Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Questions, comments or concerns?

No need to be worried.

Morocco? Where is that?

Morocco is like a tree whose roots reach deep into African soil and which breathes the winds of Europe through it's leaves.

Morocco is located in Northwest Africa, separated a few miles from Spain via the Gibraltar Straight. Morocco is composed of the Sahara desert, coastal land in the north and the Middle Atlas Mountains which runs through its midsection.
Arabic is the official language, however French is also widely popular as well as a few Berber dialects. Morocco also houses one of the oldest University in the world, The University of Kaureein, founded in 859 A.D. in Fez, Morocco.
The national drink: mint tea
The national dish: cous cous

The Job: Small Business Development

aiding local artisan communities, mainly groups of women in rural areas

  • product quality and service control
  • business planning and management
  • organizational development, individual empowerment
  • community leadership

Training: 11 weeks of Pre-Service Training in Azrou, Morocco (Middle Atlas Mountains), orienting myself with local resources, cultural and social contexts, learning either colloquial Moroccan Arabic of one of the Berber dialects.

Living Adjustments:

-Turkish toilets... look it up

-eating from a communal platter of food with shared eating utensils and glasses

-very different meal times

-deficiency of alone time and personal space

-lack of independent movement for women after dark

-differences in dress (no revealing sun dresses)

-prohibition of alcohol as is customary in a Muslim country

No comments: