On Development, Part 1

First thing, Im writing this in a cyber cafe and I cant figure out how to type an apostrophe on these ridiculous French keyboards, but rather than write everything like a complete fop, youre just going to have to be clever in your reading.

So, Ive decided to write a little about development work. The first and most obvious thing is that it is slow. Very slow. My group and I are still learning how to do it (though not very quickly as our obvious most pressing need is to speak the language), but the volunteer already serving in this town, who has been here for over a year already, is still struggling to get the people together to work.

The reason for this slowness boils down to a few key points. First, you have the cadre of government officials who arent so much concerned with the development of the country as they are of having a job. That is to say, they care more about having a job than they do about personal advancement and so forth. There is also a good deal of inter-ministry non-interaction as teapot sultans want to conserve any available credit for themselves. The second and most challenging problem - for PCVs - is that real development must be sustainable; otherwise it isnt really development at all. What this means is that it has to be able to reproduce itself without the presence of the volunteer.

So what, you say. Why is that such a problem? Well, the answer is that many have a perception of the volunteer as a charitable institution; someone who comes to teach English and donate books, technology, etc. Unfortunately, this sort of "development" really only takes work away from qualified citizens and builds a "beggar culture" with the country. We need new schools, ask the Americans; we need new soccer equipment, ask the Americans; we need new books, ask the Americans (insert any other Westerners for Americans if you want). This is not to say that this is what all Moroccans think or even the majority, but it is a dangerous enough situation that the Peace Corps refuses to allow us to work without domestic counterparts (and rightly so, in my opinion). Every time that we have an idea for some kind of project, from a girls soccer team to an AIDS prevention clinic, we have to find a local Moroccan or Moroccans to do it. We can work with them, give them ideas, be their organizing force - but they have to be the ones to do it, otherwise the country isnt really growing.

Sometimes you find yourself somewhere that is just waiting for a catalyst to push them forwards, and sometimes you find yourself somewhere that expects you to do everything for them, but regardless of where you are, if youre working by yourself, you arent doing development.

More about that later.

GI Joe

They say that of Peace Corps Volunteers in Morocco, 87.5%, including trainees, have diarrhea or some other kind of gastro-intestinal distress every year.

It’s not fun to be in the In Crowd.

On Ramadan

In case you weren’t aware, we are in the Islamic lunar month of Ramadan. And in case you were aware but didn’t really know what that means, allow me to explain.

Ramadan is a Muslim holiday that begins on the first crescent moon of the month (as do all Islamic lunar months), and ends on the following crescent. Although it lasts for a full month, it is, in fact, a commemoration of a one-night event: the ascension of the Prophet Muhammad to Heaven from the rock in Jerusalem to receive the revelation of the Qur’an from the Archangel Gabriel.

Consequently, the month of Ramadan is one of purification and reconnecting with the spiritual. Muslims are forbidden from eating, drinking, smoking, and having sex during the daylight hours, though many also believe that they cannot gossip, fight, use bad words, have lascivious thoughts, or do anything else selfish or sinful.

In practice, this manifests as people spending the daytime as quickly as possible, using as little energy as possible, and then, when the muezzin (the man who calls the faithful to prayer) signals the sunset prayer, everybody prays, eats breakfast,” and then parties all night long. In a little more than a week we’ll have the Eid el-Fitr – the final night of Ramadan – which will be epic.

For Peace Corps Volunteers in a Muslim country, this means that it’s very difficult to have lunch. I’ve actually been observing the fast, as has one other, but the others are often frustrated by their inability to buy an afternoon snack, as well as restrictions on eating or drinking in public. There is nothing forbidden about non-Muslims not observing the fast (though Muslims seen eating during the sun hours could theoretically be imprisoned), but considering how we are here to work on integration and mutual understanding, it’s pretty much out of the question.

And the most important lesson to learn from Ramadan, in my view, is that not everyone observes it. You have the high schoolers who instead of smoking in the bathroom are popping a quick chocolate bar, and every night at the sunset prayer you can see the cafes that are still full of people (though they only now start eating or drinking). You also have the ones who observe all of the restrictions throughout the month, and then pop open a bottle of alcohol the day after Eid. In short, they are just like the hordes of Jews and Christians that observe (or don’t) their high holidays and then spend the rest of year doing what they want.

And speaking from experience, the fast is not as difficult as you might think, though it is by no means easy. The hardest part is waking up early at about 4 am to have “dinner” and being tired all day. That and the fact that no one else in my group (aside from the Moroccans) is fasting. That will change this Sunday, though, when we all go to homestays and stop living together in a group. Good luck to them.

Welcome to Morocco

First, a little housekeeping. My computer is a bit on the fritz, so I probably won't be posting as frequently in the immediate future as we all would have hoped.

Second, welcome to Morocco. I know it's a bit overwhelming, but that's the way it is for me, too. In all honesty, it's most likely because we have spent the plurality of our time learning the policies and logistics of what will be our new lives here in Peace Corps Morocco. It is all coming at us very fast (though with repeated assurances that it will be all coming at us again later), and jet lag - though only 4 hours - is probably still taking it's toll.

I will give a few first impressions, however, which are likely to be contradicted later on (hopefully, if I begin a political career in the future, my opponents won't find out about my flip-flopping). First, Morocco is full of beautiful cities and stark countryside and many other combinations of mutually excluding descriptions. People have been caring and indifferent and deceptive. Food has been exquisite, unmemorable, and quite unappealing.

I think this is the best possible situation one could expect. Having just left the States listening to exaltations of all Morocco ("the people are beautiful," "the country is beautiful," etc) and condemnations ("the men are sleazy," "the country is dangerous," etc), I'm happy to say that they are all wrong.

The people of Morocco are people, the city of Rabat is a city, and I'm very excited to be here.

More later.