A day at the grocery store

a lighthouse in the Oudaya in Rabat

Yesterday was supposed to be my relaxing and pampering day. Originally I was going to go swimming, get scrubbed down in the hamam, then sit in the sauna, and then have my first ever massage. All for about $30.

Then plans changed and I ended up going for a run in Parc Hilton with a friend. It was my first real exercise excursion since I have been here for a month! Earlier in the week I got to play tennis at the British Embassy, but my run was deffinitley a better workout. After my run I did manage to go get my massage in which I felt ever single knot I have accumulated over my entire life in my back! The masseuse was gentle on me, but it made me think that I need to do this every week. I am in pain the following day...

Unfortunately the hamam and sauna were foregone and instead I decided to take a look at the mega grocery store here called Marjan. It was like a great big Wegmans attached to a K-Mart. Quite nice and I ended up buying 8 bags of groceries. Unfortunately I underestimated how difficult it was going to be grabbing a taxi on a Saturday, at the end of the month when everyone was out spending their paychecks. I waited in line for about 8 minutes, when I saw a couple taxis come by, drop people off, but refuse to pick people up because they wanted to go shopping themselves! Then more and more people started cutting the line (as usual here) and I decided to walk over to the highway and try to hail a cab.

Walking with 8 bags of groceries was painful and I felt like I had just erased anything that the massage had down to relax me. Fortunately, another man who had just bought a vacuum, which he was very proud of, despite having missed it when it was on sale, started chatting to me as we were both trying to hail a taxi. He informed me that we wouldn't be able to grab a taxi on the highway because the police were around and taxis could not stop for us (logicial, as stopping to pick someone up on the highway is dangerous, but this didn't cross my mind as being something that cars wouldn't do here).

So we ended up walking the (nearly 1 mile) back to the area I live in! The man told me he was Berber and that Moroccans and Americans are good friends, and the same. This is actually the second time that I have heard a Moroccan tell me how close Americans and Moroccans are to one another...I don't think I would ever here this back in the states. Sad. He told me that Morocco is undergoing great changes, as I have noticed by all of the construction projects happening all over Rabat. Then as usual, he brought up religion, and told me that all Muslims, Christians, and Jews are welcome in Morocco and we are all the same in that we are all sons of Abraham.

What I heard from this man was really uplifting. I have not had any experiences so far in which I have felt unwelcome or even had people act ambivalent towards me. On the contrary everyone has been incredibly welcoming, friendly, and what seems quite sincere in their interactions with me. I can't imagine as a Moroccan running into someone in the states and having them say to me after greeting me that Muslims are welcome in the US and all people on earth are the same no matter what they believe. Historically, the Berbers, the original Moroccans, have been used to different groups invading Morocco, from the Romans, to Spanish, Arabs and French. Or would it be typical that in the US I run into someone that speaks for languages like this man did, Dhirija, Arabic, English, and French. Again, he related his language competency to Islam, telling me that Mohammed urged all Muslims to speak as many languages as they could, so that they could communicate and dialogue with all types of peoples. Being a conflict resolution student, I reveled in this last statement he made.

Must be that I ran into an extraordinary Moroccan...or did I?

blue doors

Casablanca

Casablanca

Hassan II Mosque

Search for Common Ground info

So lots of my friends and family have been asking me about what I am doing out here in Morocco. I hope that it will come across better as I post more about my work, but following the SFCG blog and befriending them on Facebook are a great way to start learning about what the organization does.


I also hope to be writing for the blog about our Morocco projects so keep checking for those too!

Blog: http://sfcg.wordpress.com/
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Search-for-Common-Ground/72700460615?ref=ts&v=wall

Bouznika

I went to one of SFCG's training sessions last week. We are training participants in mediation approaches and media tools to prepare them to conduct interviews with local government officials which they will then post on radio broadcasts & podcasts.

I love this

I went to Chellah this past weekend... I don't know really how to describe what it, except that it was enchanting and eerie with huge stork nests and lots of stray cats all over the place... ruins from the 13th century, and before that it was a Roman city... the colors of the stones that decorate the floor and fountains is amazing. it reminds me of this scary film i used to watch when i was little, where the children would go out into the woods and have seances... this would be the perfect place.

views from my flat

The mosque right below and a view of the park. The white buildings beyond are the Medina where there is a gigantic market, and then furhter on is the ocean.

