Dar Si Hmad Volunteer Profile: Arielle Moss

Yesterday for Dar Si Hmad’s #16Days Campaign, we talked about International Volunteer Day. Volunteering and civic engagement are critical to the work that Dar Si Hmad does, and to the prevention of violence against women and the creation of a just society around the world. Today, we highlight Arielle Moss, one of Dar Si Hmad’s current volunteers and a passionate advocate against gender-based violence.

Arielle Moss interns for Dar Si Hmad
during her time as a Fulbright
English Teaching Assistant

Arielle first came to Morocco in June 2013, when she spent two months at Moulay Ismail University in Meknes shadowing doctors at Clinique de Meknes and studying Arabic. Her time in Morocco was part of a study abroad program through Indiana University in America, where she was attending university. After receiving bachelor’s degrees in biology and Arabic language and cultures, Arielle decided to move to Morocco for a longer period. Her extensive volunteer experience during university helped her to win a Fulbright award. She is now teaching in Agadir as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant. In her free time, she interns at Dar Si Hmad, volunteering with a number of our programs. 

A lot of Arielle’s experience before coming to Dar Si Hmad focused on women’s empowerment and the prevention of violence against women. When we asked about her motivations for volunteering, Arielle told us this: 

During my freshman year at Indiana University, I wanted to find a way to get involved in the Bloomington community outside IU's manicured lawns and iconic Sample Gates. I began volunteering at the Middle Way House (MWH), a local shelter for women and children escaping situations of sexual and/or domestic violence.  I worked with these women by tutoring their children in MWH's after-school program and daycare center.  This formative experience revealed my passion for teaching as well as my interest in working towards raising awareness on sexual assault and domestic violence. 

Sexual assault on college campuses is rampant and is often either insufficiently addressed or ignored altogether by administrators.  One in five women is sexually assaulted at some point during her college career.  The stigma of sexual assault and the lethargy of university administrations often renders survivors silent and left with few resources to get the necessary resources, health assistance, and legal support they want and/or need. 

This staggering phenomenon hit close to home when one of my good friends was sexually assaulted at her university.  I knew I wanted to continue devoting my time to raising awareness on this pervasive issue.  At the end of my freshman year, I organized a student organization, the IU Middle Way House Chapter (IUMWH).  IUMWH serves as a channel between IU and MWH by connecting IU students to volunteering and fundraising opportunities for MWH.  IUMWH also works with other student organizations to raise awareness on sexual assault and domestic violence through events such as food/clothing drives, film screenings, panel discussions, etc.

 The summer before my junior year, I studied abroad in Meknes, Morocco.  In addition to my Arabic course, I also interned with Women's Voices Now, a nonprofit organization devoted to providing a creative platform to amplify the voices of Muslim women through writing, film, photography, and art.  I spent one month exploring women's associations around Meknes and interviewing and making video profiles on some of the incredible women I met. Two articles I wrote for Women’s Voice Now highlight the amazing people and projects I worked with. Check out my pieces on "Empowering Women, Empowering Families" and "A Voice in Meknes".

During my senior year, I ask began interning with IU's School of Informatics' ServeIT Program, a service-learning program that provides IT support and technology education for nonprofits around Bloomington.  As part ServeIT's community outreach team, I helped plan lessons and activities on simple coding, stop-motion animation, and e-textile fashion design.  Girls are discouraged from pursuing science and technology at a young age because techie toys and games tend to be marketed overwhelmingly towards boys. The lesson plans were designed to focus specifically on young girls and ultimately to spark their interest in technology and allow them to see that technology is accessible to them and their male counterparts.  

I also served as the social media intern at IU Women in Technology (IUWIT).  Because it is ingrained in girls from a very young age that they are not suited for STEM fields, there is unsurprisingly a shortage of women in these fields.  I wrote a weekly news digest that was sent to IU's 8 campuses around Indiana, managed IUWIT's Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook pages, and designed IUWIT's website.  I also started a social media series profiling techie women working at all of IU's 8 campuses.  This was a great opportunity to meet my fellow women in STEM and learning about the challenges they faced and overcame to get to where they are now.

