To party! The camp was a huge success!!!! Not only were 14 Peace Corps Volunteers (including myself), 8 Moroccan ladies, and a few men from the association empowered, but so were 37 girls from T-town and the villages!
The first day of the camp went by pretty smoothly. All 37 girls arrived by 10 a.m. and we had our opening ceremony where we handed out badges, folders, pens, and ran over the schedule with the girls. We had a representative come from the next big city to talk to the girls about abuse and issues common for Moroccan women. Then the next hour we had the girls take a career path test, to help them decide what work could be in their futures. Then after lunch, the campers did two more workshops on women's rights and goal setting. Both workshops were lead by Peace Corps Volunteers but supported by Moroccan staff. The day went by so fast, before I knew it, it was dinner time! Before bed, we managed to squeeze in a film about career motivated women in Morocco. I really wanted this girls to know that if they wanted, they could go out and support their families!
The second day was also pretty fast paced. We had more guest speakers and a field trip. We had women from the local midwife association speak to the girls about the facility where they could give birth and recover and then all the girls saw the local birthing house. I thought seeing the birthing house was important to the girls since so many of them will likely stay in or near T-town and be having babies here. Also, the girls attended a health workshop lead by another Peace Corps Volunteer and a local doctor. And, much to the happiness of the girls, there was a natural beauty workshop. The girls learned how to make their own hand scrub from lotion and sugar and a face mask from natural yogurt, parsley, and cucumber. Then the girls had the evening to party and sing their songs, because of course, 16 year old girls LOVE to sing in front of all of their friends. I am not joking. The singing and dancing went on for like two hours before bed, haha.
The third day was probably the lest hectic day of the camp. We got up, ate breakfast, did a dance and henna workshop. Even the national news came to check us out. If you want to see a clip, click here: http://www.facebook.com/photo.
Sorry, it's all in Arabic, but it's me and my counterpart and a few of the girls saying that we loved the camp and would love to do it again next year.
Then we lunched and had a 3.5 hour award ceremony. I kid you not, these things are impressive in length. My counterpart had a bunch of little kids come and do dances and songs for the girls. But the girls themselves were not to be outdone! They h of skits and dances for everyone as well. There were a lot of community members there and it really made an impact on everyone who attended the ceremony.
When the girls and volunteers finally did go home, I felt like I could finally breathe again. I think this experience really made an impact for me and I learned a lot of valuable lessons on management, scheduling, designing a camp like this, and how to affect and empower girls from small villages. I think this camp is probably the defining week for my service here in Morocco. The girls were seriously interested in goal setting and women's rights. These young girls want to have successful and interesting lives! I sincerely hope that they take all the information they learned here and take it to the villages.
And now it's time for me and my counterpart to thank everyone and pay all the vendors. It's all part and parcel of writing a grant and doing a successful project. I'm still beaming from accomplishing this event.
Here are some photos from the camp:
All of us together!
Here's a great shot of Liz and Abby leading morning aerobics for the girls.
Here is Hannah in the cha-cha line with all the girls.
And here is team T-town-otherwise known as my best friend Simo, myself, my sitemate Sairah, and my counterpart Abdelaaziz. We're standing in front of the Dar taliba (the girls boarding school. The sign says that this is a 3 day camp supported and run by Peace Corps and Ahlam Taffoula (Abdelaaziz's association) and funded by Peace Corps and the International Rotary Club). Thanks Rotary, Peace Corps donors, and Ahlam Taffoula!
And seriously, for those of you who funded this grant, (Including Rotary International) God bless your parents! You are amazing! You helped empower and inspire everyone who was a part of this camp. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