Looking away from the ocean is the Theatre Mohammed V on the left.

jeudi

Maybe the one thing I miss about Monterey right now is that I wouldn't be covered in mosquito bites.

Nightime pic. from my new flat:

Basics

Who I am working for:
Search for Common Ground
(I will probably be updating this website)

Where:
Rabat, Morocco

View Larger Map">

au Maroc!

So un peu de Mary is now writing from Rabat, Morocco for the next 4 months! I just arrived a few days ago and am already really liking what is going on around me so far. I have come into this new adventure with very little expectations, other than to just be open to a completely new culture. This is my frist time in Northern Africa and a Muslim country, so it should be quite interesting.

I am completely jet lagged and could not sleep last night and can barely stay awake now at the office...I have found an apartment! It is in the neighborhood called "Hassan", basically the center of the city and I can grab a taxi for $1 to get to and from work, which is in Agdal (the chic neighborhood where many expats live). I will be living with a Moroccan lady, who grew up in Rabat, so she seems to know everyone in this city. Just walking down the street with her to her flat, we stopped 3 times to speak with shopkeepers, friends she passed, and neighbors. In Paris I was on a 6th floor walk up and now I find myself on a 7 floor walk up! I am finding that most elevators are out of order in buildings because people refuse to pay for them and landlords are not attentive to repairs. The apt. has a magnificent view on both sides of the entire city (I will send pics soon). The rent is a good price at 2500 Dirhams (all included), which is about $300.

Tomorrow I am going with my boss to Bouznika for a field visit to meet with some of the youth that we train on mediation techniques for resolving conflicts. One of my main projects will be coordinating Development, Monitoring and Evaluations on the projects at SFCG.

Everyone at my office is really friendly, helpful and good at what they do.

Rabat is pretty easy for a westerner to live in. Things are Europeanized here, dress is much less conservative, people are used to foreigners, there are a lot of tourists...I look forward to getting outside and seeing other parts of the country.

It is VERY hot here! 80-90 so far. I wake up at 4 am to the Mosque chanting. Today I was trying to buy an adapter for my computer cable and all of a sudden the guy behind the counter disappeared...I was confused to where he went because he had been standing in front of me just a moment ago...then I realized he had bent down on the ground and was doing his daily prayers. So I waited patiently for a few minutes until he was finished! So much fun, living in a new place and experiencing these things.

Oh, the coffee he is delicious! They put cardamom and cinnamon in it and it tastes soo good with that powdery milk stuff.

-- bzslema

Taking pictures, not such a good thing all of the time

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/10/opinion/10odede.html?_r=1

Media and Peacebuilding in Sierra Leone

My article has been published today!

http://thewip.net/talk/2010/08/media_and_peacebuilding_in_sie.html

Naomi Campbell testifies at the Hague

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/06/world/europe/06hague.html?_r=1&hp

Articles have been published!

After I got back from Sierra Leone in January with 13 other students, we submitted articles to be published for an online international news source, The WIP. Over the next 6 weeks all of our articles will appear on the site! Please keep reading about all of our experiences and reflections!

Professor Iyer, who led our team:

http://thewip.net/contributors/2010/07/looking_forward_but_what_does.html

Veronica:

http://thewip.net/contributors/2010/07/looking_forward_but_what_does.html

Rishna:

http://thewip.net/talk/2010/07/sierra_leones_memory_of_a_viol.html

Christine:
http://thewip.net/talk/2010/08/quiet_inequalities_voices_from_1.html

Changing the face of childbirth in Sierra Leone

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/10474983.stm

DRC Conflict Minerals

"In eastern DRC, the violence which now feeds off the illicit minerals trade has claimed more lives than any conflict since World War II." -Robert D. Hormats, Under Secretary for Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Washington, DC

June 29, 2010

http://www.state.gov/e/rls/rmk/2010/143784.htm

A project I created on financial management for NGO's that operate in conflict zones:

http://financeconflict.weebly.com/index.html

Diamonds are killing...me

Did you know that diamonds would be worth between $2-$30 if they were put on the industrialized market? It is primarily due to the company Debeers, who controls the value of this natural resource, that they have become so valuable to the western world...

