Chasing Bright Spots: Casablanca

Closer than Perceived: Similarities between North and Sub-Saharan Africa

As we move further into the 21^st century there are more stories of Africa’s emerging economies, increasing middle class and improvement in access to basic education. While incidents of conflict, hunger and distress still populate the media; Africa is no longer being inaccurately portrayed as the “hopeless continent”. If you’ve taken a minute to read my bio, you may have noticed my interest in the relationships between the entire African continent. Our trip to Morocco offered a perfect opportunity to explore those connections.

Educational similarities

Most African countries encounter difficulties when dealing with the issue of language and Morocco is different. During our meeting with the curriculum department, the director of curriculum compared Morocco’s struggle with language of instruction to that of South Africa. How can bi-lingual education work in the context of African countries? How long should the mother tongue be taught to ensure the best academic opportunities? Are local languages an issue of passion or practicality? To a large degree the issue of language is a result of colonialism and African countries must find a way to deal with the lingering effects.

Sister Cities Africa

On Wednesday, January 11^th, we were afforded the opportunity to meet with Mr. Mazoz, President and Founder of Sister Cities Africa. In his presentation he defined the objectives of Sister Cities Africa as, “creating a platform which encourages partnerships among African cities themselves and between African and American cities. Our main goal is to reduce the gap between the North and South and engage in mutual cultural understanding and appreciation.” His hard work was also responsible for the creation of the Sidi Moumen Cultural Center. Not only was I impressed with his life’s work but the fact that (our) Rita was the former publicity director for Sister Cities Africa!

At the end of Mr. Mazoz’s presentation on the work of Sister Cities Africa I got an opportunity to speak with him about what he considered similarities between countries on the continent. While he was quick to tell me that a much longer conversation was needed to discuss the many similarities, he did provide a few jewels: wisdom (and respect) of the elders, abundance of natural resources, importance of holding the family together and significance of traditional values.

One of my favorite similarities is the value and support of the extended family. It is very common for a child to stay with parents (or other extended family) into their late 20’s and even 30’s. There isn’t the same rush to step out on one’s own until the child is ready to make that move. The parents and grandparents can expect the same support in return, as it is very common for elder family members to live with their children instead of at a nursing home.

Mr. Mazoz

21^st century Africa

On Friday, January 13^th, Brain, Rita and I attend Sister Cities Africa’s 1^st Regional Conference. At this conference, there were representatives from East, North and West Africa. During the panel we attended, I noticed one theme: the need to rely more on neighboring countries on the continent. While it was clear that immense value lies in relationships between U.S. and African cities, there was a new push for relationships between cities on the continent.

We often hear of stark differences between Sub-Saharan and North Africa. There is no doubt that real distinctions exist, however there are many more things in common outside of the fact that the two regions shares the same continent. This piece is in no way an exhaustive list--as I am no expert--but as an Africanist, I looked for opportunities to connect us rather than separate. Based on the open and caring nature of the people of Morocco, I believe that we will see more opportunities for the entire continent to celebrate their similarities and opportunity to rise together in the 21^st century.

At the conference.

After spending the early morning packing and preparing for travel, we gathered in the training center library at 10:00am for our big moment: an interview with the reporter from L'Economiste, the Moroccan Economist newspaper. We bravely plunged into the interview sans Rita, with Rachel translating Arabic and Marisa translating French. The reporter would sometimes start a question in French and, randomly and without warning, would slide into Arabic while still looking at Marisa as though she should be able to understand him. Never a dull moment! We look forward to getting a copy of the article...and being FAMOUS.

Our bus was unexpectedly delayed, so we had time to walk up the street and have a lovely, relaxed lunch. We found a little restaurant and after almost accidentally ordering six whole chickens, were treated to a very tasty lunch for about $3. Can't beat that! After lunch we loaded our luggage onto the bus and headed out for the roughly two hour trip to downtown Rabat.

Traipsing through the alleys of Rabat.

Cute kids near the restaurant.

Afi and Mark making friends.

Marisa, Veronika, Asumi, the restaurant owner, small child, Julia, Meaghan, and Afi at lunch!

Upon arrival in Rabat, we headed up the six flights of stairs that took us to the headquarters of Sister Cities Africa, which happened to be one of Rita's former employers. They were wonderfully welcoming and started by giving us a tour of their office. Then we settled in to listen to a short presentation about the organization and their work. When we visited, they were in the throes of the final planning of the first regional conference for Sister Cities Africa, which would occur the next day. Rita, Afi and Brian attended on Friday morning, and Afi will go into that a little bit more during her guest blog post.

