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Published: October 19th 2013
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Girl Power!
Peace Corps Morocco is divided into 8 regions. We happen to be in the north, but our region spreads across the entire country towards the east, all the way to the Algerian border. That covers a huge land area and travel from one side to the other is complicated and would take more than a day. But there is regional spirit within our group, nonetheless. When I (Ann) was approached by some of the female PCVs in my region to participate in a regional girl’s camp, I was excited. But also, I must admit that I pictured bratty little kids, snotty and whiny, giggling, loud and obnoxious, roasting marshmallows and being sneaky. Most, but not all of this turned out to be false.
Peace Corps volunteers can apply for a money grant to hold activities, including a GLOW CAMP (stands for: girls leading our world). Camps are not automatically funded. PCVs must write grants and the paperwork is intense and detailed (as with most bureaucratic ventures). Also, it is hard to explain with clarity the nightmares of organizing anything at all in Morocco, but it is simply ridiculous how hard it is. People flake more often than
not, time schedules mean very little or nothing or nothing at all, and bargaining for each aspect of things you need is serious business. It is best just not to have any expectations and be extremely happy if the thing that was organized actually gets going at all. Multiple contingency plans must be part of the plan. Amber Duffy of Larache (she has been here a year longer than I), along with 4 other female volunteers (Nathalie, Lisbeth, Libby, and Kitty) did an amazing job of pulling things together and I am thankful I was not in charge of it and in fact, they cut me a lot of slack. I was the only female “newbie” and glad that the other girls knew what they were doing (they might not say that but to me they were the professionals) and I felt honored that they included me.
GLOW is a camp for females only. Morocco is a very male-dominated society and by that I mean that society gives the appearance that men make most of the decisions and women are to follow along. I purposely say “appearance” because in reality, women run things in plenty of ways. Genders do
not hang out together for the most part, except at school. For example, at weddings, in Morocco, females and males enjoy the partying in completely different areas. In our city, the fifty or so cafes are frequented only by men. So, the female-only camp is good because this allows the girls to “cut loose,” be themselves, share their true opinions, wear pajamas and ditch their hair coverings.
The GLOW camp can be held over a span of days and although the topics are picked by the organizers, common ones are citizenship, gender equality, STDs, and some just plain fun. There were applications and releases to be prepared, translated to Arabic, modified, and re-translated. There were guest speakers to organize. Our seven day camp was overnight, so accommodations, cooks, food, supplies, etc. had to be appropriated. Female attendees had to be recruited and this required announcements in several languages. Parents were concerned about their daughters’ safety and the subject matters to be involved in our sessions, so many questions had to be answered diplomatically, but without perfect language skills. I can say without reservation that the PCVs (early 20’s) that I have met in the Peace Corps have gained unbelievable
skills in what they do and any employer would have an extreme advantage in hiring someone who has been through this experience. Patience and adaptability are needed all day, every day, in immense proportions. There is NO instant gratification in Morocco. We also had two Moroccan ladies who volunteered to be at the camp all week, share in all of the duties (for better or worse) and do presentations as well. I was simply amazed at how selfless and dedicated they were. What good role models!!!
The camp was held in Larache, a coastal town about 30 minutes from Ksar el Kebir. The building used (3 floors) had a bunch of rooms with multiple beds, as well as 2 rooms for presentations and a big dining area and full kitchen. We had about 30 teen girls (ages 15-20 approx). There were two 30 something females who were contracted to cook and clean (during the camp I learned that neither were literate). We had activities planned, and a theme for each day, and even a beach day. For the most part, the activities went off without a hitch. We were all assigned roles each day for different tasks, including the
night duty person, time-keeper, etc. I had the unfortunate role of night-duty for the first two nights. The girls were too excited to go to sleep and here’s where the sneakiness came in. After “lights out” they were trying to bunk with their friends (we had shaken up the groups a little) and they hid under beds and such. After several bed checks in the middle of the night, we decided it wasn't worth addressing. There was giggling, nail polishing and gossiping into the wee hours of the morning. It was extremely hot and muggy, even with the windows open. There were no pillows, but plenty of mosquitoes hungry for my blood, all night long. I also was trying to recover from a cold. After two nights in a row of this, my duty was fulfilled and I will admit I did not volunteer for any additional night duty and was thankful I was not on the schedule. In those two nights, however, the silver lining was that I learned much about Moroccan teen girls, as well as my 28 year old friend Khoula, who accompanied me from Ksar and with whom I bunked, and who agreed to help out
and do my first day presentation with me. It did take about a week for all of the bug bites to heal, though.
The girls all appeared to have a wonderful time and learning and fun were both had in large proportions. There were very few problems with behavior. There was much dancing and singing and you haven’t seen Moroccan girls dance and sing until you see them away from boys - - it is crazy!! There were art projects and of course, henna tattoos.* I learned teenage girl camp songs (yes, I did). On beach day, we packed like sardines into a pretty shaky van for the 15 minute ride and only one girl puked (on me). We did a lot of hugging. There was unbelievable bonding between girls who had never met before. Before everyone departed, there was a lot of crying and thus, we knew it was a huge success for the girls. As for me, my senses were filled with invaluable education, new understandings, insight into Moroccan culture and its female gender, but most importantly, I shared genuine, human warmth. Will I embark on my own camp next year and be a role model to
the new group coming this January? I don’t know. But I can say that I must be the luckiest former family law attorney on earth.
*Henna is basically a dye that comes off gradually over a week or so.
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