It's A Small World After All

The childhood favorite "It's A Small World After All" sang it best,

"It's a world of laughter
A world of tears
It's a world of hopes
And a world of fears
There's so much that we share
That it's time we're aware
It's a small world after all!"


I can't even begin to express what a wonderful experience I have had working with the 4 and 5 year olds at the IBNY school. When I leave the school each day, I can't get their little faces out of my mind. It is such a refreshing way to start the day and I thank God every day that he has given me this opportunity. Since the 1st day, I have seen laughter, tears, and even some hope and fear. I have seen a few kids come and go leaving me to wonder about each and every story. It's hard to imagine the type of environment these children come from and what their home life is like. Many of them wear the same clothes several days in a row.....their faces, hands, and feet a bit soiled. Regardless, every little face is smiling when my fellow volunteer, Kay, and I walk in to the room each day. The students always stand to eagerly welcome us with a jolly "Bon Jour!"

On October 12, I woke up anxious to meet the unfamiliar faces that I would be teaching for 6 weeks. First was the 4 year old class. Initially most were timid but quickly warmed up to me and Kay. We started out with some of the standard children's sing-a-long songs such as "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." Not knowing the skill levels at IBNY, we decided on a very simple project for Day 1. We cut out large circles using white paper and traced each child's hand on the circle. The activity was not only to teach them the shape of a circle, but to also provide an interactive way for us to work with each child and start developing a relationship. The surprising part came when it was time for the children to color the hand and circle. I was shocked to find that some of the children could not even hold a crayon. Many haven't developed muscle coordination in their hands so we worked to teach them how to grip the crayon and stroke the page. These children are no doubt starving for love and praise. With every crayon stroke, a child will call out to us while pointing to his/her paper for approval. The Arabic term "myzan" means good job. I probably use the word more than 50 times a day in class. Just as "myzan" rolls off my tongue, you can see a smile come over each child's face. Many of the little girls love to share kisses so they will motion for you to come to them and then kiss you on the cheek. At the end of the class we sang the "Goodbye" song......"Goodbye Goodbye we had a happy day, Goodbye Goodbye we'll see you on Tuesday!" We sing this at the end of class everyday of course inserting the appropriate day of the week.

Next was the 5 year old class. Most of these students have worked with former CCS volunteers so they understand some basic English and they were very eager to let us know what they already knew. One little boy, whose name I now know is Aymane, ran up to me as I entered the class and started counting to ten in English. Just like many of his classmates, he was so proud to share his English knowledge. "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" was taught by former volunteers and the children absolutely LOVE to sing these songs everyday. While Kay and I traced the hands of the 4 year old class, the 5 year old class wanted complete control. Most wanted to trace his/her own hand and grabbed the crayon from us. It was so amazing to meet each child and felt even more incredible to see how excited they were for us to be in their class.



We are dropped off each day at an entrance to the medina in Rabat. Once we cross through the medina wall, the door to the IBNY property is on the left. In case you aren't familiar with the term medina, it is an old Arab quarter in most North African cities. The layout of a medina can be very intricate with winding corridors throughout which provide labyrinth feel. The big metal door is locked and someone must come to open it for us each morning and walk us out as we leave. We walk a minute or so once inside and we come to the playground. This is certainly not a playground like most of us are accustomed to having back home. The IBNY playground is simply a concrete slab....no swings, no slides, no monkey bars...only open space for the the children to sing and play games with each other.



Just off of the playground are the restroom facilities. There are several lines of stalls with doors. However, there are no toilets. There is a small hole in the center of the ground and 2 places for your feet so that a child can position himself/herself to use the restroom while squatting. No flushing required and no toilet paper available. Each child is escorted to the restroom and given a small piece of toilet paper. I learned recently that toilet paper is new for Morocco. Most natives use their left hand and water to rinse. Therefore, it is considered unclean to use your left hand while eating and customary for Moroccans to only eat with their right hand, even if someone is a left-handed person. Yes, I know how reading this makes you feel but this is part of the culture so I felt the need to share the info.