This past summer before coming to Morocco, I was certified as an On-Scene Advocate (OSA) for MWH.  As an OSA, I was trained to provide a range of primary prevention and crisis intervention services to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and rape.  Perhaps the most important dug of an OSA is to assure survivors that regardless of where they were or what they were doing, the assault was in no way their fault and that they are not alone.  From this point, an OSA can provide nonjudgemental emotional support and offer resources pertinent to each survivor's situation, such as finding a safe place to stay, addressing immediate medical concerns, accompanying the survivor to the hospital for a rape kit, or suggesting counseling and legal services.  After listening and supporting survivors while I was on OSA duty, I left Bloomington even more committed to getting involved in these issues and working to empower women.  

Working with DSH has been a continuation of my passion for gender equality because many of its projects intersect with various women's issues.  Making sure girls and women have equal access to quality education is imperative in empowering them and ultimately promoting gender equality.  I was fortunate to benefit from an incredible education, and this motivates me to help find ways for other girls and women to obtain an education and pursue their dreams.  

I hope to use my time in Morocco to work with DSH and its incredible staff by assisting in catalyzing social change and ensuring women from all walks of life have the opportunity to be all that they can be.

During her time at Women’s Voices Now in Meknes, Arielle interviewed a young woman about why the organization was important to her.  

“Women’s Voices Now allows Moroccan women to see they are not alone. Showing the success of just one woman says to others everywhere, ‘You can be better. You have all the potential inside you.’” 

Arielle caught that answer on camera. And the moment made her realize the power of her tiny camera to make not only her voice, but also the voices of women like hers heard around the world.

Arielle is now spending her time in Agadir both behind and in front of a camera, helping to document and promote the work of Dar Si Hmad in encouraging girls to continue their education, enhancing young women’s careers prospects, and building Berber women’s capacity for societal change.

Building from her background in biology, Arielle is helping expand the curriculum of Dar Si Hmad’s Water School, an innovative program that uses curiosity about the natural world to provide quality education for children in the Bled (Moroccan countryside). Check out this video to see Arielle in action talking about why she loves the Water School:

The Water School combines a lot of Arielle's passions: encouraging women in science and technology, empowering young people, and building a society more committed to sustainability and equality. Arielle looks forward to February, when the 2016 Water School will kick off and she will spend some time in the Bled putting her planned curriculum into action.

In Agadir, Arielle also works with the RISE program, helping students build their skills and reflect on their career aspirations. Talking with participants before and after sessions, Arielle

Dar Si Hmad Intern speaks with RISE participants
while volunteering at the organization

serves as a powerful role model for how volunteering, civic engagement, and passion can be leveraged into life-changing opportunities.

Through her time volunteering at Dar Si Hmad, Arielle is using her passion and experience to continue working towards justice for women in southwest Morocco. We hope you will join her in volunteering for change. Together, we can make a better world for us all.

This post is part of Dar Si Hmad’s 2015 #16Days Campaign to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Dar Si Hmad encourages civic engagement on International Volunteer Day

Today is the International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development, officially recognized by the United Nations since 1985 to promote the importance of volunteering and its role in socio-economic development.

This year’s theme is “The world is changing. Are you? Volunteer!” International Volunteer Day 2015 challenges everyone to take a personal role in implementing the newly launched Global Goals, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, by actively engaging in our world. Volunteering mobilizes communities and government to create safer streets, better public spaces, and a happier, healthier planet.

In his statement for International Volunteer Day, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon stressed the potential of volunteering in bringing people together across cultures and countries: “Volunteerism is a global phenomenon that transcends boundaries, religions and cultural divides. Volunteers embody the fundamental values of commitment, inclusiveness, civic engagement and a sense of solidarity.” Secretary General Ki-Moon especially emphasized the potential of volunteerism to show solidarity and end poverty.

This December 5th, Dar Si Hmad marks International Volunteer Day by encouraging volunteerism in Morocco and taking a minute to thank the incredible team of volunteers that make our work possible.

Dar Si Hmad staff member Marouane
Smaili stresses the value and benefits
of community service to Agadir youth

Dar Si Hmad’s recent workshop on international educational exchange programs highlighted the importance of volunteering. Through volunteering, youth learn more about themselves and the world and set themselves apart from their peers. Civic engagement is a required component of many exchange programs, including the MEPI Student Leaders opportunity.

