Happy Holiday

There is nothing quite like watching the streets run red with blood to bring forth that holiday spirit. Mabruk Eid, Everyone!

On Gendarmes

If your house has been, broken into, who you gonna call?

No not the ghostbusters.

The Gendarmes.

In case of emergency the gendarmes are a phone call away. Say for instance, in the unlikely and totally hypothetical situation that one’s house was broken into and one’s computer stolen. Within 5 hours they will have a suspect in custody and eleven hours after you called they will have your computer. How is that for impressive?

The speed and efficiency, the honor and integrity, the courtesy and professionalism are quite simply astounding. These truly are Maroc’s finest.  

Morocco In the News: Nov 7-13

INDH gets 5-year Morocco review.

By Sarah Touahri 2010-11-08

Moroccan officials met with the European Union representatives to gauge the successes and failures of the National Human Development Initiative.

On the fifth anniversary of the National Human Development Initiative (INDH), Moroccan officials held a forum November1st-2nd to take a closer look at progress made and address obstacles.

"Despite the unquestionable advances which have been made, we are aware that this experience has highlighted certain limitations, which will naturally form a part of any innovative programme of this size," Moroccan King Mohammed VI said in a message to the forum participants.

"Hence our desire to ensure that it is followed up on the ground, along with constant monitoring at various stages, with a view to improving programmes, encouraging a more integrated approach to projects, and overcoming obstacles," the King said.

International partners at the Agadir forum included members of the European Union. French Secretary of State for Urban Affairs Fadela Amara lauded the initiative as an exemplary development model.

On The Strike

For a few Moroccan students, studying in high school requires serious commitment. At a young age, perhaps 16, they must say goodbye to their family, move out of their hamlets, find housing, housemates and everything else in the town center where the high school is in order attend classes. This is a task most American students don’t undertake until their sophomore year of college.

Of course many Moroccan students are not up to it, and many of them who are girls have families who won’t risk their daughter’s virginity and thereby family’s reputation by having them so far away and unsupervised. But for those that do it, it is a truly impressive feat. The tragedy is that, this year, they have gone through all this, only to spend their first two weeks on strike.

Their reason for being on strike is a good one. Part of their school building is condemned from where an earthquake tore it in half. The other part has a roof that leaks, leaving rainwater puddles on the classroom floors. Though complaints were made last year and new infrastructure is being built, it is not close to being done yet.

The irony is that here, in this distant part of the world, students are so dedicated and yet the infrastructure is so bad, whereas in other places, students must be forced to attend schools with the finest facilities.

Ces’t la Vie. 

Morocco In the News: Nov 1-6

Gender-based violence persists in Morocco.

By Hassan Benmehdi -31/10/10

According to a just-released report, Morocco has yet to achieve its goal of protecting women.

Despite efforts by civil society and the government, violence against women remains an ever-present problem in Morocco, a women's rights NGO announced on Wednesday (October 27th).

To reach its conclusions, the Chama Centre for Refuge, Counselling and Legal Advice documented 302 cases of gender abuse over the period 2009-2010.

"In the absence of an institutional help framework backed up by the law – even in hospitals and police stations – women who have suffered violence find counselling centres to be a refuge, hoping to find a solution to their situation there," Touria Omri, chief of the Women's Development Organisation, told Magharebia.

She added that counselling centres have been following developments since 1995 and trying to find solutions at legal and institutional levels. Omri concluded that the law and, particularly the administrative procedures needed to prove the degree and nature of gender-based violence are still falling short of the mark, complicating efforts to provide greater protection for women.

According to the Chama Centre, around 50% of women who have been attacked are aged between 25 and 40. Thirty-two per cent suffered legal or economic violence, with 19% affected by physical violence and 16% mental abuse. Spouses top the list of perpetrators at 71%, followed by former spouses at 17%.

On The Workhorses

Not everyone owns a vehicle in Morocco. Which means that people have to do more work themselves, and the vehicles there are have to pull a bigger share of the national workload then their spoilt counterparts in other countries. Here are the workhorses of Morocco:

Mercedes 240 – 

The Alpha and Omega of transportation, the 240 makes up about 35% of all the vehicles on the road. It is the Grand Taxi, the quintessential Moroccan vehicle. In every village there is a fleet of these that run to the cities nearby. They fill up with six fair paying passengers crammed in the back and passenger seats, ready to get friendly as the driver winds them to their common destination. There are rumors however that it is possible to fit many, many more in.

Bedford Truck – 

No souk salesman or costermonger is worth his salt without one of these. The 240 is how people get from place to place. The Bedford is how things travel. It is common, in season, to see these workhorses piled with hay, turnips, cinderblocks and rebar, assorted vegetables or sheep.

Moto

The rich man’s friend, these little scooters are the symbol of the well employed who have better things to do with their time then walk to where they need to go.

Souk Bus – 

The highliners of transportation. From every major city, these busses set out in herds to their fellow metropolises. Cheaper then grand taxi’s they are the workhorses that span the distance between the mountainous Mediterranean North and the scorching Saharan South.

Morocco In the News: Oct 26 - 31

Peace Corps lessons resonate with Brevard volunteers

BY REBECCA BASU • FLORIDA TODAY • OCTOBER 29, 2010

In the east-central town of Goulmima, in the predominantly Muslim country of Morocco, Laura Van Deusen taught aerobics to women and girls.

In the small village in a culture where men dominated, the class gave women and girls a chance to leave their head scarves behind and move in ways they never had before.

Van Deusen's primary job was teaching English as a volunteer for the U.S. Peace Corps, a service organization whose idea formed 50 years ago this month when then-Sen. John F. Kennedy gave a rousing campaign speech calling on Americans to serve abroad to promote peace.

As the Peace Corps marks a half-century, celebration is in
order. Returned volunteers living in Brevard find the experience helping people abroad led them to helping people at home in the United States .

"I learned that I loved teaching," said Van Deusen, 41, who served about a decade ago and is now a math resource teacher at Cambridge Magnet Elementary in Cocoa. "I would recommend it, but you've got to make of it what you want it to be."

Peace Corps continues to attract people who seek adventure, a chance to gain job and language skills, and total cultural immersion. Its mission then, as now, is to provide countries with technical support and skills training. Agency critics say it's in need of reform to better achieve development goals.