Summer. As a kid, you long for the days of summer when you can sleep in, play outside all day, go to the beach, do all the things you can't do when you're stuck inside at school all day. Summer time has arrived in Morocco and instead of me looking forward to travel plans and sleeping 14 hours a day, I have a busy schedule for the next 2 months. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited about it and happy that I won't spend my days sweating inside my house. I'll be outside running after kids, teaching silly games and songs and sweating through every piece of clothing I own.
My first project is my VAST grant, Acting Out Awareness. The theater group at my dar chbab and I will be traveling around to different dar chbab's presenting our AIDS awareness skit and then doing a wall mural at each as a long lasting reminder of what they learned. The start date has been pushed back because of getting money late, exams for the kids and dar chbab's being closed but it will be done this summer!! Now that the exams are done, the kids are back at rehearsals and getting geared up to get this show on the road!
My second project will be working at the Agadir SOS village. For those of you who don't know what an SOS village is, it is an orphanage where kids live with a "mom". These "mom's" come from the community and live with the kids. They live in this family unit and do everything together. They cook together, learn together, play together and live in the same house. It's an amazing model and I'm really excited to work with them. There will be several camps over the course of the summer but I will be working mainly as a coordinator between the SOS village and other volunteers. I have a training this week and then will go and meet with the director and see what they need so I can start setting things up.
Another big plan for the summer is a month long day camp here in site. There will be 100 kids who will meet at the dar chbab every morning at 8 for one whole month. About 15 adults/older students will be in charge of leading them in games, arts and crafts, songs, lessons, day trips etc. I'm slightly stressed about this one because it is EVERY DAY for a month from 8am until 6pm but I actually will only be there for the first 20 days because then I will leave for.....
SUMMER CAMP in El Jadida!!! Along with about 17 other volunteers and approximately 80 kids, we will have a two week session with English lessons, going to the beach, games, sports etc. I've heard many good things about summer camp in the past so I'm very excited about going. The only problem I foresee is that our session has 5 days during Ramadan. This means that we will sleep in until 11 or so and then stay at the beach without food or water until we break fast after the last call to prayer. We will stay up until 1am or so after that playing sports. Some people have said it works out well and others have said it's not too good. We'll see how it goes.
As for Ramadan, I plan on trying to fast for the first week to see if I can do it. If I can do it without dying, I will continue to do it. I'm looking forward to breaking fast for the first time. I'm not so excited about not being able to drink water. If anything, I might bend the rules a little and sneak water during the day. I'm sure it will be ok. Muslims have been doing this for hundreds of years without too much difficulty so I should be able to do it for a few weeks right? I'll let you all know how it goes.
Anyway, those are most of my plans for what's turning out to be a ridiculously hot summer. I hope everyone reading this is enjoying their summer up to this point (especially those of you with a/c!). Keep your eyes open for updates and pictures that will be coming soon!
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