Dar Si Hmad’s RISE program is including a unit of civic engagement in its professional development training for urban youth in southwest Morocco. RISE participants will join Dar Si Hmad staff in several hours of community service, getting their hands dirty to give back to their communities while simultaneously building their skills and capacities.

Volunteers like Amine are contributing
to communities in southwest Morocco

Dar Si Hmad’s internship program provides young people with an organized volunteering opportunity. Last year, Mohamed Amine Bouhamtaine served as a Communications Intern in our Agadir office. Born in Agadir, Amine studied computer science and networks at the Higher School of Technology of Agadir and graduated in 2014 at the top of his class. Amine is interested in the new technology, including the creation and development of software and web applications, programming languages, 2D/3D video games, information security, and server technologies. His work with Dar Si Hmad gave him the chance to use his passions to make Agadir a better place as well as learning more about the rural communities surrounding his birth city.

Agadir youth engage in their communities in a variety of ways. At a recent workshop, RISE participants interviewed each other about what activities they were most proud of. During the feedback session, one young woman highlighted a project undertaken by her new friend. He has coordinated a series of volunteers to travel to the Bled (countryside) to provide resources and support in some of Morocco’s poorest areas. After describing the project, she ended by saying “I am so proud of my friend” and stressing how happy she was that his work is pushing against the economic and opportunity disparities between rural communities and urban centers in southwest Morocco.

Agadir youth reflect on their volunteering commitments and share their
motivations for civic engagement during a recent Dar Si Hmad workshop

These kinds of projects demonstrate the potential of volunteering to make strides toward ending poverty. The United Nations Volunteer Programme is also stressing the role of volunteering and community engagement in ending violence against women. In Uganda, UN Volunteers are supporting the Ministry of Health through a “Let Girls Be Girls” campaign raising awareness about the need for improved education and access to healthcare. The movement is decreasing the rate of teen pregnancy in the country. Volunteer efforts are advocating for girls to stay in school longer and highlighting the community benefits from females’ education. These efforts mirror much of Dar Si Hmad’s work through our Girls’ E-Learning and Water School programs and are powerful examples of how volunteers, communities, governments, and international agencies can partner to end violence against women, reduce poverty, and promote sustainable development.

Volunteering makes a difference. Volunteerism positively impacts the volunteer, their community, and our planet. On this International Volunteer Day, Dar Si Hmad salutes volunteers around the globe and encourages you to join them and us in building a better world.

This post is part of Dar Si Hmad’s 2015 #16Days Campaign to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Student exchange: Education, peace, and empowerment

Dar Si Hmad has been running a #16Days Campaign in conjunction with the United Nations’ 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence. We’ve highlighted various programs emphasizing women’s and girls’ empowerment. Dar Si Hmad’s educational programs are particularly relevant, as this year’s theme from the global campaign coordinators asks us to “Make Education Safe for All!”. Along with the United Nations and the 16 Days Campaign, Dar Si Hmad believes that we can move “From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World”.

For urban youth in Agadir, international educational opportunities are fairly limited. Studying abroad is an attractive idea, but financial, linguistic, and logistical (including the challenge of acquiring visas and passports) barriers are high. Sponsored exchange programs are important avenues that can help support driven students in their dream of enhancing their educational experiences and sharing their perspectives with young people in other parts of the world.

Yesterday, Dar Si Hmad held an application support workshop open to everyone interested in international exchange programs. The workshop boosted Agadir youths’ awareness of these opportunities and gave them individualized help in compiling CVs and writing personal statements.

Dar Si Hmad’s Office Manager Maourane Smaili has been granted a Fulbright Scholarship for study in the United States next year. Marouane kicked off the workshop with an overview of some available opportunities and some reflections on his own experience applying for the Fulbright. Marina's talk focused on the importance of civic engagement, leadership, and community service, three things that our MEPI-funded RISE Program is focusing on in its efforts to enhance the capacity of Agadir youth.

We were lucky to have with us two alumni of international exchange programs. Participants from the MEPI Student Leaders Program and the Swedish Institute’s Young Leaders Visitors Programme shared stories about their time in America and Sweden and tips about the interview process.