You could say my 1st day at IBNY was a mix of emotions. When I first entered the class, tears filled my eyes and immediately provoked a mix of sadness, happiness, and extreme gratitude. I found myself wanting to give big hugs and kisses during the entire class. While I was overcome with joy to be there, I still felt the immediate tug at my heart knowing that the children all come from a life without privilege. Many of them are so jovial and full of life while others have an expressionless, lackluster disposition. Each child is so brilliant and unique in his or her own way but still exudes uncertainty. I may only have 6 weeks to directly engage with these children but I will go above and beyond to make each child feel special and significant while I am here. What these children don't realize is that I'm not just here to teach them, but I am also here to learn from them. I am honored to have these 58 new faces in my life and can't imagine what it will be like when it's time to leave them. I can only hope that our paths will cross again so that I see how the children evolve and develop.....if it's God's will, I shall!

Or as the Moroccans would say....Insha'Allah!

Orientation Day in Morocco!

Sunday was orientation day for the new group of volunteers. We were introduced to the staff, learned about the CCS program policies, rules and expectations of the house, and the organizations we would each be working with. There are 9 CCS staff members that direct us, feed us, and keep us safe. Mohamed is the Country Director for Morocco, Abdellah is the Program Officer, and Khadija is the Office/House Manager. All 3 formerly worked for the Peace Corps in Morocco and are such wonderful people! Abdelouahed is responsible for transporting us to/from our partner programs each day. Aicha is the primary cook and prepares 3 full meals each day. Laila and Fatiha are in charge of certain housekeeping duties and assists with the food preparations. To keep us safe and secure, we have a Day Guard, Mohamed, and a Night Guard, Hamid. I couldn't imagine a more hospitable staff and we are so blessed to have such intelligent individuals watching over us during our stay.

During the morning, we were divided in to 3 teams for a Rabat scavenger hunt. Each team was responsible for exploring a specific part of Rabat and returning to the home-base with info about what we found. My team consisted of me, Dev, Michal, and Erica. We discovered an internet cafe, post office, grocery store, secondary school, the treasury where locals pay taxes, Western Union, and the spa. After lunch, we were given a short class on Arabic words and phrases that would be helpful during our stay. Mohamed and Abdellah elaborated on my placement in the Ibny Street Children's Center. Ibny means "My Son" and has around 200 kids ages 3-9. There are only 8 teachers currently employed by the school, which means the classrooms can be very large. The children were found begging on the streets while their parents worked in the Medinas during the day. Begging can be more profitable than an actual job for families and most parents exploit their children and force them to beg on the streets of the medinas. The beggars average between 100-200 Dirham per day compared to the 60 Dirham an actual job may bring each day. To help you understand what the conversion would be in USD, 60 Dirham is around $7.80.

We wrapped orientation just in time for the daily tea time....always with the traditional hot mint tea and sweet delectable treat. A group of us decided to walk around and explore the neighborhood to find the park nearby. During our walk we approached a street lined with guards in uniform. Of course we were uneasy at first but we learned that they were only there to guard and protect the property of the various Moroccan ambassadors. The so called park is really not a park at all in terms of how Americans view a park. The land is around 2 miles in circumference, all dirt and trees with no grass....more like a forest you could say. Supposedly the police patrol the park in search of Moroccan couples that aren't married. It is illegal for unmarried Moroccan couples to be in public and they can be arrested. We returned to the house for dinner at 7:00 PM, which is the standard time each night. The food is so incredible! It's difficult not to worry that the food is going to run out before all 26 volunteers have their bellies full. However, there always seems to be enough. After every meal, the volunteers must line up in the kitchen to wash his/her own dishes. It's actually not a bad concept and keeps our already busy house ladies free to focus on the many other responsibilities they have.

There is so much more to add about this week but it's just too late to keep writing and I need to crawl in my bunk bed right now.

Ahlam Saida!!! (Sweet Dreams)

Wedges or Strappy Heels...Leave or Take?

