, and I led short discussions in between each section, drawing questions from the packet.

Responses were mainly positive. The viewers recognized harassment as a legitimate problem. I got the impression that it was the first time many of the men had actually "heard a woman out" on the subject. One man in particular noted that the idea of expanding safe zones beyond the house and the mosque is silly- people should strive to make entire cities safe zones, not just a particular area.

I had my mudir helping me, another IYF counterpart was on the scene, and my sitemate, Krista Jorstad, was there as well. The young woman who participated later borrowed the film and manual and showed it to a group of women.

In short, the movie screening went well.

Jeff and JessamynYoder, Beni Mellal:

We showed the video Breaking the Silence About Sexual Harassment: Moroccans Speak out! by Global Girl Media to a group of six women and six men at the youth center. The participants were university students between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six, and were all advanced English speakers since they had actually come for our advanced English class. We did not have a counterpart since any counterpart we might have used would have been from this class anyway. In fact, when we later showed the video to another group of girls, a woman from this class helped lead discussion.

    

We watched each part and discussed it over three sessions, so we had plenty of time. Everyone was involved in the discussion, and they all agreed that sexual harassment exists and that it’s a big problem. Some new outcomes were that the men came to see the women’s point of view instead of relying on how they think women feel, and the women came to see that they should stop blaming themselves and each other for sexual harassment. Of course, there were some cringeworthy moments involving stereotypes and assumptions, but the most important thing was that they were excited by the subject and wished to continue dialogue outside of class.

Unfortunately, the participants were not hopeful concerning change in the near future, even when considering new laws on the matter. They understand the cultural barriers, but stated that they are happy to open the discussion and to be sure to call a spade a spade instead of promoting falsehoods, or worse, saying nothing at all.

Bonnie Torre, Zagora:

Mid-January, a student of mine named Khadija was inspired to lead a discussion on sexual harassment after watching the “Breaking the Silence” videos. My site is very conservative—so much so that in the past when I've broached the topic of sexual harassment informally with friends, I have been answered with nothing but awkward silence—and the high level of harassment has been a big struggle for me, so I was both stunned and thrilled when Khadija suggested having such a discussion. Khadija recruited an Islamic studies teacher (who happens to be the only female teacher in my site) to help her on the day of the discussion. The day before the event was to take place, Khadija told me that when she mentioned the event to her (female) neighbors, they urged her to cancel it.

More than 75 high school students came to the event, including some young people who were not students at the high school where it was being held, and boys and girls were represented more or less equally. Khadija made an introductory speech, showed the Breaking the Silence, and began to facilitate the discussion.

Unfortunately, the discussion wasn't exactly productive; in fact, almost immediately, it turned into a screaming match between the boys and the girls. Flying in the face of the idea that the younger generation is supposedly more liberal, every boy who stood up said that girls deserve harassment when they are not wearing hijab. (It should be noted that only one girl present, including myself, had a bare head, yet all the girls had stories about being harassed.) The girls fired back with stories about their personal experiences, and one girl gave an impassioned speech about a two-year-old girl who had recently been raped in my site. We ran out of time and had to continue the event the following week in order to finish. More than 90 kids came to the second part of the discussion.

Although the opinions were very extreme with no crossover between the genders at all, I was absolutely shocked by the number of students who attended and how passionate they were about the subject. Both sides clearly felt very strongly about the issue, and it was very touching to see them get a chance to talk about a subject they normally can't discuss. I believe this was a great first step towards greater compassion and perhaps even change. Even though it does not appear that either the boys or the girls left with a full understanding of how the other side feels, they at least heard each other out.

Khadija was discouraged after the discussions because of how wild they became, but now she is talking about doing another event on sexual harassment, this time without boys. When I asked Khadija why she only wanted girls at the next event, she said, “I want them to break the silence!”

 [Insert Your Name Here, Your Site]

After reading about the great experience these PCVs have had with showing the video, you may be wondering, “Where can I get my hands on that awesome video and toolkit?”

There are many ways you can access these resources. USBs, containing all of the resources in electronic form, are available at the library for you to check out (and return later). Remember, some USBs have already been distributed to PCVs throughout Morocco, so ask your region-mates if they have one you can borrow! Alternatively, the Peace Corps library in Rabat has DVDs and hard copies of the toolkits for you to grab whenever you wish. You can even take some copies for any local associations you think will use them. If you’re still having trouble finding a copy, the resources are also available online on our GAD Maroc Google Drive.

Leadership Training Program for Rural Moroccan Women

In 2013 a group of volunteers implemented a woman’s empowerment and leadership training program called “Taking the Lead: Empowering Women in Rural Morocco.” This program was re-purposed for rural Morocco from “Taking the Lead”, a program originally created by Woman's Leadership Partnership.

