"After being back in Tinjdad for the past two weeks, I have engulfed myself back into my community and into my work. Now, I do have to be honest on this one; work does not carry the same meaning in Morocco as it does in the states. A very hard worker in Tinjdad works for about four hours a day, and while I don’t always get that much real work in, the fact that I am willing to walk a couple of kilometers a day to meet with different people has my neighborhood thinking I am a superstar."
Peace Corps Volunteer R. Andy in Morocco: About my work
Work…..What’s that again
After being back in Tinjdad for the past two weeks, I have engulfed myself back into my community and into my work. Now, I do have to be honest on this one; work does not carry the same meaning in Morocco as it does in the states. A very hard worker in Tinjdad works for about four hours a day, and while I don’t always get that much real work in, the fact that I am willing to walk a couple of kilometers a day to meet with different people has my neighborhood thinking I am a superstar.
Of course, now that I have spent an entire month living by myself, I have come to realize that it takes a long time to get anything done in this country. I’ll give you a break down of my weekly activities. I have to walk three kilometers twice a week to get to the souk to buy my weekly vegetables. I also have to make that same walk to get to the main marche (grocery store) to buy specialty items like cheese, chocolate, meats, and certain vegetables. And again, I have to make that same walk to get to my host-family’s house where I try to have one meal every other day. Oh, and I make that walk again to go to the post office about twice a week, which usually includes at least a 30 minute wait. Since I cook with butane gas tanks and slightly archaic cooking ware, I spend about two hours a day cooking, and I don’t do anything fancy. With the very noticeable lack of both a washing machine and a dish washer and dish washing liquid, I watch another hour a day disappear while washing dishes, and the once a week I cave-in to do laundry, I watch three more hours disappear while I scrub, rinse, and hang my clothes. Cleaning the house is another story especially considering the amount of dust that is always in the desert, and again, I am lazy on this one but get at least an hour in a week with that. If I do not want the neighborhood kids to separate my trash, I have to divide it into things that sheep can eat and things that they can’t. While that doesn’t take much time, it was worth mentioning. Taking a shower is another chore, but I am fortunate to have a hot water heater that works relatively well; thus, it only takes about twice as long as it would back home.
Now, that I have vented to you about the daily and weekly activities that keep me feeling busy but leave me with little accomplished, I will move back into that thing called work. While I felt like I did very little last month, I sent in my monthly report and found that quite a lot had been accomplished, and at the request of some friends back home, I wanted to share it all with those who are actually interested in the development aspect of my Moroccan experience. Below is a list of the main activities, I have been involved with in the last month…..if you want further explanation of them, email me or submit a comment….
§ Met with delegate (co-worker/boss) to discuss potentials projects and ideas and to get his incite and advice. Attended an artisan exhibition at the Errachidia delegation.
§ Conducted ten artisan surveys to better understand their perspective and needs
§ Researched people and associations interested in Tamazight art and culture and sent emails to inquire about working together. Already received a few responses.
§ Attended Gender and Development meeting in Rabat. Was elected Vice-Chairperson of the committee. Helped (just a little) finalize a grant proposal for a Gender and Development conference in May and edited the application for the conference. Began compiling a GADatabase for all volunteers to be used as a resource for projects that involve Gender and Development.
§ Began the first stage of starting a Cooperative for Blacksmiths in Tinjdad. Met with interested artisans, gathered names and other information, presented idea to delegate, and received the initial cooperative proposal form to be filled out next month and sent to Meknes.
§ Completed research for website for counterpart’s artwork and am in the process of editing it and producing it in French and English.
§ Met with director of the Banque Populaire in Tinjdad to discuss all possible sources of credit and financial products for a community member from Tinjdad and to discuss the banking system in Morocco.
§ Visited a fellow volunteer’s site and did research on embroidery techniques, designs, and training.
§ Used in-country travel weekends to visit the artisan delegation in Marakesh and Azrou to research product development and presentation techniques.
§ Discovered the desire to learn English in many of the adult men and artisans in Tinjdad and researched the best potential time and day to teach English once a week to artisans. This was also encouraged and supported by the delegate.
§ Continued collecting database of artisans in area that includes leaders in the community and members of the community who work in the tourism industry. Added in SWOT (Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis. This will be ongoing throughout my two years.
§ Discussed starting a youth café and began writing a grant to buy the necessary materials to begin the café, which will provide a safe, English-speaking environment for youth interested in improving their English.
And below is a slightly different list of potential projects for me in Tinjdad:
§ Teaching English every Monday from 5:30-7:00 in the local cyber café to artisans and adults. My site mate Aura is going to facilitate the class with me.
§ Starting a Blacksmith Cooperative in the center of Tinjdad.
§ Introducing local artist/counterpart to contacts throughout Morocco and U.S. who are interested in working with Berber artists. Am building a website to present his works online. Want to encourage an exhibition of Tamazight art in a larger city in Morocco, Europe, or U.S.
§ Found a local businessman who wants to provide funds and a location to start an all-women tahruet cooperative in a small douar of Tinjdad, and am helping him begin the process (This is still a potential project and maybe even a potential future site for a female volunteer but is in the beginnings stages and will probably not be underway until the end of this year or the beginning of next year).
§ Want to work with Errachidia delegation on carrying out and marketing exhibitions and/or festivals (potential project for all the volunteers in the Errachidia province).
§ Have learned the Berber alphabet (tifinagh), and some artisans have shown an interest in learning it is well, so may hold a few classes to teach them.
§ Running a youth café, which will be open once or twice a week to youths interested in improving their English.
And that is that. While it all exists on paper, making it happen is another story, but I am confident some of these ideas will make a positive impact on Tinjdad, so I will stand behind those and keep pushing for them to happen. I know that many of them I could get accomplished by myself, but it is very important for the sustainability of any project in which I participate that someone from my community take the leadership role in each project. I am here mainly to provide some additional incite, intel, and energy.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I hope your day was filled with something green……other than mint tea