Procrastination has always been a weakness of mine. That was clear at 10:00 PM Thursday when I still had not started packing for my 6 week Moroccan adventure that departed on Friday. First came the huge "Maybe" stack that finally dwindled to the most basic ensemble at 2:30 AM. Thanks of course to my Mom for helping me reason through the Yes, No, Maybe piles. After an early morning of shuffling and shifting, I was off for the Atlanta airport.

With a Delta flight at capacity and no individual TVs at our seats (Yes, I am a very spoiled Economy Class flier with high expectations...especially traveling internationally) I was off to Morocco. I had a quick layover in Paris and fortunately no embarrassing mishap on the airport bus shuttle between terminals (Connie, Molly, and Jennet should know exactly what I'm referring to from our Paris connection in route to Barcelona in 2004) I made it just in time for my flight to Rabat. Flying from 12 different destinations, 10 new volunteers met at the gate in Paris with 4 other new volunteers meeting up at the Cross Cultural Solutions Home-Base.

At 1:30 PM, Mohammed and Abdou from CCS greeted us at the very small Rabat-Sale airport and transported us by van to our home in the Hay Riad neighborhood. We immediately settled in to our shared living quarters before a 4:00 PM tea time with handmade pastries and warm mint tea. Our group is refreshingly dynamic and incredibly intelligent with ages ranging from 18 to 78. In addition to myself, the following volunteers will be here from 2 to 12 weeks:

Lynn D. from Arlington, VA
Erica O. from Omaha, Nebraska
David S. from Los Angeles (Originally from India)
Dev G. from Chicago, IL
Jean & Kirk A. from Louisville, Kentucky
Jen B. from Philadelphia, PA
Michal C. from Tampa, FL
Joyce C. from London
Terri & Polly from Stamford, CT
Allison W. from D.C.
Kay H. from Washington

We also have 12 additional volunteers currently living in the Home-Base that came on a previous start date with CCS. They have been very helpful with our transition in to the house and have shared a wealth of knowledge about Morocco and the volunteer work assignments that we'll be involved in. There are 5 men and 21 women....the men have rooms in the very dark basement and the women are spread throughout the ground level and 2nd level...thank goodness I have windows in my room!!!

The bell rang for our 1st dinner at 7:00 PM sharp. While gathering around low tables in our brightly decorated common area, we feasted on lentil stew, pasta with beef, salad, bread, and carefully filtered water. As I'm sure you guessed, I went back for seconds and even considered thirds but decided not to be too gluttonous on night one. After stuffing our bellies and engaging in friendly conversation, one by one we fell prey to the jet lag and carried our weary eyes to our bunk beds. As visions of Moroccon medinas danced in our heads, we couldn't help but dream about what was in store for our next full day.

Oh and if you're wondering if the wedges or heels made the trek, 1 shiny pair of strappy heels found themselves stuffed between a pair of Vasque hiking boots and a pair of Teva outdoor sandals in the suitcase. Afterall, a girl never knows when she'll need a stylish shoe :-)

Volunteer Placement in Morocco Announced!

I am so thrilled to share my volunteer assignment in Morocco. The Partner Program that I will be working with is the Ibny Street Children Association assisting teachers and teaching young children.

General Information Mission and Needs of the Partner Program
The association’s goal is to improve the lives of underprivileged children. Many of the children at Ibny are often found begging on the streets of the medina of Rabat. The Ibny Association seeks to create a social and educational structure for these children, by providing clothing, medical care, classes, books, extra-curricular activities (drawing, songs, painting, and sports) and meals to the children.

Volunteer Activities / Duties Include:
• Organize activities, including games, songs and arts & crafts.
• Assist the teachers with providing lessons in Basic English and arts and crafts, including singing and playing.
• Provide individual attention to the children.
• Be a role model. Encourage and praise the children while also enforcing rules of good behavior.

The association was created in March 2006 and consists of 20 members who are driven by a passion to help children. Funding is provided by other NGOs, some governmental assistance and private donors.