“Taking the Lead: Empowering Women in Rural Morocco” sessions are designed to help young Arab women overcome current gender boundaries by helping them believe in themselves, believe in there abilities, and empower them to become leaders in their communities.  The sessions require a strong female counterpart to lead the sessions.  The counterpart facilitates difficult and complicated discussions, and serves the purpose of providing the young women with a positive female role model.

This program was originally led in the Tata region by Margaret Bridges, and implemented by: Kate Gray in Akka, Anastasia Fagan and Laura Evans in Tata, Melanie Warning and Elizabeth Ardent in Tissint, Margaret Bridges and Meredith Stilwell in Issafen.  Recently, Eva Canan implemented the program in Massa, Agadir region.  Below are the experiences and comments of Kate Gray and Eva Canan on “Taking the Lead: Empowering Women in Rural Morocco.”

Want to try this out in your community? Resources for implementing "Taking the Lead" can be found here.

Eva Canan

Massa, Agadir Region

Taking the Lead was a valuable program for the 14 girls and women who participated here in Massa. It provided a space for them to discuss the challenges of being female in their community and society and to see how other leaders throughout the world have faced similar problems and worked toward solutions. They found the examples of leaders such as Asma Khader and Muhammad Yunus inspiring.

While planning, I would recommend reading each of the twelve lessons carefully in order to decide which ones to include. In retrospect, I wish we had done more than six of the twelve sessions. The second half of the program fosters following through on solving problems that were discussed in the first half. Instead of just forming a personal vision statement, they can find common goals and values they share and work on a common project.

The group cohesion and confidence that develop are fun to observe.  During the first session, most of the participants were shy and didn't share their opinions confidently. Soon, however, a group rapport developed and they felt comfortable talking about their shared challenges and experiences. As always, work with a counterpart. The participants really respected and trusted my counterpart, who was the main leader of the sessions. Many of them chose to confide in her about important issues in their lives.

Kate Gray

Akka, Tata Region

This leadership program is a powerful tool for young women. It shows them that it is possible to become a female leader within a community. The Leading to Choices manual and the stories are a great takeaway for young women; it will be something for them to look back on and to reflect upon as they grow into female leaders! The program is also a really great way to engage Moroccan counterparts in leadership. They have the opportunity to play an active role in the planning and implementation of the program, and they have the opportunity to be a leader themselves while inspiring leadership in others.

Overall the program was very successful.  This is because I had two amazing Moroccan female counterparts.  Having a good counterpart is essential to this program.  The program must be taught in Arabic by a women who can lead a group well. My main counterpart was a teacher at the Lycee, so leading a group came natural to her.  I had a second counterpart attend sessions and help with logistics, and when my main counterpart could not lead a session, my second counterpart subbed in.  So having a secondary counterpart will help you manage the program better.

The main problems that arose were typical problems: attendance, starting on-time, and ending on-time. The first week only half of the group showed up, but by the second week we had a full class (I recommend having a group of less than 20 girls). I created an attendance sheet and took attendance each week. I offered an incentive for constant attendance: those girls who missed only 1 session received a prize at the end.  Showing up on time was also a problem.  Our class was every Saturday for 6 weeks from 4-6pm.  Most weeks the girls would show up between 4:15 and 4:45.  We usually started at 4:30. Because we started late most weeks it was difficult to get through each session (we only did the first 6 session out of 12 from the book). The girls wanted to or needed to leave by 6pm. Time management was difficult, and sometimes the sessions were rushed at the end.

Some other tips:

Print out the sessions you will do with the women and make them into a booklet.  Give the girls a booklet inside of a folder, and have then write their names on the folder.  Do not let the girls take the folders home (as they may not bring them back the next week). They can take the folder and booklet home at the end of the program. Also provide pens so that the girls can take notes. Remember to collect the pens at the end of each session.

Have a party at the end and give out attendance prizes and the folders for the girls to take home.  Have some cake, tea, soda, music, and maybe do a creative project together.

GLOWing in Winter

by Kareema.Abusaab, GAD Committee

When you think of G.L.O.W. camp you think, girls empowerment camp, which is exactly what it is. Great activities to help encourage girls to think ahead about their futures, learn about teamwork, and have lots of fun. What you don’t realize beforehand is the extraordinary experiences you have with the youth of Morocco, counter parts and fellow volunteers. A rich experience, fellow volunteer, Edrienna Thomas recommends trying out more than once during your service.

Recently, Edrienna completed her second G.L.O.W. camp in her site, Gourrama, Morocco. I was fortunate enough to speak to her about her experience. 

