Dialogue has been proven to be the most effective way of knowing one another being from your family, friends, country and at worldwide level. Since I became a CorpsAfrica volunteer, I heard that sometime in the future, we would have an All Country Conference in Morocco, and I was really looking forward to that conference where all Volunteers and Staff from all the three countries Malawi, Morocco, Senegal and those from the Headquarters will be there. I had been hearing a lot of stories about Morocco, that they have good things like jewelries and cosmetics and I wanted to see it for myself, despite knowing that we will be there for an intensive conference.
Apart from hearing from others and reading on the internet about about Morocco, I was also blessed to come very close to the two Moroccan CorpsAfrica Volunteers (Abdellah and Soukaina) who served in Malawi and I happened host them in my village before we went for our Pre-Service Training at Chongoni. That relationship enlightened me with new knowledge about Morocco, but not everything, because I still wanted to visit and prove everything I had been hearing. Finally I did in the month of October (though we did not have enough time for travelling around).
The All Country Conference in Morocco was for two weeks, from the 4th to the 15th of October, 2016. All Volunteers and Staff from Malawi, Senegal, Morocco and those from the Headquarters, such as the CorpsAfrica Founder and Director Ms. Liz Fanning, one of the Board of Directors Mr. Marc Douglas, the Development and Communications Officer Ms. Hiba Tazi and our Human-Centered Design Trainer Mr. Garett Mason were there at the conference. The CorpsAfrica/Malawi group arrived to the conference in a bit later but it was so exciting to meet fellow Volunteers and all Staff who welcomed us very well. Everyone was happy that the Malawi group finally made to the conference in Casablanca where the sessions took place.
The Malawi group joined the rest of the team during a session that Mr. Mason was facilitating and what most fascinated me was that this session room was full of different languages from all the three countries. The Malawi group was speaking English, Senegal group French and the Morocco group was speaking Arabic, French and English. All sessions and activities were being translated mainly in English and French languages because some could not understand English like the Senegalese and some Moroccans and Malawians could not understand French. That was the hardest part of it because in a session room we had a translator but when we were in our sleeping rooms and the surroundings it was hard for some of us to communicate properly.
Regarding food, most of the meals we were eating during lunch and dinner were Moroccan traditional foods, such as couscous and different types of Tagines. Couscous, according to Moroccan culture, is mainly eaten on Fridays. Bread is also used when eating the Tagine, and most of the places we visited we could find different types of Tagines but mostly taste similar.
Apart from hearing from others and reading on the internet about about Morocco, I was also blessed to come very close to the two Moroccan CorpsAfrica Volunteers (Abdellah and Soukaina) who served in Malawi and I happened host them in my village before we went for our Pre-Service Training at Chongoni. That relationship enlightened me with new knowledge about Morocco, but not everything, because I still wanted to visit and prove everything I had been hearing. Finally I did in the month of October (though we did not have enough time for travelling around).
The All Country Conference in Morocco was for two weeks, from the 4th to the 15th of October, 2016. All Volunteers and Staff from Malawi, Senegal, Morocco and those from the Headquarters, such as the CorpsAfrica Founder and Director Ms. Liz Fanning, one of the Board of Directors Mr. Marc Douglas, the Development and Communications Officer Ms. Hiba Tazi and our Human-Centered Design Trainer Mr. Garett Mason were there at the conference. The CorpsAfrica/Malawi group arrived to the conference in a bit later but it was so exciting to meet fellow Volunteers and all Staff who welcomed us very well. Everyone was happy that the Malawi group finally made to the conference in Casablanca where the sessions took place.
The Malawi group joined the rest of the team during a session that Mr. Mason was facilitating and what most fascinated me was that this session room was full of different languages from all the three countries. The Malawi group was speaking English, Senegal group French and the Morocco group was speaking Arabic, French and English. All sessions and activities were being translated mainly in English and French languages because some could not understand English like the Senegalese and some Moroccans and Malawians could not understand French. That was the hardest part of it because in a session room we had a translator but when we were in our sleeping rooms and the surroundings it was hard for some of us to communicate properly.
Regarding food, most of the meals we were eating during lunch and dinner were Moroccan traditional foods, such as couscous and different types of Tagines. Couscous, according to Moroccan culture, is mainly eaten on Fridays. Bread is also used when eating the Tagine, and most of the places we visited we could find different types of Tagines but mostly taste similar.
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After Casablanca, where all the class session activities took place, we all traveled to the High Atlas Mountains with some stops within the trip to see some of the projects done by CorpsAfrica/Maroc Volunteers. Once there, we were divided into two groups to go to 2 different villages where our fellow CorpsAfrica Volunteers were based and did their projects. A lot of hiking in the mountains took place that some didn’t like, but it was nice and interesting to see how our fellow CorpsAfrica Volunteers did their projects and sustained them. The project that my group evaluated was one of CorpsAfrica Volunteer Hiba Tazi, who worked on a pre-school construction project.
Our main aim was to talk to the different people of this village such as chiefs, mothers, teachers, students and different stakeholders of this project and ask about the project's impact and sustainability. I personally came to conclude that the pre-school project was good for this community after hearing all the stories about the illiteracy levels, and having a pre-knowledge for children about school before starting primary school is always the best way to motivate children to go to school.
Our main aim was to talk to the different people of this village such as chiefs, mothers, teachers, students and different stakeholders of this project and ask about the project's impact and sustainability. I personally came to conclude that the pre-school project was good for this community after hearing all the stories about the illiteracy levels, and having a pre-knowledge for children about school before starting primary school is always the best way to motivate children to go to school.
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In conclusion, the All Country Conference was good. Sharing the best practices and seeing all these projects that our fellow Volunteers have done and are doing were so encouraging. Working hand in hand on our projects with communities will indeed bring development to our countries and the world at large where it will be a better place for everyone to live. Until the next updates, I say thank you very much for always following my work here in Kadewere Village.
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