IMD toolkit 2014 Playing to Your Strengths

Introducing a brand new GAD "Playing to Your Strengths" Toolkit for International Men's Day on November 19th! This toolkit is designed to encourage dialogue amongst the young men within your communities through sports and interactive discussion.

Host Mom and Counterpart

Charles serves in the North-Eastern region of Morocco and has written this article about his dynamic counterpart, his host mom.  She is a stellar example of a Moroccan woman who makes her community better through her daily hard work.  

I can always count on one person from my site texting me or calling at least once a week. Usually the contents of the message ask where I am and tell me to come to lunch or kaskrout.And she is not simply requesting my presence. She’s commanding me to come and I oblige. I would not have it any other because this person is my host mom and she is what makes my service in Peace Corps awesome.

Charles and Fatima during one of their educational sessions at the hospital

Fatima was the first person to quell any anxiety I had about my new assignment. For Morocco, she is the modern woman with the characteristics of being tough, being out-going, and being motivated. My host mom was the one that got me settled into the community immediately. Before I was even well rested from the day of travel, she gave me a tour of the town. Then registered me at the Gendarme and got a P.O. Box for me. When things went south for me, I could always count on her to get me back on my feet.

And I am not the only person she enjoys helping. Fatima is a leader of the community, from the women’s association to the hospital. This person never stops moving. Every Tuesday she will spend the entire afternoon at the hospital educating women about SIDA then providing tests. Among men leading associations here, she is on the forefront, always asserting herself. When my Dar Chbab had a summer camp for the first time in a long time, she immediately went into action organizing activities and recruiting youth. Fatima single-handedly saved the camp.

I wish there were more women in Morocco like my host mom. That is why I am excited that she will accompany me to the Gender Advocate Training in December. Already she has done a lot for me and her community. I cannot wait to see what the rest of service entails with her as my counterpart.

Second Annual Souss Girls' Soccer Camp

The second annual Souss Girls’ Soccer Camp was held June 22-28 in Taroudant, Morocco. AMJAD, a Moroccan women’s professional soccer team partnered with Peace Corps Volunteer, Tatiana Cary, as well as the local commune and various community associations to once again bring this amazing girls soccer camp to the southern region of Morocco. Tatiana who entered Peace Corps with a strong soccer background and passion for the sport had hopes of finding a way to incorporate girls’ soccer into her service. After hearing about last year’s Souss Girls’ Soccer Camp in Temsia she asked Kirsten Zeiter and John DeBellis to introduce her to the AMJAD soccer team. AMJAD’s enthusiasm after last year’s camp in Temsia was a driving force to recreate this project on their home turf in Taroudant. Tatiana began to meet with the AMJAD team in early January of 2014 to start brainstorming what this second camp would look like. A timeline was created over weekly meetings, where Tatiana really encouraged the AMJAD women to take ownership and help create the vision of what they wanted the camp to be. 

The camp was designed to encourage girls’ interest in sports and community engagement by fostering a safe and organized girls only camp where they could play soccer. Goals for the camp included improved soccer skills, self-confidence, healthy nutrition practices, exercise habits and lifestyle choices. The professional female athletes hoped to model and teach the connection between healthy life choices and pursuing sports goals, while demonstrating a commitment to adopting an overall healthy lifestyle. 

For many of the young girls, this camp was the first opportunity of its kind. This year’s camp in Taroudant hosted close to 45 girls from the Souss-Massa region which included: Taroudant, Ouled Teima, Gififat, Ouled Dahou, Sbt Igerdane, Talouine and Akka. A vision for the camp was to have many different towns represented as a way for girls interested in sports and soccer to find camaraderie in playing with girls from other towns.  Although these communities vary in size and resources, they all share an absence of opportunities for girls to engage in education and development activities. This camp has become a means for boosting girls development and empowerment through soccer.

The week was filled with all sorts of soccer related activity including morning soccer practice where the girls were divided into teams blending regions and ages. These morning sessions included stretches, warm-ups, drills and scrimmages. The afternoon sessions included health workshops, one focusing on nutrition and how to be a healthy athlete and the second on first aid, the Heimlich maneuver and CPR. The girls also received three soccer workshops focusing on technical skills, rules, regulations, AMJAD and playing techniques. The evening activities were led by a local group of counselors that did games, a small talent show, singing, dancing and on one night they led a tour of Taroudant. Thanks to the timing of the camp the girls were also able to watch the United States versus Germany World Cup Game one afternoon at a local cafe. Another unexpected event that coincided with a scheduled beach trip was the region wide Souss Championship Game. On Tuesday, June 24, the camp ventured to Taghazout to enjoy a morning at the beach complete with singing, drumming, swimming and beach soccer. The girls then enjoyed a picnic lunch in an Agadir garden and then it was on to Ait Melloul for AMJAD’s championship game. The counselors and Peace Corps volunteers helped the girls to make signs and lead them in cheers throughout the game. It was an incredible opportunity for the girls attending the camp to see their counselors, the professional women’s team, play to a victory of 3-1 over their opponent. Afterwards the AMJAD players and campers alike enjoyed photos with the trophy and celebrated their victory. The week rounded out with a tournament among the girls’ teams and a very nice certificate ceremony where all who contributed to the camp were recognized. 