Last summer, Edrienna set out to start the first camp ever in her site. It wasn’t the easiest thing to do as many of you can imagine but what happened afterwards, caught Edrienna by surprise. She decided to work on a G.L.O.W. camp and soon after she began putting it together she noticed many of her community members showing gratitude. Community members on the street would stop and eagerly ask Edrienna questions about the camp. During planning of the camp, unforeseen challenges arose but, determined, Edrienna pushed through and continued on.  Shortly after, the camp took place. It's success led Edrienna to plan a second G.L.O.W. camp to bring in the New Year. This time around, her counterparts took more initiative in planning and helping out. Edrienna noticed very quickly how impactful the first camp was to the community because of their eagerness to help with the second one. Sustainability at its best!

As for me, I was also fortunate enough to also bring in the New Year while working on a G.L.O.W. camp in Kalaat M’Gouna with fellow volunteers; Rebecca Levy, Sandy Levinn, Johanna Boyle, Rebecca Mukiibi, Tarah Waters and two very special Moroccan counter parts Aicha and Latiefa. 

Rebecca Levy organized a fantastic G.L.O.W. camp filled with activities such as: self-defense workshop (thanks to fellow volunteer Sairah Jahangir’s training); goal setting; friendship bracelet making/pocket scouts; entrepreneurship; public speaking and so forth. Let’s just say some of the members of the camp cried on the last day and it was hard for me as well to fight back my tears. 

These beautiful girls impacted me as well as the camp impacting them. 

I admit, there were times when I thought "That’s it!" (After a couple of fights breaking out, I felt as though some of the girls were just there to make trouble.) Then I realized that this type of occasion doesn’t happen often. Most of the girls never have a moment like this in which they are recognized, cherished and loved, taught to think ahead and to simply have fun. Sometimes it’s hard for them to know how to act. But I believe by the end of the camp many of the girls realized how to finally get along. We noticed that some of the girls that fought earlier in the week were now sitting together during the spectat (dance party), chatting away and laughing.

Sometimes we forgot how much of an impact we can have on our community. So, if you are thinking about the best ways to help integrate in your community think no more, put together a G.L.O.W camp and you’ll see how quickly your community with glow at all the new learning experiences you have to offer.

GAD's guide to G.L.O.W. camps can be found on our google drive.

Talking About Sexual Harrasment: Amazing New Resource

Breaking the Silence About Sexual Harassment: Moroccans Speak Out is ready!

What Is It? 

New tools for PCVs in Morocco to kick start conversation about Sexual Harassment with their communities. The whole package includes:

• Videos: A three part video featuring Moroccans talking about sexual harassment was produced by GlobalGirl Media in partnership with the GAD Committee. This is a video by Moroccans, for Moroccans. Each part is about 10 minutes long and you can easily show it in three parts or all at once.
• Toolkit: Discussion questions and activities to accompany the video.
• Posters: Want to publicize your screening? We've got posters available for you to put up.
• Music: Original music composed especially for this video! MP3 files and lyric sheets are available.

Resources are in Arabic, English and French.

How Do I Get It?

Of course you are wondering "How do I get my hands on these amazing resources?" The Peace Corps library in Rabat has bound, hard copy toolkits and DVDs aplenty. You can take one for your own use and if you know of any associations or organizations that might use them, grab a copy for them too.

The USBs, containing all the resources in electronic format, are slightly fewer in number so you need to check them out of the library and promise to return them so we can have them available for those who come after you.

The resources are also available online on GAD Maroc Google Drive.

What Do I Do With It?

The toolkit guides you through showing and using the resources in your community. After you show the video, please let us know how it goes. What worked, what didn't? What could be better? We want this to be a resource for some time to come and the PCVs who come after you will benefit from your experience. Email us with your feedback. 

Who Made This Video?

This video is an amazing initiative with participants from Morocco, the international NGO GlobalGirl Media, the PC Morocco GAD Committee and oodles of PCVs and PC Staff in Morocco. Moroccan women from GlobalGirl Media drove the project from start to finish, creating a project that is truly "By Moroccans, for Moroccans."

Watch it, use it.

New Toolkit! Talking About Violence Against Women

Two important days are coming up that give Peace Corps Volunteers the perfect opportunity to discuss the global problem of violence against women.

• International Men's Day is November 19 and a great opportunity to engage men in the important work of eliminating violence against women.

• International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women is November 25. Last year, to encourage participation in International Day of the Elimination of Violence Against Women, Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon reminded the world: "Millions of women and girls around the world are assaulted, beaten, raped, mutilated or even murdered in what constitutes appalling violations of their human rights...We must fundamentally challenge the culture of discrimination that allows violence to continue. On this International Day, I call on all governments to make good on their pledges to end all forms of violence against women and girls in all parts of the world, and I urge all people to support this important goal." 