All three of our exchange program-accepted speakers were men - demonstrating that we have some work to do in better equipping young women to take on these travel and study opportunities! Ensuring that just as many women participate in these programs as men is vital to building better understandings of Moroccan culture and diversity for communities abroad as well as enhancing gender parity around the globe.

Becca Farnum is a visiting researcher from King’s College London. She took time out from collecting data for her PhD to talk with the students about what goes into a good personal statement. Becca encouraged the students to think about what sets them apart from their peers. Personal statements should be exactly that - personal! Dar Si Hmad staff members' top tips focused on using stories to creatively highlight your skills and passions in a personal statement.

Dar Si Hmad highlighted the following programs that students like our RISE Participants are or will soon be eligible for and should consider applying to:

• The MEPI Student Leaders Program, a six-week exchange program to America for 120 undergraduate students from the Middle East and North Africa that includes academic coursework, visits to multiple states in America, and community service;
• The Study of the U.S. Institute (SUSI) for Student Leaders on Social Entrepreneurship, a five-week academic program in America hosted in Connecticut;
• The Study of the U.S. Institute (SUSI) for Student Leaders on Women’s Leadership, a five-week program focusing on the history and participation of women in public life in the United States, held in Kansas;
• The Global Undergraduate Exchange Program (UGRAD), an opportunity for undergraduate students to study in the US for one academic semester to experience the American educational system;
• The Fulbright Foreign Student Program, an award for postgraduate (master’s) study in the United States run by the Moroccan-American Commission for Educational and Cultural Exchange;
• The Swedish Institute’s Young Leaders Visitors Programme (YLVP), an intercultural leadership program focusing on dialog and knowledge sharing among young leaders from the Middle East, North Africa and Sweden that takes place in both Sweden and the Middle East during two intense modules; and
• The Swedish Institute Study Scholarships, funding opportunities for year-long master’s programs in Sweden.

Students can find more information about these programs via the links above and through Dar Si Hmad's presentation from the workshop, available here. The presentation also includes tips for how to write a good personal statement.

After the presentation, participants split into small groups to brainstorm and/or edit their personal statements. The personal statement is one of the most important parts of an application for exchange programs and offers a great chance for students to reflect on the work they have done and why it matters to them.

Dar Si Hmad staff Jade Lansing and Marouane Smaili
sit down with Agadir youth to offer focused support on their
personal statements, a vital part of exchange program applications

Student exchange programs are a powerful way to empower young people and build global peace and understanding. We talked earlier in this campaign about Dar Si Hmad’s Ethnographic Field School and its role in breaking down violent stereotypes and misconceptions about Morocco. But for true cross-cultural exchange to take place, the relationship has to go both ways. International exchange programs allow Moroccan youth to go abroad, making them ambassadors for their communities on the global stage. Dar Si Hmad believes this work is critical to both individual youths’ empowerment and to sustainable futures.

Education builds peace. Cross-cultural exchange builds peace. Learning together and engaging with each other are vital to building a more peaceful and just world. Good luck to all of those applying for these programs – Dar Si Hmad is proud to be able to offer support to those from the Agadir region!

This post is part of Dar Si Hmad’s 2015 #16Days Campaign to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Microscopes and mathematics in the mountains: Dar Si Hmad’s Mobile Water School encourages girls in STEM

Yesterday on Dar Si Hmad’s #16Days Campaign, we heard about the importance of co-educational projects from staff member Souad Kadi. The RISE & THRIVE Project Liaison believes that engaging boys and girls in the same class “where they can work on things and play and share and learn things together” encourages young people to see each other’s capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses. “When a boy sees a girl [who is smart like him], they are equal.”


Dar Si Hmad is doing exactly that in the Bled, the Moroccan countryside. Our flagship fog harvesting project ensures that villages in the Aït Baamrane region have constant access to potable water. To ensure that the fog project achieves maximum potential, Dar Si Hmad engages our partner communities in a variety of environmental and economic capacity-building projects. In the villages, these have included WASH (water for sanitation and hygiene) workshops and the exploration of women’s argan cooperatives. Dar Si Hmad also works with the Provincial Delegation of the Ministry of Education in Sidi Ifni to include the villages’ young residents in the fog project.