According to Tatiana, giving AMJAD the resources to be the agents of community development was the key to the success of this camp. Each of the AMJAD counselors played a unique role in the camp, carrying their own set of responsibilities that helped contribute to the larger whole. AMJAD was solely responsible for finding all of the community partners and associations that greatly contributed to the camp including the soccer stadium, the boarding school, the cultural center, counselors, logistical support, animators, and more. The involvement of various community partners and associations provided a way for the community to be invested in and part of the camp, a truly incredible outpouring of Moroccan volunteers. Running a second Souss Girls’ Soccer Camp in a new location has helped to prove that this model works and can be successful in different locations. The publicity that this camp has generated across the region has sparked the interest of other towns to host in the years to come, which will hopefully help this camp to become more easily replicable across Morocco.

Having girls play soccer challenges gender stereotypes the world over but especially here in Morocco where women’s sports are still lacking development and support. Whereas any PCV could teach soccer skills this camp allowed young Moroccan girls to see their older Moroccan peers as leaders, professionals and successful soccer players. A PCV who participated at the camp noted how special it was for these young girls to watch the professional women play as well as interact with them. While watching the AMJAD professional championship game she was flooded with memories from her own experience growing up playing soccer in the states and the influence that the U.S. women’s national team had on her as a youth. She hoped that the girls’ experience at camp would have that kind of positive impact on them and their future development. Providing this type of opportunity for the campers to see the women’s professional team not only play, but be recognized and respected for their hard work and achievements during the championship match was an unexpected highlight of the camp. This type of role modeling for the younger girls by the AMJAD players is something that this camp hopes to continue to foster through future camps. AMJAD hopes to continue hosting and participating in future girls’ soccer camps not only in the Souss region but throughout Morocco.

Camp GLOW: Empowerment through Expression

Camp GLOW: Empowerment through Expression was a three-day intensive GLOW camp for girls of Taroudant and the surrounding villages. The camp was held from June 16th-18th, funded by the Small Project Assistance grant, and was attended by approximately thirty girls from middle school to university. The camp focused on themes such as gender equality and positive self-esteem, women as leaders, goal setting, SIDA and female reproductive health, and the environment. Each attendee learned how these themes are pertinent to their lives as women and as community members.

Each theme was taught through workshops and followed by an expression activity. For example, a trained Moroccan counterpart led an IYF session on gender and stereotypes, which was followed by an activity in which the girls designed hands of Fatima with colors that were assigned to positive attributes they self-identified with. Other expression activities included a recycled item fashion show, self-portraits in which the girls envisioned themselves as leaders, and friendship bracelets.

Other sessions included personal fitness and how to maintain a workout plan during Ramadan led by Tatiana Cary, an entrepreneurship workshop complete with business model posters led by Rebecca Levy, and goal setting led by Johanna Boyle, in which campers defined their goals and the steps they will use to reach them. While these workshops highlight these PCVs' prowess, these girls were tremendous in their ability to help girls with any activity no matter how artistically complicated and fill spare time with new lessons that were not initially prepared for the camp.

While these PCVs contributed to the benefits Camp GLOW had on the girls of Taroudant, the success of this project would not have been possible were it not for the contribution of our community members. We partnered with the Taroudant Nedi Neswi who provided lunch and kaskrut for the girls, helping to retain attendance of girls who traveled in order to participate in the camp. We also had help from our counterpart and friend, Mounia. From neighbors who let us use supplies to turn the Dar Chebab into a gym to others who provided time and expertise, a thank you is not enough. We hope to hold another session this fall with new programming for the girls who attended Camp GLOW and their friends. 

Jihane and Radia: Best Counterparts?

I'll be the first to admit that the life of a volunteer serving abroad is no walk in the park. Surely to some of you that admission isn’t at all shocking, but tell that to my Facebook likers. They only see my service through my statuses of triumph that celebrate my latest accomplishments, intriguing articles I post that allude to my intellectual growth, and super awesome photo albums that depict my 'once in a lifetime' experience. You'll have an even harder time convincing my Instagram followers; depending on the lighting, they only get to see my Mayfair service, my X-Pro II service, or my Brannan service. Occasionally I'll give them the 'real deal' (#nofilter), but even that perspective is bound to the limits of my iPhone lens.