http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~lcabral/teaching/debeers3.pdf

On a 'Lighter' Note

My performance in an imitation aerobics dance of the Bad Boys' 1987 Crystal Light Aerobics Championships...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GR_8UWhMsM

On the TRC and Forgiveness and Revenge in Sierra Leone

The TRC (Truth and Reconciliation Committee) was created by the UN to establish a forum to help begin a process of reconciliation and healing for the victims and perpetrators of the war. During our interviews with many local NGOs, government institutions and the Special Court, we heard a mixed set of emotions and opinions regarding the efficacy of this committee.

Here is a sampling of what my group heard:

"The TRC was a platform for perpetrators and victims to confess and ask forgiveness. Many people had the opportunity. Many people refrained from testifying because they were afraid they would be arrested [even though the TRC specifically stated that confessions would not go punished]." -Special Court

"I can't do anything except forgive."
- from a woman featured in the Mercy Ships film. She spoke about her feelings on returning to her village after having fistula surgery. Before the operation her friends, family and community had ostracized her because of her ailment.

Question: Was 'forgiveness' imposed upon Sierra Leoneons by the government?
Response: The TRC asked victims of the civil war if they would be willing to meet their perpetrator face to face, and many responded, "Yes."

"The message of forgiveness came from every angle. Because there is a high rate of illiteracy, this contributed to the obstacle of passing on information - people did not understand it if they were illiterate." -Special Court

"Saying, 'I am sorry,' does not go down with our people. We need symbols of unity for forgiveness." -Special Court

Some of the symbolic gestures that were provided to villages by the TRC were:

Renaming of 'Bush wives' - during the civil war, women were captured by the rebels and forced to become 'wives'. The women and their resulting children, who were born in the bush were often given 'ugly' names. After the war ceremonies were conducted to rename the children.

Cleansings - Cleansings were provided to girls who were raped during the war. This was meant to reduce the stigmatization that is often attributed to women who are sexually assaulted. As a result of stigmatization they can be ostracized from the community and it is very difficult to find a husband. The girls were washed, provided new clothes and taken away from their communities for 1-2 days. Upon their return to their communities, they were greeted with dancing, singing and drumming.

Quotes and responses from the youth leaders in the diamond mine area of Tongo, where much of the violence initially broke out:

"We cannot forget...no matter what."

Question: How did communities deal with the trauma of loosing people?
Response: Cook food, call elders to pray, say names of people that have died

Question: Do people want revenge as justice?
Response: "We forget all of the past. To forgive and forget, and accept all of our brothers back into society."
"The TRC was justice for us."
"The government told us to do this [forgive & forget]."

Sustainable and Responsible Mining

http://www.brilliantearth.com/about-us/

Bikini Ban in Goa

http://thewip.net/contributors/2010/04/indias_bikini_ban_blaming_wome.html

Diamonds are a poor man's worst enemy

Every time that I see a diamond now, whether it is on some one’s finger, in some one’s ears, around some one’s neck or displayed in a store, brief thoughts on the following thoughts flash through my mind:

After our long day in Tonga at the diamond mind, the owner of the hotel that we were staying at in Makeni came to speak with us, as he is also a diamond mine owner. It was very hard to ask him questions, especially since we were still recovering from the days emotions of shock and frustration. He avoided most of our questions and instead spoke about himself as a Lebanese business owner in Sierra Leone, and how he having lived over 40 years in this country made him more Sierra Leoneon than other people. When he did manage to speak towards our questions on the seemingly injustices of the mining industry in Sierra Leone, he was often extremely defensive and impatient with us, even though we did not ask any confrontational questions. All in all, it was useful to get his perspective of the mining situation and it did help to balance out my thoughts and emotions after coming back from the mine in Tongo.