Quality education from an early age is a vital step in empowerment, development, and building health communities. Unfortunately, communities in southwestern Morocco are challenged by poor educational systems and limited natural resources. Given the low quality of rural schools, they are not generally regarded as valuable. Children in the villages lack opportunities to learn by doing, develop communication skills, meet new people, interact with each other, and encounter diverse topics. The Aït Baamrane region is an ecologically fragile zone. Eroded topsoil and increasing drought cycles limit potable water’s availability. While the fog project is successfully tackling this last problem, overlapping educational, environmental, and economic marginalisation further burden already vulnerable communities.

Students study their surrounding ecosystems and engage with
nature for creative problem-solving in Dar Si Hmad's Water School

Dar Si Hmad’s Mobile Water School combats these challenges and empowers Aït Baamrane’s next generation through custom-created hands-on, locally relevant curriculum. The Water School explores water, sustainability, conservation, and environmental challenges to engage children aged 7-13 in the rural villages in experiential, life-changing learning. Activities combine art, engineering, science, and mathematics to learn about the societal and natural realities of the world, expanding young people’s capacities for and understandings of global change.

Through the Mobile Water School, children learn how to employ scientific lenses to investigate the natural world. They also investigate themselves, claiming personal and community responsibility for sustainable environmental and social change. The curriculum builds children’s employability skills from an early age, emphasising public speaking, self-confidence, leadership, and team building.

The Water School gives rural students the chance to
look under a microscope for the first time in their lives

The Mobile Water School places a particular emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education for girls. Sexist stereotypes across the world discourage women from working in STEM fields. These messages start very early. Dar Si Hmad’s Water School consciously pushes against them, working with girls before they have internalized the message that they cannot be just as good at engineering as boys. Through the Water School, young Berber girls learn how to operate a microscope, identify different species of insect and plant, and communicate the hydro cycle.

During the Water School, children of both genders deconstruct sexism by building bridges…both physical and emotional. Building model bridges and relationships together helps the children learn to value everyone’s perspectives, skills, and experiences, regardless of their gender. Being taught by instructors from a variety of religions, genders, ethnicities, and disciplinary backgrounds provides students with powerful role models and assures them they can do whatever they want to with their lives.

This year's 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Campaign focuses on education - a fundamental human right recognized in Article 26 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and many international treaties. But it is a right that is too frequently not accomplished in reality, especially for girls. Providing equal opportunities for young people of all genders and backgrounds is vital to breaking the sexist assumptions that prop up unjust systems and create space where violence against women can occur. Dar Si Hmad’s Water School uses the environment as an avenue for economic and educational empowerment. Community learning and emphasizing STEM for girls improves children’s lives both materially and metaphysically, builds community resilience, and enhances global sustainability.

Dar Si Hmad would love to partner with you on this important project. By supporting the Mobile Water School, you give a young Berber child the chance to explore her world and learn how she can make it a better place. Please consider joining us. For more information and to donate, visit http://www.darsihmad.org/water-school/.

This post is part of Dar Si Hmad’s 2015 #16Days Campaign to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Staff Profile: Souad Kadi

Dar Si Hmad has ten employees based in our Agadir offices. Thus far for the 16 Days Campaign, we have been spotlighting how our projects intersect with violence against women and women’s empowerment. But in addition to the multiple projects Dar Si Hmad runs that directly benefit communities in Agadir and Sidi Ifni, we are changing lives by building the capacity of the people who work on those projects.

Souad Kadi, Dar Si Hmad Staff Member

Today, we highlight Souad Kadi, a twenty-one-year-old who grew up in the Moroccan countryside in a mixed Arab and Berber village. Many of the girls who attended primary and secondary school with Souad were married before or just after completing their baccalaureate, discontinuing their education. Souad, though, moved to Agadir by herself and began studying English literature at Ibn Zohr University.

As an undergraduate student, Souad began teaching Darija (Moroccan colloquial Arabic) for Dar Si Hmad as part of the organization’s research support programming. Her enthusiasm for languages and Morocco soon led to greater responsibilities at Dar Si Hmad, and she began working as a research assistant for visiting scholars. Through this work, Souad learned about research design and fieldwork methodologies, gained experience with professional and technical translation, and shared her culture with people from around the world.

