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.

VOTE! 2013 Theme Contest Part Deux!

Earlier this year, due to the popularity of 2012's theme contest, we decided to create two theme contests for 2013.  For the first half of 2013, you voted for the 5k Run & Fun Walk toolkit. Many volunteers and even more Moroccans tied their laces and took off with this toolkit, and the GAD committee appreciates everyone's enthusiastic participation.  Expect a finalized version of the toolkit by early October.

The theme for the second half of 2013 is being chosen now – BY YOU! You proposed many amazing ideas and the GAD committee selected five different theme ideas for YOU TO VOTE ON (available on the website and facebook)! And as always, we want your input. If you have another idea, pass it along so that it can be included in the 1st round of themes for 2014. Don’t delay, voting ends Sept 10th!  Click the link below to vote.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1uRCVIx5wdvViS-GKO3uC-CLeb4-IugqH74FQnlJgftE/viewform

GAD at Camp

Ouled Teima

At the Ouled Teima summer camp (Souss-Massa-Drâa region) PCVs Johanna Boyle and Caitlin Stechschulte utilized the Picture Perspective activity in the new GAD at Camp toolkit.

This activity challenges participants to analyze gender roles and stereotypes in society and how they influence perceptions as well as encourages participants to reflect on their own gender roles and opportunities.

For the activity, each participant received a selected magazine clipping that was purposefully gender neutral (ie identifying body parts that associate the person as being male or female were not included) and they were directed to complete the picture with the materials provided.  Everyone appeared to really enjoy the activity and some great discussion ensued about the pictures that they created and gender roles within Moroccan society.

Zaio

Far north in the Rif region, PCVs Courtney Haueter, Tiffany Devoy, and Meg Fowler wanted to incorporate discussions about gender into the Zaio camp's theme of building employment and job seeking skills for young adults. It turns out that with just a few tweaks to the original discussion questions, the You Can Dream video is a great springboard for talking about entrepreneurship as well as women in nontraditional fields of work. Both the men and the women participating in camp found lots to talk about after watching the video and it sparked an interesting conversation around what is appropriate work for women and how camp participants view taking risk and striking out on your own versus striving for more secure employment.

These are just two examples of great GAD-related work done by PCVs in the field this summer. If you have more stories of how PCVs have incorporated GAD activities into their camps, let us know!