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Published: April 28th 2006
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Ait Ben Haddou field trip
We took a picnic lunch with us and spent the day exploring the kasbah ruins and playing in the river. Ait Ben Haddou was on the old trade route from Timbuktu over the Atlas to the Atlantic. I had no idea what to expect at camp in Morocco. In some ways it reminded me of camps I have attended back home, though with a lot less structure, organization and planning. I think part of that stems from the fact that the five American PCVs were not really in charge of the campers, we were just supposed to teach English classes and do activities in the mornings. The Moroccan staff had all the real responsibility for counting heads and keeping the kids out of trouble. They were the professionals, the Americans just helped out as best we could when asked.
This was spring break for the kids and the Ministry of Youth and Sports put on camps all over Morocco. Peace Corps assigned 5 volunteers to each camp which usually had about 100 campers. I was sent to Ouarzazate, which is a farily touristy city on the edge of the Sahara. It is known as the Hollywood of Morocco (Ozzywood?) since there are several movie studios and lots of foreign and Moroccan movies are made here.
At the last minute the camp was assigned to the ministry's Centre d'Acceuil which wasn't really big enough for all the
A real river
I haven't seen a river with water in it for so long I could hardly tear myself away, though the old kasbah itself was fascinating. campers, but we made do. A typical day was supposed to go like this: get up around 7 and clean out the bunk houses and go to the flag ceremony; breakfast at 8; English class at 9 and activities with the Americans at 11; lunch at 2 then rest until snack time at 4 then sports; dinner at 8 and evening activities after that. I’m not sure any day really went like that because we were constantly adjusting the schedule for rain or something.
That maybe have been the biggest shock of camp. It rained. For days. There were frogs invading the bunkhouse. It was the last think I had expected to see on the eastern side of the Atlas. Since when does it rain in the Sahara?
Some other parts of camp were surprisingly familiar, mostly the constant singing. Erin taught the kids the song Boom-chicka-boom and they sang it non-stop the rest of the week. Each us PCVs were in charge of an activity after class in the mornings. I worked with the journalism club to produce a camp newspaper of sorts. Erin led the Girls & Guys Leading Our World (GGLOW) club which focuses on
Lena and Amina
One of the Moroccan counelors, Amina, got caught up in a joke that went wrong and accidentally was thrown in the river. One of the other counselors bought her this robe which is the traditional nomad garb so she could change into something dry. leadership skills. Jonathan taught Latino Dance. Lena led theater workshops and Sam orchestrated the painting of a world map mural. Despite lack of materials and numerous unexpected obstacles, we all managed to make some sort of success out of our clubs. And the campers said they had fun. I guess that’s all that matters.
We had only two field trips, to kasbahs, but we also got to go out around town a bit with the kids, which was a lot of fun. I have never been stared at so much by tourists. It's usually the Moroccans who are staring at me. I guess something about a blonde singing in Arabic surrounded by twenty or thirty Moroccan kids makes a spectacle.
I have lots more camp stories, but they're the kind of stories that aren't as interesting if you weren't there. Suffice to say I loved camp and can't wait until school is out for summer and I can go work at more of them. I'm hoping to be sent closer to the ocean next time. Ouarzazate will be unbearable in August.
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