Mr. Mazoz talking about the organization.

Sister Cities Africa is supported by a grant from the Gates Foundation (one of 24 cities that got the money to implement projects in health, sanitation, and water), as well as a MEPI grant from the State Department. They encourage people-to-people diplomacy that aims to create and strengthen North-South and South-South partnerships, featuring social mediation programs implemented in hopes of decreasing violence and confrontation.

The Morocco office has initiated a program to train 90 respected members of fifteen poor neighborhoods, giving them the skills necessary to provide mediation within families, schools, and greater society. They have also worked to equip a neighborhood hospital in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Casablanca (famous for suicide bombers in 2003 and 2007) with the supplies necessary to provide adequate health care for local community members. They also hope to promote cultural exchange by providing locals the opportunity to travel to Casablanca's sister city (Chicago) and have some residents from Chicago come here. They create cultural centers in poor/under-served areas including libraries, computer labs, art space, theaters, sewing workshops, sports fields, etc. They also provide blog/journalism training for kids living in poor areas, encourage youth to take care of environment and community, and organize cultural, educational and social activities Educational support activities attempt to reduce drop out and academic failure, and support to improve quality of life for children in some of the neediest communities in Casablanca.

Learning a lot about Sister Cities programming.

The goal of Sister Cities International is really to put a face on foreign countries and encourage dialogue and collaboration. As Mr. Mazoz, the director, noted, at times it seems that many countries have to have a disaster to be known to the American people. Most people know nothing about Casablanca, Morocco outside of the movie. Then, the suicide bombers put it back on the map. Sister Cities reminds us that we have to talk about the good as well as the bad and present all sides. Nothing replaces real human interaction.

Brian modelling the brochure.

At the end of the meeting we watched a short video about an organization called IDMAJ, which means "integration". This organization works with Sister Cities to help run programs in a community center, with the goal of integrating people from different neighborhoods in Casablanca. While watching, two quotes really spoke to me: "We don't tell them what to do, we show them what to do," and "We want them to dream, but at the same time we want to give them the hope and opportunity to make that dream come true." Luckily, after the meeting, we were able to go out to the center to see this philosophy in action.

So lovely and welcoming!

We pulled up to the center just after dark, driving through slums and city streets to get there. We were led around by one of the Sister Cities staff members and were greeted by children at every turn. We started with a tour, visiting the sports facilities, music rooms, art studios, and classrooms. Our tour ended in the "cafeterium" or cafeteria with a stage. The audience was full of students, some of whom performed for us: drumming, singing, rapping, and dancing. The evening even featured Mark, Afi and Sophia jumping up on stage for a hilarious rendition of Justin Bieber's "Baby"....only to be drowned out by the tweens in the audience. It was amazing. Afterwards we had a question and answer session in which we got to hear about the students’ hopes and dreams, sometimes in Arabic, sometimes in flawless English. The students learn English in the center, along with art, music, technology, and sports. They were universally positive about their teachers (who were quite obviously doing an incredible job) and spoke very highly of the center. When asked why they liked it, they said it gave them a place to go, learn, and have fun instead of being on the streets. It was wonderful to get to spend some time with kids instead of adults and see just how much of an impact this non-formal education setting has made on the lives of countless students in Casablanca.

The community center.

Such a good motto.

Drum group.

Rachel introducing us.

Students and their English teachers (in the brown hijab).

Singing in French.

This shy girl had a lovely voice (and killer English).

Singing in Arabic.

These four rocked the J.Biebs.

And so did these three...

Awesome rapping skills.

And some break dancing.

ADORABLE.

Not to toot our own horn or anything...but we take a damn good group picture.

He wants to grow up to be an English teacher. In shaa'Allah one day he will!

Just one of the boys.

Hanging out with kids before we head out.

Air.

One of the girls from the center made this amazing cake with her mom. OH MAN it was so good.

After a wonderful time at the center (and lots photos!) we boarded the bus again and were whisked off to the MTA Tennis Academy, our absolutely stunning home outside Casablanca. We also made a quick stop at the Hasan II Mosque ( the largest mosque in the world after Mecca) on the way. Wonderful dinner filled our bellies and everyone fell asleep in our warm rooms (after hot showers) with dreams of gyms and heated swimming pools dancing in our heads.