Back in Site

Back in site, I have directed my attention toward the women’s center once again.  When I arrived back from Egypt, the total collections had reach about $3,000 (so exciting!  It takes some volunteers months to raise that much).  The girls in my site were happy to hear how much had been collected, but understood that $3,000 is a far cry from almost $17,000. 

Last weekend, my parents and sister over doubled the donations to the women’s center by devoting their weekend to speaking about it a church.  At 4 different masses, Steph and my mom (how did Dad get out of it?) spoke to the congregation about this project and its merits for the women of my community.  Stephanie had the added bonus of being able to talk about the community and the girls involved from first-hand experience.  The night before they spoke, I had a horrible dream that not a single person at mass wanted to donate, so I wasn’t expecting much.  But, as you will soon be able to see on the Peace Corps donation website, they raised over $4,000!  In 1 weekend!  So ALF SHUKRA (1,000 thank yous) to my wonderful family and the people of Church of the Holy Spirit, who saw the value of this project to the women of Morocco.  You check out details and pictures of the weekend at church on Stephanie’s blog, callitaclan.blogspot.com

 

That means under $10,000 to go, to make this women’s center a reality, so PLEASE keep spreading the word to friends and co-workers.  If everyone donates a few dollars, this can totally happen soon!

 

While we are waiting for the construction of the women’s center, the girls of my community and I have decided to keep meeting weekly for women’s center related activities.  The girls are still so motivated, they don’t want to sit around and wait for the center to be built.  Each week of the month will be centered around a different activity.  The first week of the month the local midwife comes to talk to the girls about women’s health issues.  The second week, I give the girls French lessons.  The third week, the girl who will eventually be the handicraft teacher at the women’s center gives basic sewing and embroidery lessons in her house, and the fourth week, we do a women’s leadership activity.  So far our meetings have been sporadic (the girls had to work the wheat harvest, and I was in Egypt), but we are looking forward to starting the activities on a regular basis. 

 

In other news, last Friday was the commune elections for local government.  Interestingly, these elections receive a lot more attention from the community than do the national parliamentary elections.  After living in Morocco for a year, I often feel like there is very little that surprises me or makes me stop and think.  These elections did just that.  The entire week before Election Day, people throughout the community were talking about the election and the election only.  Women included!  The night before,  the men hosted an event for the women, explaining to them how to vote (you place an “x” over the picture of the party you want…..the “Wheat Party,” the “Tractor Party,” or the “Berber Dagger Party” in my site’s case), and telling them who the candidates were for each party.  Out of 200 potential voters in my douar, 130 of them came to vote, including a high percentage of women.  Very exciting!!

 

Oh, and as a side note, Happy 29^th Wedding Anniversary Mom and Dad!!!