Souad has now graduated from Ibn Zohr with a bachelor’s degree in English literature. Her undergraduate thesis project explored the sexist portrayal of women in Moroccan advertisements. Using discourse analysis and media studies, Souad considered how commercials are creating and reproducing images of women as silly, superstitious, and requiring guidance. The vast majority of TV ads show women in the kitchen. Men are regularly shown to involve themselves in women’s decisions. Women frequently stop talking and are silent for the rest of the commercial as soon as men come onto the screen. Souad argues that these images and scenarios suggest “women are only looking to settle down in their house with their husband” and occupy a “limited place where she should only take care of her husbands and kids”.

Souad’s dissertation may show how Moroccan media assumes that a woman “cannot do her job by herself”, but Souad herself demonstrates that this assumption is clearly false. After graduating from Ibn Zohr, she was offered a full-time job with Dar Si Hmad as a RISE & THRIVE Program Liaison and Darija instructor.

Souad recognizes that Morocco has a long way to go when it comes to women’s issues. Sexual harassment, in particular, is a huge issue – and has to stop. But it is also important to remember that plenty of people in Morocco challenge stereotypes about the role of women in Arab societies. Working with Dar Si Hmad has given Souad the chance to grow her capacity, learning from a multitude of diverse projects and interacting with different people and cultures. She especially appreciates the Water School, believing that co-education is a powerful way to fight against sexism. Engaging boys and girls in the same class “where they can work on things and play and share and learn things together” encourages young people to see each other’s capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses. “When a boy sees a girl [who is smart like him], they are equal.”

Souad’s work at Dar Si Hmad is invaluable to our organization and the projects we do to further equality and justice in southwest Morocco. Happily, this relationship goes both ways, as the opportunities Dar Si Hmad has given Souad are continuing to build her capacity, enhancing her future as a powerful agent of social change.



This post is part of Dar Si Hmad’s 2015 #16Days Campaign to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Women RISE to economic and leadership opportunities

A few weeks ago, Dar Si Hmad kicked off their 2015-2016 RISE Program. Dar Si Hmad’s RISE Program is a one-year professional development initiative for university students and young professionals aged 19-25. The Program builds from Dar Si Hmad’s previous workforce development speaker series and professional development workshops to provide young Moroccans with the professional competencies to enhance their employability and entrepreneurship potential.

Tuesday 10 November 2015, fifty-eight young people from Agadir in southwest Morocco gathered at Dar Si Hmad to launch the 2015-2016 RISE Program, part of a new project on “Engaging the Next Generation: Unlocking Employability Potential among Agadir Youth”. Integration Day brought together students from around the city to get to know each other, celebrate their acceptance into the highly competitive program, and learn more about the skills they will gain over the next seven months.

RISE participants are university students who, given extant realities, currently have low employment prospects. More than 49% of Moroccan youth are either unemployed or no longer at school, and university students and recent graduates have an even higher rate of unemployment than those without a degree. Previous participants in Dar Si Hmad’s professional development initiatives have expressed frustration at overcrowded classrooms and the lack of practical training. There is little job security available and young people generally only have access to low-paying, exploitative entry-level jobs with few chances for advancement.

Many of the RISE finalists are young women. Morocco is making strides toward greater gender equality, but young women continue to face substantial career barriers and challenges. Investing in young women is a powerful way to break the vicious cycles of gendered inequalities that perpetuate violence against women. Dar Si Hmad’s RISE program builds young women’s potential alongside young men’s, ensuring that all of Morocco’s young people have brighter futures. Training together, men and women benefit from each other’s skills and learn to value everyone’s contributions.

RISE’s curriculum includes a variety of personal and professional skills and topics. Recognizing that some of the issues covered may be sensitive, RISE will run parallel workshops for male and female participants when necessary. The program seeks to ensure that both genders have the space to express their ideas while regularly challenging negative assumptions about women’s capabilities and encouraging young people to learn from each other’s experiences. Explicitly tackling the gendered challenges that both men and women face in the workplace is a necessary step in achieving gender parity.

Nadia Kamra, a RISE participant

Meet Nadia Kamra, a twenty-four-year-old who grew up in Oulataima and is now studying at Ibn Zohr University. Nadia applied to RISE after having incredible experiences working with PeaceCorps volunteers on their community development projects. Nadia hopes RISE can “help me develop my personal and professional skills and help me continue finding other great opportunities”.