To be clear, this post isn’t about the lonely dark moments I experience as a volunteer. One thing the Peace Corps has retaught me is not to allow myself to spend too much time dwelling in the space of my melancholy—my mom being the first to teach me. Instead, I take those moments as opportunities to learn a bit more about myself, with a particular focus on my best methods for bouncing back from challenging experiences and feeling down. Like many other volunteers, I've developed a personal list of methods to employ when I'm in need of an injection of positive energy, including, but not limited to: prayer, dancing around my house to the latest Arab Pop music, and Skyping with my Mom. Another method I've found to be very effective is spending a few minutes reconnecting to sources of inspiration that drive my passion for youth development, chief among them being remarkable youth that I've encountered. It's something that we volunteers don’t talk enough about—how there are moments in which our Moroccan friends, counterparts, and students are the only fuel we have to keep going in the face of overwhelming challenges. So I'd like to use this platform to highlight two young ladies who continue to serve me as endless sources of inspiration and motivation as I try to be the best volunteer I can be.

Their names are Jihane and Radia. I had heard about these two exceptional young ladies long before I met them, because they had done a lot of impressive work with a group PCVs living in a site about an hour away from me. Their names would come up in conversation so often that I found myself frustrated by being the lone volunteer in our area who had yet to met these superstars.  Well eventually the day came, and let me tell you, their preceding reputations couldn’t possibly have done them any justice.

The first thing I noticed was their impeccable command of the English language. When conversing with them, I often forget that I’m not speaking with native English speakers. It's astounding. Once I got past their language skills, the next thing I learned was how ambitious they are. Jihane, for example, is at the top of her university class studying computer science, and Radia, while still in high school, aspires to become an engineer; both of them hope to study in America one day, which I'm almost certain will happen. Needless to say, I quickly realized that these are girls who find something they want and stop at nothing to get it. An example of this is their success in a recent international English creative writing competition. Jihane and Radia, respectively, competed in the university and high school divisions of the competition. They both came in first place at the regional level, the countrywide level, AND the international level! Yes, you read it correctly. They competed with the whole world and won. As I alluded to earlier, no goal is too large for these young ladies.

As if that wasn't enough, I gradually began to realize the extent to which both of them have supported the efforts of my fellow volunteers assigned to their city. They not only have been willing to assist with translation at the drop of a hat, but also with leading various workshops and countless camp activities, and by serving as positive role models for their peers inside and outside of the classroom. The manner in which they selflessly volunteer their time, energy, and skills for the success of any given project is truly admirable. I'm sure that if there were a competition for the best PCV counterpart in all of Peace Corps world, they'd be serious contenders.

What I love most about these girls is that their humility keeps you from ever knowing that you ought to be impressed to the point of feeling star-struck in their presence. Such language may sound absurd when referring to young people, but I'm not afraid to say that I’m one of their biggest fans. I think it's unfortunate that much of society remains fettered to ageist notions that delegitimize the wisdom, inspiration, and exemplary that can be found in our youth. Sure, one could argue that Jihane and Radia have yet to accomplish feats truly worthy of such admiration, but for me, when I look at them, I not only see what they've accomplished thus far in their short lives, but also what they have yet to accomplish—their potential, their futures. Before we know it, these young girls will be strong and powerful women contributing to both their local community and the world.

I'm certain I'm not alone in the sentiments I've shared. I think I speak for all of the PCVs who've worked closely with Jihane and Radia when I say that it's truly a challenge to articulate the gravity of their impact on their peers and us. Surely my attempt here fell short. So I'll conclude by dedicating Peace Corps Morocco's GAD Committee blog post of the month to two super awesome young ladies who continue to do amazing GAD work just by being themselves. They also happen to be two of my favorite sources of inspiration, two really effective positive energy injections, and two really compelling reasons to continue my service with fervor, even when I don't feel at my best. 

Astronaut Day / Women's Empowerment Day

Upon learning that there would be a space-themed camp being organized by the Akka community at the Dar Chabab (youth house), I immediately remembered the amazing time I had spent at the U.S Space Camp in Huntsville, AL in 4^th grade and that a college friend of mine had been nominated for the Mars One program.

Heidi Beemer has signed up for a trip many wouldn't dare go on, one-way to the Red Planet. Thanks to Mars One; a Dutch Non Profit, she will get a chance to make her dreams a reality. The original pool of 200,000 applicants has been narrowed down to 1,058 people whom have been chosen to be in the second round of the application process. The next few rounds will narrow the field to just 24 people that will begin their training for the next ten years.

Camp took place on April 14-19, 2014 during the Spring school break. Five days of camp were in the evening and one overnight for older youth to star gaze and learn how to use a telescope. Approximately 40-60 youth participated daily. The youth attended space-related English classes with Peace Corps Volunteers in the early evening hours, and afterwards participated in different workshops related to space. One of the days was dedicated to astronauts and women’s empowerment and we were very lucky to get a video sent to the kids of Akka that were attending the camp from Heidi through Youtube. 