My own conclusions are that many mining areas do in fact have horrible working conditions. The workers are out in the sweltering sun from 8am-4pm, waist deep in murky water, wearing next to nothing and often do not stop to eat. The hotel owner, said that all of his workers are provided medications and rushed to the hospital if they get hurt, but I have an inclination that this is not the norm for mine workers. The mine that we visited had been previously mined by an international company, and was now in the hands of the local chiefdom. Thus, all of these workers were independent and as I found out had no medical insurance and there were no safety regulations or age limit enforced. The workers were really in a frenzy when we arrived. They wanted to know if we were here to buy diamonds and why a group of 14 white people were trudging across the sand dunes where they were working. When a local journalist who had accompanied us, started broadcasting our interview over the air, the workers calmed down and became quite attentive to what we were asking. I accept that many of the workers’ statements could have been exaggerated, because they were so excited to be broadcast on the radio about their work situation. But standing there in the humidity and intense heat beating down on us, and seeing firsthand the work these guys do, I could only feel outraged, frustrated and angry about what was taking place here.

Mining is very dangerous work in general, and as some Sierra Leoneons that I spoke with both stressed, it is like gambling. The miners go each day with the hope that they will find the ‘big one’. We saw the workers pull out some diamonds and other precious stones from the sand dunes. The one diamond was minuscule. Anything of value from this dusty, barren area, was found a long time ago. The hotel owner told us that diamond mining in Sierra Leone finished over ten years ago and over 90% of the valuable diamonds have been mined. But there still remains this ‘hope’ amongst workers that if they can only find that one diamond that will make them rich, they will never have to work a single day again. Instead, the reality is that most of them slave away their entire lives, never finding anything of value, and even if they do, they have no way of telling how much it is worth, and get ripped off by the nearest dealer. And even though most of the workers expressed this frustration more or less, they also cried that they had no other options to find better work. And having spent a day in Tongo, I understand their hopelessness and despair.

I am angered that the government has not done more to either instill within society that diamond mining is a fruitless game, or at least provide basic protection and a system to organize the mines that remain in operation. When asked if there were apart of any union, the workers laughed, as if this would be the last thing that they would do. Apparently the union is not representative of the workers. There was no form of organization amongst the workers to demand better conditions or benefits.

Unless Sierra Leone can control the finishing and processing of the diamonds that it possesses, the people will never see any of the benefits from this luxury industry. Sierra Leone only receives 3% of the revenue from its diamonds. Most importantly, corruption has to be fought within the government to allow mining workers to get basic benefits of health insurance and sustainable pay. The hotel owner believed that Sierra Leone should stop all efforts to mine diamonds and instead put its resources in growing its agricultural sector. I do not agree that agriculture is the solution to all of Sierra Leone’s problems of poverty and development, but the business of mining is certainly an inherent problem.

I spoke with the radio journalist for a while at the mine and learned that the only form of organization or protest the workers engage in, is violence. I believe that at this visit it became clear to us why and how the civil war started here, at the mines, and why it became so chaotic, violent and mission-less. The desperation, anger and frustration at this mining area was seething through these workers skin, eyes and voices. It was easy to see how another conflict could develop when there remains so much anger and despair. I was shaken.

An article that hints at the lengths governments will go to keep the mining industry out of the public eye.

Refugee All Stars!

Music making peace: http://refugeeallstars-audience.fm/

"What Are You Carrying?"

This clip portrays the hard physical labor that many women (and girls) in Africa are expected to perform. I noticed this while in Sierra Leone. It is incredible how they make these heavy loads appear as if they were carrying a feather on their heads. Not only do they often carry enormous bundles of goods on their heads but they also have their babies strapped to their backs. I saw very few men that carried anything. It really reinforced this saying in Sierra Leone that "women carry the heaviest burdens in society". This clip clearly presents the emotional and physical weights that women must endure.

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2010/03/08/opinion/1247467297119/what-are-you-carrying.html?ref=global-home

Sierra Leone reflections

I have been avoiding recounting my thoughts on my trip to Sierra Leone for too long. Tonight was the first time after a month of being back that I met with my fellow students who went on this trip and discussed how we had been managing emotions, talking with others and thinking about our experiences since we had gotten back. Tonight I realized that I need to do more to explain to myself and others what this experience meant, so I will blog about it here once a week, even if it is just little tid bits, stories, ideas...
I need to get something out.
I am not sure where to begin because I can talk for hours on what I did, saw and heard while I was in Africa and still not seem to come to any concrete conclusions, revelations or even organize my thoughts in an organized way that allows me to analyze what is happening on the ground or internationally.

