Over the past year, there have been things I have struggled with, am still struggling with and things that I have done that I am proud of. There have been good days and bad days. There are things here that I like a lot and things here that I don't really care for. My job is not what I expected it to be but it is evolving and becoming more like what I want it to be for my second year. I still have no idea what projects will actually finish before I leave and what projects will still only be ideas. I DO know that I have made an impact on my community and that they will remember me after I'm gone and for that reason, I know I've been a successful volunteer.
So on this anniversary of my arrival in Morocco, I wanted to list out some things that I've done and some things that I still want to do. These lists are by no means complete but they are a good representation of my first year here.
Things I have Done
-PST, PPST and IST!! (pre-service training, post pre-service training and in-service training)
-One academic year of English classes with two of my students graduating high school
-Spring Camp in Agadir with 40 kids
-Summer Camp in El Jadida with 80 kids
-Month long day camp at my youth center with about 200 kids between 3 sessions
-World Map Project
-Coordinated the SOS Village in Agadir and worked at one of the summer sessions
-Volunteered at Special Olympics
-Co-lead workshops on English and Customer Service at Marche Maroc Essaouria
-Won a VAST grant for an AIDS awareness campaign put together by the youth at my dar chbab
-Helped at a PCV led Women's Wellness Conference
-Helped to redesign and improve PST for the new group that arrived in country YESTERDAY! (welcome new group!)
-Learned some basic Tashalheet
-Improved my Darija
-Made Moroccan friends in my community
-Learned how to wrap a lizar
-Learned how to make mint tea and tajine
-Traveled around to multiple areas of Morocco without getting lost, injured or pick-pocketed
-Learned how to live as a meat loving vegetarian
-Successfully stayed single (even with all the marriage proposals)
-Survived having a wisdom tooth pulled in country
-Killed my first cockroach
-Successfully integrated well enough into my town so that I no longer get "Bonjour"-ed!
-Learned how to make tortilla's and alfredo sauce (literally learned yesterday so I could put it on today's list)
-Survived the Moroccan summer
-Survived my first Ramadan!
Things I Still Have to Do
-Finish my AID's awareness campaign with my dar chbab
-Start a girl's sports club
-Start a Health Club/Environment Club
-Become conversational in Tashalheet
-Help a friend find funding and start a tourism project for our town
-Learn how to make msmn
-Learn some basic French
-Complete a 2nd year of English classes at the dar chbab
-Work at spring camp, summer camp and day camp next year
-Continue coordinating for SOS Village in Agadir
-And anything else that comes up!!
My service in Morocco is nothing like what my service was in Albania. It's not better. It's not worse. It's just different. Morocco is growing on me more and more as the days pass. I'm starting to feel more at home here. Time has been passing quickly and it's hard to believe it's been a year already. If my second year in Morocco is anything like my second year in Albania, it's going to fly by. I'm excited to see what I can accomplish in my remaining time here and anxious for all my new projects to start. It's been a good first year Morocco, let's keep up the good work!
2 comments:
Leslie! It sounds like you've done a great job of adapting to the challenges and accomplishing quite a bit in a brand new country. So very impressed by you. It's hard to believe it's been a year already! Come home - we need to torture Joe so more - it's looooonng overdue!
Thanks Katie!! I agree that it has been toooooo long since we've tortured Joe. I'm going to be in America for a short vacation at the end of October/early November so just might have to schedule a date with you two!! Keep Joe on his toes until then for me!
Post a Comment