Peace Corps Morocco has four (4) different sectors:
- Environment
- Health
- Small Business Development
- Youth Development
Each sector has specific roles and goals that are to be fulfilled and achieved. While possessing fixed objectives each program allows considerable flexibility for volunteers to create and carve out niches within their respective communities.
I work in Youth Development.
Here are some ideas:
TEACHING ENGLISH: Not my idea—it’s mandated, one of the sector’s objectives. Most straight forward. Prepare the lesson and teach. Lots of room for cool projects within lessons.
CREATING YOUTH RELATED GROUPS: Running, biking, outdoor groups, dancing?---Moroccans love to dance. The boys are not shy and more often than not can sustain the beat. The girls---they just got it going on. Again, activities in this arena are straightforward. Build it and I am sure they will come.
WORKING WITH IGHIR (pronounced: ee-ghir/ “gh”=gutteral cat hiss): Bare with me---this project demands some background and an explanation.
At a morning hour unbeknownst to me (I’ve recently relinquished myself to the joys of waking up at my leisure---I’m on Moroccan time now), a tiny, white minivan meanders about Tinghir, picks up a few of its citizens and brings them to Ighir.
Ighir is a one of-a-kind, exceptional organization that hosts numerous productive economic and creative endeavors. The children and adults come equipped with unique skills and abilities whereby they learn from and work alongside one another. Inside the modest Marrakech-red (think peach and pink infusion) compound, complete with a comforting courtyard, are various rooms buzzing with an assortment of projects from welding metal to crafting pottery to sewing clothes to creating one of a kind stationary. The end result of their work is beautiful handmade furniture, ornate jewelry, intricately woven garments and other various valuable products.
At first glance, Ighir appears as though it is work for the small business development sector. That’s because, it is.
How I Fit In
All of the individuals who partake in and who are the wonders of Ighir are either physically or mentally handicapped and in many instances, both. It is one of the few facilities in Morocco that caters to such people.
Interestingly, Ighir doesn’t use diagnostic tools of any sort. Individuals with mental and physical disabilities simply arrive at the shop and the day’s proceedings carry on from there. No questions asked. No progress check. No assessment. Just attendance and participation.
After various observations I could comprise a spreadsheet of names in column “a” with corresponding diagnosis in column “b”.
Here’s a rough layout---
mental disabilities: Asperger's directly left, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome to the right, Down Syndrome straight ahead, Conduct Disorder in the corner, Schizophrenia (Not Yet Defined) under the table and OCD across the hall fiddling with the door. The list of diagnostic pathologies would make even the most noble of special-ed teacher’s head spin three times over right before melting into a gooey puddle on the cold, concrete floor like Christopher Loyd’s character in the final scene of Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Physical disabilities: deaf and mute; deaf; mute; paraplegia; clubbed feet.
Ighir’s approach to treatment is distinctively progressive and simultaneously cemented in the dark ages.
Let me explain.
What Seems To Be Working
Without intentionally doing so, Ighir is on the cutting edge of strength-focused treatment. Such an approach emphasizes patients’ ability rather than inability. The question and focal point becomes, what can one do in contrast to what on cannot do, what’s right with you over what’s wrong, you have weakness but what we want to know about your strengths.
At Ighir this strength focused approach seems to have yielded impeccable results.
Upon entering the facility, one’s attention is not directed to the reality of disability but rather there is an irresistible gravitational pull toward the industriousness transpiring before your eyes. They GET IT DONE---no messing around. The welding machines thumping and crackling in the background, needles rhythmically maneuvering through fabric keeping the tempo, brains and bodies stirring about combining to complete an orchestrated ensemble brimming with virtuosity. The product is something more than a curious site to see, it’s tangible goods that can be sold for profit.
*One’s attention will also be drawn to the cutest little kids on the planet who, without hesitation approach visitors with necks extended, eyes squinted and lips puckered ready to dispense the most pleasant of welcoming kisses. They are truly something else. So. Damn. Cute.
*A verbal interview at Ighir might proceed as follows: You can’t speak, cool…what can you do? Nice, do it. You have a nervous tick? Here’s a paintbrush---wow, how avant garde of you. You can’t stand? No problem---there is much to be done while sitting.
Where Advancements Can Be Made
At the same time that Ighir's treatment approach is exceptional within the country of Morocco, the approach is undeniably steeped in a haphazard system. In actuality, there is no approach. What I have presented above is an interpretation of events. Need to see the director of treatment? You can’t, the position doesn’t exist. Want to know about measurable progress? Sorry, there is no baseline from which to compare. Want to know about the treatment approach in order to recreate its success? No such documentation.
Insofar as I know, Morocco has yet to possess a solid infrastructure to care for the handicapped. As countries around the world are recognizing the significance of mental health within scope of overall health and wellness and with Morocco being no exception, the time is ripe for treatment facilities to take root and sprout.
Ighir is setting in example for the entire country on how it can help integrate those who have historically been left behind. Establishing a system of record keeping and progress is perhaps the beginning to sustainable development which will not only assist in the development of Ighir, but perhaps in the development of facilities all over Morocco.
Now, what’s a guy to do?
Onward toward construction!!! Little by little---I hope I am not setting myself up here;)
I think I will start with my Beginners English class.
Quote of the day: "One of the best ways to test your language abilities in another country is to get a haircut in that country. If it turns out right, you know you’ve made it.”--- not an exact but concept taken from Duncan de la Feld.