As PCVs in Morocco, we can help support ending violence against women. Engage with men, boys, women, and girls in your site with GAD's brand new Violence Against Women (VAW) Toolkit! Through this toolkit participants will discuss domestic violence and be empowered to help end the cycle of violence. 

Artisan Camp in Tameslouht: Keeping Girls in Touch with Traditional Moroccan Crafting

By Sarah Quinn, PCV

Why are younger women less interested in traditional crafts and what can we do to change that?

This was the question that ultimately led to our Artisan Camp in Tameslouht this summer.

Our plan: for 10 days approximately 40 young women (late teens to early 20s) would work on learning traditional Moroccan crafts directly from artisans themselves: Fesi embroidery, 3la 7sab embroidery, crochet, or basket embellishment. Thanks to a grant through World Connect, we even had funding to cover the many necessary supplies.

In addition to learning and practicing the crafts, we planned workshops, led by both PCVs and local community leaders, to put traditional crafts into a 21st century context—topics included marketing, color theory, accounting…all of those business-y things that are so important this day in age for both product development and selling.

The last day would be an open house for the young women’s moms, an opportunity to bring the women of the community together and celebrate their daughters’ hard work.

As all PCVs know, the best laid plans usually don’t go as planned. So when it turned out that the group of campers who showed up numbered 75, not 40, and were in the 10-12 year old age range rather than the 16-25 age range, we had some re-organizing to do. Like scrapping our intensive workshop on bookkeeping.

No worries though: the girls embraced crafting whole-heartedly. And the workshops, adjusted for the audience, were wonderful.

First up was Returned PCV Heather from Mushmina and Kenza, one of the artisans she works with. They talked to the girls about product development and how their amazing company started from just a simple idea. After their presentation, the girls drew personality webs and jotted down all of the adjectives that they would use to describe themselves.

Other workshop leaders included Naima Kassi, a clothing designer from Marrakech, Hassania Ayoubi, a university student studying Human Development, Abdelatif Jâaidi, the President of the Associations’ Space of the El Haouz province, and Naima Wahmane, an artist from Amizmiz, Malika Kassi, a representative from the High Atlas Foundation, two representatives from the Moroccan Ministry of Artisana, and lastly, Zakia Lemerini, the president of the Gueliz commune and the president of the Nakhla Association for Women and Children.

On days without workshops, the afternoons were dedicated to watching the “You Can Dream” video, having a recycled-goods Project Runway, designing a mural, and lots of games. And when a planned for speaker didn’t show up? The girls grabbed their materials and jumped back into crafting without being asked. 

Of course no camp is complete with a closing party. On the final day, moms and younger siblings came to celebrate, see their fruits of their daughters’ labor, and meet the camp leaders. Zakia spoke about being treated differently than her brothers growing up, but not letting this taste of inferiority define her life. She chose to study a male-dominated field, geology, that left her spending nights by herself in the mountains. After all of this, she said, I didn’t turn out badly– I still got married, I still had kids, I still was able to do all of those tasks that so traditionally define women. At the same time, I was able to continue my career as a geologist, become a college professor, become the president of the Gueliz commune, and start an association for women and children.

This message seemed to crop up throughout the camp, both directly and indirectly– not necessarily that these girls should buck the system and never get married and define their lives by their careers, but that they should be able to have the skills and the confidence to make that choice if they wanted to. For those who do make that choice, traditional crafts are a potential income-generating activity that doesn’t really require women to leave the house. Working on Fesi embroidery can be accomplished in one’s pajamas, watching TV. It’s a ridiculously simple and effective model for women who either want to or have to get married and stay home with their kids.

But artisan skills, the original goal of the camp, almost became of secondary importance when we saw how positively the girls responded to the strong, independent, successful women who led workshops throughout the 10 days. Some of these women managed to play the traditional role of wife and mother while doing something 110% for themselves, whether it was working for Mushmina, like Kenza, or starting an association, like Zakia. Others, like both Naimas, Malika, and Hassania, are unmarried and spending their time pursuing something that they find to be of value, both to themselves and to society. Meanwhile, our girls were learning to think creatively, solve problems independently as they arose within their work, to recognize opportunities for them to step up as leaders, and to have the confidence to take that crucial step.

And thus, certificates were handed out, tears were shed, and we closed out the camp with lots of the adorable girls asking when the next camp would be. That’s probably a good sign.

To learn more about Sarah’s camp, and to see a bunch more adorable pictures, read the full post on her blog.