Newly sworn-in PCV Jonah Vanroekel spoke to his fellow trainees at the Volunteer Swearing-In Ceremony on November 29, 2018. Here is his speech:
Now, it's my turn to give a long-winded speech that could have been an e-mail. I want to start by saying, from all of us, thank you. Thank you to the Peace Corps staff for putting up with 100 naive, ideological Americans with so much time on their hands, and so desperate for meaning that they travelled halfway across the globe with the simple goals of changing the world and getting some good Instagram photos. Thank you to our LCFs, to the people back home, and to our host families. Thank you to the communities who have welcomed us, and those about to welcome us. For many of us, this was a dream years in the making, and it’s hard to overstate the role that each one of you played in getting us here. We are Staj 100. We arrived in Morocco on September 11, 2018, and have now completed CBT after having many fantastic experiences and going on many great adventures.
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We're wrapping up our #55YearsOfFriendship campaign. We sure are grateful for the past 55 years of Peace Corps in Morocco and all the friends we've met along the way, and we're excited about all the future years and friendships awaiting us. Thank you to all that contributed to our campaign by sharing stories, pictures, videos, memories and support. Here's to #ManyMoreYearsOfFriendship here in Morocco. Don't worry, we will still be updating this page with more stories and photos of the continued friendship our volunteers foster. من أجل سنوات أخرى من الصداقة إننا نختتم حملتنا #55 سنة من الصداقة. من المؤكد أننا ممتنون لـ 55 عامًا الماضية لهيئة السلام في المغرب وجميع الأصدقاء الذين قابلناهم طوال المشوار ، ونحن متحمسون لجميع السنوات المقبلة والصداقات التي تنتظرنا. شكرًا لجميع الذين ساهموا في حملتنا من خلال مشاركة القصص والصور ومقاطع الفيديو والذكريات والدعم. إليكم، من أجل #سنوات أخرى من الصداقة هنا في المغرب. لا تقلق ، سنستمر في تحديث هذه الصفحة بمزيد من القصص والصور عن الصداقة المستمرة التي يعززها متطوعينا. Newly sworn-in PCV Lauren Bullock spoke to her fellow trainees at the Volunteer Swearing-In Ceremony on November 29, 2018. Here is her speech:
Every place on this earth has a spirit of its own. A spirit that makes it unique. We are no different. Each of us came to Morocco with a unique spirit and our own set of gifts, not because this country needs saving, but because of our need to make a complete mess with our passion and love for human connection. The time we spend here is about how well our spirits and gifts connect with the people of Morocco and the essence of this majestic place. As we transition into the next phase of our service it is important for us to understand that just as sure as there will be high days, there will be low days as well. Days that we may feel defeated, unneeded, or overwhelmed by our experiences here. But, I encourage you to find the opportunities that exist within the low days. Youssef, for my first five or six months of service, was simply one of the young men who hung out at the youth center, or dar chebab, regularly. At that time, I was still learning who was who and what their roles were as I slowly but surely integrated. When it came time to invite a counterpart to accompany me to the Project Design & Management workshop hosted by Peace Corps, the local youth I talked to advised that I take Youssef, currently the president of the Hope Association for Culture & Sports. "He’s reliable, available, and savvy," they said. A year and a half later, I feel so fortunate to have been pointed in his direction. تعرف على مسؤولنا عن المكتبة، محمد Morocco PCV's are incredibly lucky to have M'hammed as our dedicated librarian and Information Resource Center manager. In addition to curating numerous resources to help PCVs with their service, he also sends fiction and non-fiction books to PCVs according to their interests! We love M'hammed! By Rachael Diniega, Multimedia Committee Member (Staj 99) They thought their work wouldn’t sell, that people would doubt their abilities and demean their success in creating a women’s cooperative—and yet in October 2018, the women of Cooperative Nahda in the Middle Atlas town of Oued Ifrane cheered and clapped when artisan leader Mustapha Chaouai announced their most recent sales success through the online platform of the collective Anou.
Earlier this year, Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, Michael and Eha Scanlon, were contacted by one of their former students, Mohammed, after about 40 years apart. Mike and Eha had served in Guercif, Morocco, from 1977 to 1979, teaching high school English. Since Mike and Mohammed share the same birthday, they thought it was the perfect time to return and celebrate their lasting friendship with him. متطوعي هيئة السلام العائدون قاموا بلم شملهم بِعيد ميلاد بعد 40 عامًا من الفراق. في أوائل هذا العام و بعد حوالي 40 عاماً تم الاتصال بمتطوعي هيئة السلام العائدين ، مايكل و إها سكانلون ، من قِبل أحد طلابهما السابقين ، محمد . تطوع مايك و إها في جرسيف ، المغرب ، ما بين 1977 و 1979 لتدريس اللغة الإنجليزية في المدارس الثانوية. وبما أن مايك ومحمد يتشاركان في نفس عيد الميلاد ، فقد اعتبراها الفرصة المثالية للعودة والاحتفال بصداقتهما الدائمة معاً. Ayoub is a university student, neighbor, counterpart, and friend to volunteers Jacob and Megan. When Ayoub was younger, his mother used to tell him stories of the Peace Corps volunteers from America she knew and worked with. The stories he listened to turned into a fascination with the English language and American culture. When Ayoub was in High School, one of his English teachers was a former LCF for Peace Corps, and a returned volunteer helped him tutor for his BAC exam. Soon after that, Megan and Jacob moved into the house above his mother, and he began helping with their projects as their counterpart. He has participated in and facilitated many workshops and classes. He received 1st place in his age group in the "Write On!" Creative Writing Competition in February 2018 and attended In-service Training in Marrakech to learn about life skills, volunteerism, and service learning. He loves trying all kinds of American foods and enjoys cultural exchange. His favorite restaurant is Burger King. Today, Ayoub is a third year English Linguistics student at the nearby university and is torn between pursuing a career in Language Teaching or Social Work. Following the example of the Peace Corps volunteers he has known, he hopes to become a volunteer with Corps Africa after he finishes his studies and maybe one day work as an LCF for Peace Corps trainees. "EVENTFUL" is how our finance specialist Youssef describes his experience with Peace Corps. "There's always something happening," he says. مقابلة عضو من فريق العمل، يوسف بن سليم يصف المكلف بالشؤون المالية تجربته مع هيئة السلام ب"الحافلة"، و يضيف "برنامجنا حافل على الدوام". "Spending time with family was always something important to me back at home. They’re my best friends. I didn’t think it’d be possible to feel that with other people in a place so far from home. Preparing fTur with my host mom, (one of the strongest, hard working woman I’ve met) to staying up with them until 3 a.m. for suhur, plus all those in-between moments of Ramadan, are some of my favorite memories in Morocco so far. We’ll share new music, cook dinner together, hike on the weekends, and consider ideas from different viewpoints. My brothers are even speaking better English than my Arabic will ever be and it’s their 3rd language. When I saw both my families finally meet this past June, I felt the similarities between us outnumbered the differences. Coming up on one year in Peace Corps, I’ve realized it’s not just the classroom moments that are important, it’s those relationships you build that award you so much more.” - PCV Adriana Curto |
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