After graduating from university, Nadia hopes to do an exchange program in the United States. Yesterday’s post on #ViolenceAgainstWomen highlighted Dar Si Hmad’s Ethnographic Field School and its role in breaking down stereotypes and the violence of racism. The Ethnographic Field School brings students and researchers from Europe and America to southwest Morocco, broadening their horizons and challenging their perspectives. Programs like RISE help young Moroccans to do the same in reverse.

RISE’s curriculum includes sessions on writing personal statements and applications for initiatives like Global UGRAD. This attention improves the competitiveness of Moroccan youth for international exchange programs and ensures that the cross-cultural relationships fostered by Dar Si Hmad’s Ethnographic Field School go both ways.

One day after a RISE program, we asked Nadia what she learned from the session. “My favorite part of today was realizing my strengths and weaknesses when working in a group.  In one of the games, I realized I was good at looking at the big picture, but I tended to jump into things without a plan, and I wasn’t so good at paying attention to the details and figuring out how to get to that big picture.  Through the group activity, I discovered more about my personality, and I learned how everyone has different strengths that can be combined in a team to get the job done.

Youth development programs are vital to helping young people like Nadia build their skills and realize their potential. Long-term, Nadia is hoping to work for a non-profit organization. It is young women like her who will actively shape Morocco’s future. We know they will RISE to the challenge of improving their lives and building their communities.



This post is part of Dar Si Hmad’s 2015 #16Days Campaign to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Dar Si Hmad’s Ethnographic Field School: Breaking down stereotypes, building relationships, and bridging cultures

Thus far for the 16 Days Campaign to prevent Violence against Women, Dar Si Hmad has focused primarily on the issues faced by rural Moroccan women and impoverished communities around the world. Today, we highlight the Ethnographic Field School and its role in nuancing the stereotypes frequently held by students from Western countries about those communities.

Dar Si Hmad invites international researchers and students to be a part of their inspiring work with local communities by facilitating academic and cultural programs, service learning, homestays, and language classes in Modern Standard Arabic, Darija, Tashelheet, and Hassaniya. The Ethnographic Field School brings students from around the world to southwest Morocco to explore its rich socio-cultural and environmental heritage. Ethnographic Field School attendees participate in locally driven development initiatives and engage in innovative dialogue with communities.

This weekend, thirteen American high school students are in Sidi Ifni exploring Dar Si Hmad's projects. The students are temporarily living in Marrakesh, studying at the Center for Language and Culture's Arabic Language Institute. Their time in the Bled with Dar Si Hmad is introducing them to a very different side to Morocco than they have seen thus far in Marrakesh.

It is these kinds of nuanced experiences that the Ethnographic Field School seeks to create. Past programs have included activities and discussions on Berber history and literature, argan production and the impact of female-owned cooperatives in southwest Morocco, colonialism, trade routes and transaction practices, rural livelihoods, gender, religion, perceptions of healing and water, and portraits of a culture including cuisine, expressions, and rituals.

Students from Rollins College join with Moroccan youth
in cross-cultural exchange during a program with
Dar Si Hmad's Ethnographic Field School

One of Dar Si Hmad’s core Ethnographic Field School courses examines “Gender and Society in Regional Contexts”. The class considers various local issues, including:

• Gender-specific problems in southwest Morocco’s regional culture; 
• Women’s rights and emancipation from local perspectives; 
• Gender, society, and social justice; 
• Media discourses of youth, identify, and family; 
• Origin stories of the people of the Aït Baamrane; and 
• Migration and population. 

These issues are tackled by students in partnership with local voices. Moroccan university students, professionals from Agadir, and women from the Bled (countryside) join Ethnographic Field School participants in seminars. The organization and content of the program is meant to create a meaningful and just platform for cross-cultural exchange and learning.

Racism is a form of violence. It justifies and perpetuates global and local inequalities. Dar Si Hmad’s Ethnographic Field School works to combat reductionist stereotypes of Arab and African women, giving young leaders from around a world a more nuanced perspective of gendered power and agency in the region - and helping them critically consider their own societies. This type of awareness is vital in creating a world free from violence against women in all its forms.



This post is part of Dar Si Hmad’s 2015 #16Days Campaign to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.