So this is going to be very disorganized and random and possibly sometimes incoherent. So here goes...

A vivid memory that sticks out for me was our night at the village in the middle of the jungle. Getting there was a feat! Our 14 seater bus traveled on dirt pathways that had been carved out of dense jungle and meant for small motorbikes. We plummeted down into a pond that intersected the pathway and where a number of people were bathing.
Many of my colleagues thought that the village was one of the most humbling and heart warming experiences of their time there. When we arrived the villagers came running out of their huts with their babies in their arms and started cheering and singing for us. We were the first 'visitors' they had ever had and the first whites that many of them had ever seen. People from the villages a few miles away had even made the journey to spend the night with us.

We were quickly shown around the village that comprised of about 10 mud huts, and I saw the creek where they get their drinking water and the two mass graves where a number of the villagers had been buried after the rebels had invaded. This trip was organized by a woman who works closely with this village through her NGO to help them learn ways to practice hygiene, build wells, and improve their small village. She told me with a sigh of dismay and frustration that the villagers still will drink straight from the creek, even though that she has taught them that the water must be boiled before it is drank.

Right from the start I felt uncomfortable though because one of the elder men in the village had asked me if I would give him the Panama hat that I had been wearing. I smiled at him and said "No! This is mine!" in a sort of 'jovial' and giggley way, but I felt terrible about saying this and doing this. For the rest of the night I kept going back and forth in my mind, debating whether I should just part with this straw hat and what exactly that would mean to him and to me. Later a number of the girls in the village were hanging around me and asking me to give them my necklace, my shirt, my hat... I had so many things that they wanted, yet giving away one of my "few" possessions that I had brought on this trip seemed a hard thing for me to do. This attitude of the importance of 'my things' and 'my possessions' has been bothering me ever since.

The villagers prepared a feast for us and gave us anything that we asked for. They even tried to give us their children to bring back with us to the United States! How was it that I was having trouble parting with a stupid hat that I had bought in the South of France?!

I rationalize this selfishness on my part as thinking that giving one of the villagers my things would not have solved anyone's problems, but would have just made someone incredibly happy, and a lot of the others incredibly jealous. It would have also re enforced this precedent that white people are here to give and Africans are to receive. This is not the line of work that I want to go into and my goals for the future are to empower not to give charity.

So even though I can justify morally why I did not give away my straw hat, I still feel something tugging on my heart. I am wondering what those villagers are up to this moment and what they think of our visit. Are they truly as happy as they were when they greeted us, now that they have met us and seen that we did not solve any of their problems of poverty, hunger, lack of education and disease? Will any of the young children remember our visit as they grow up and say to themselves, I want to pursue my education so that I can gain a better understanding of why these white people came to visit my village?

Was our visit meaningful to the Sierra Leoneons?

Antique Valentines

These are so adorable and a great change from the regular pink and red valentines one finds at Hallmark. Makes me want to go back to Paris, where everything is this vintage and glorious... And they are free to email! http://www.bonzasheila.com/sendcard/

Back from Sierra Leone

This gorgeous tree is located in the center of Freetown, surrounded by a roundabout and chaotic traffic. I like to think of it as Sierra Leone's peace tree. We drove past it so many times and I wondered what this tree has seen throughout the country's violent history? I hope that this tree will be around long enough to witness peace settle on this land.

It has been a week since I have been back from Sierra Leone. I have so many stories and I could babble on and on about how lovely the people and the country is. Most of my reflections are going on the class blog. So please check there for an account of the things we did, saw, heard and our reactions.

The Congo

I have no words at the moment for the story that I just read about Generose in the Congo...so I will just post the blog of a man who is working hard to get Congo on the American public agenda:
http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/

and Lisa and Generose's story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/opinion/04kristof.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

New Adventure

I am beginning my trip to Sierra Leone tommorrow. Please check the other blog for updates from me. Basically I am all packed and as 'prepared' as I can be, which I fear will mean completely unprepared when I arrive!

Wish me luck!