The day began with the volunteers highlighting five powerful women in American history and the kids and counterparts countered with five powerful women from Morocco. The kids were previously grouped by the planets in our solar system, and ironically no one picked Mars. Heidi greeted the kids, briefly discussed her time at space camp and taught our kids a little bit about the Red Planet. The rest of the day involved an obstacle course, an awesome tug-o-war tournament and was capped off with the playing of Gravity the movie. And of course, popcorn was served hot and salty. 

The Akka Space Camp was a huge success and we hope that it will not be the last one held in Morocco. We want to give a big thanks to the community members, counterparts and volunteers that made it happen. Also, a huge thank you and good luck to Heidi Beemer as she continues the application process to becoming one of the 24 that will endeavor on a once in a lifetime journey. 

BRO camp an amazing success!

Imagine thirty bros.

Are you picturing thirty 20-somethings wearing button downs, pastel-colored shorts, and sunglasses with straps on them blasting 90’s pop anthems?

If you are, then you couldn’t be much further from Morocco’s first BRO (Boys Respecting Others) camp.

Thirty campers and ten counselors from eight different towns in the Tadla-Azilal province arrived at the Dar Talib in El Ksiba on February 23^rd for a weeklong sleepaway camp for boys. Inspired by Peace Corps’ many successful GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) camps, BRO camp was created to make better boys with a better future for a better Morocco.

Some of you may wonder: Why did you make a camp for boys? Don’t boys have many privileges in Morocco? After all, boys attend school more than girls; boys have more jobs than girls, and, in many families, are held in higher favor.

While it is fair to note that boys do hold many privileges in Moroccan culture, boys also shoulder many of the country’s burdens. Youth face many pressures from society and family that are challenging to overcome. A 2012 World Bank study reported that, “…young men are expected to contribute money at home, and to save enough to start their own family. With the severe lack of opportunities they are capable of neither, and this failure has resulted in them becoming alienated within their own families. The psychological pressure that the young men face is huge. It’s not a coincidence that, for the poorer ones, the coping mechanism is to use drugs and to drift in inactivity.”[1] Walking down the street and seeing dropouts lounge at the café and boys smoking hash in the alley made it very clear to me the importance of an early and powerful impact on our boys.

Peace Corps volunteers and our Moroccan association developed an ambitious and comprehensive curriculum to empower our campers to rise above their challenges and thrive in their homes, schools and communities. At BRO camp, boys learned about health, preparing for work, gender and society, teamwork and leadership, and community service over 18 classes, 8 activities, 5 guest speakers, one community service fair and clean-up project, and the Building a Better Morocco Competition.  Mornings started with classes that varied from drug awareness, to expectation versus the reality of male Moroccans, to community organizing. Guest speakers arrived in the afternoon and spoke about the themes of the day. One amazing moment was when Peace Corps’ Fatima Akbeli and Samira Idoue Laouina fostered a lengthy discussion with the boys about the challenges women face in gaining employment.

Later that day, the students harnessed what they learned in class in their afternoon competitions about being honorable men and sexual harassment. Boys stepped into their sisters’ shoes (and out of their comfort zones!) when producing skits depicting sexual harassment, the issues of sexual harassment, and ways to prevent sexual harassment from happening. Students started thinking about stale and indoctrinated opinions in new, dynamic, and empathetic ways.

At dusk campers would gather in teams to prepare for the Building a Better Morocco Competition at the end of the week. Teams had to identify a problem in their community, research it, come up with a youth based solution, and present their findings to a group of judges. What our bros came up with blew everyone away. Boys passionately and thoughtfully articulated innovative ideas about new transportation options for young women far from schools, employment training for new professionals, and tutoring and mentoring services for youth from youth. But that wasn’t even close to the most amazing thing about our camp.

To see the most awesome part of our camp, you would have to wait until it was all over. Everyone transformed. Boys who were once shy became impassioned orators. Boys who were troublemakers became moral compasses. Boys who didn’t have a direction, created five year plans. Boys who once sexually harassed women spoke out vehemently against it.  Boys took what they learned at BRO camp and brought it to their villages. In Ouaouizeght, two bros taught three lessons from BRO camp to sixty girls and boys. In Foum El Anser, boys are organizing new clubs and activities in the Dar Chebab. Boys became Morocco’s best bros.

And these boys transformed me. My experience with these boys reinvigorated my service and has made me excited to expand our BRO camp to other villages, new associations, and more boys in my third year of service.  Because of BRO camp there are 30 more bros in Beni Mellal. We could use a few more bros.

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[1] http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2012/05/14/challenge-of-youth-inclusion-in-morocco