Why Young Girls Will Remain Illiterate

The other day I was talking to the mudir (director) of the elementary school in my town about my health lessons but my mind kept drifting to the young uneducated girls in my town. My mudir wants to make sure that my lessons make a lasting impact on the children here. He wants for kids in the future to know that an American taught health lessons in Tamazight at the madrasa (school). He was offering suggestions for how I could improve the lessons; even suggesting that I somehow acquire a microsope to have the children look at microbes. He also wants me to bring American elementary school kids to my town that a cultural dialogue can exist between moroccan bled (countryside) children ans american children. I don't disagree that this is a good idea but really how would I ever accomplish this? Also, how will the children communicate with each other seeing as they have no common language? Before I left our meeting he mentioned that on the 30th of june they're having a little celebration for the 6th graders who will have finished school. I left the school feeling both satisfied and saddened all at once. I felt satisfied because I know that the mudir fully supports what I'm doing at the school; which is incredible considering how little support most volunteers get. I felt sad because I know that now that they've finished 6th grade, only a fraction of those kids will continue on to secondary school and most of those continuing wil be boys.
We don't have a secondary school in my town, only a few elementary schools. The secondary school is in the next town (6km) so many parents are weary about letting young girls continue with their education. I mean, really, they're more useful at home making bread rught? Not! Its sad to see so many girls stop school after the 6th grade, but its even sadder to see young girls never go to school. Its understandable why most of the older women of my town are illiterate; there weren't as many schools when they were growing up and the town was much more conservative. Now younger girls teach most of these older women to read and write. But there are still many young girls who are illiterate. Just in the alley in which I live, there are two girls less that 10 years old who are running errands all day long. Occasionally I see them play with other kids their age but usually they are going to buy something at the store or fetching water. I constantly here "zineb, zineb!" because they want her to go do something else for them. Also, my host sister in homestay was illiterate. She didn't even know how to tell time so she was constantly asking me to tell time. I think what happens is that the youngest daughter is made to stay home and care for the parents. In my host family, my host mom works all day at the weaving cooperative so my sister does the cooking, cleaning, field work and whatever else needs doing. This youngest daughter thing is a trend that I have started to notice in my town. :( There is however one woman who has started to teach some young girls how to read and write but its only a few lessons a week for an hour or two, basically when she and the girls aren't busy with other work. I really hope that we can do something in town so that more young girls will enjoy the benefit of literacy.

Spring!

Spring feels like a season lasting barely long enough to be fully appreciated. When I returned from Europe in late March, I thought that spring had finally arrived despite the still rather chilly weather. After a long, harsh winter I was more than ready for spring. I wanted to walk around with only two layers on rather than 4. My feet yearned to escape from the stuffiness of two pairs of socks and suffocating shoes. It snowed twice in April. I think I will still consider that spring; I mean the snow didn’t stick. It counts right?
The days have been satisfyingly warm these past few weeks. There have also been refreshing thunderstorms in the late afternoons. My sitemate and I went out to a spring with a couple of girls from our town. The spring, which feeds our river, was quite a walk away but I’m glad when I can get out of my house and walk around. (esp after many months of sitting indoors)
Spring has also brought quite a variety of fruits to souk. As of late, I have been enjoying some of the best strawberries ever. This past week I also saw lettuce! I have been cooking lighter meals and am glad to move away from what I cooked in winter.
I am enjoying this season as much as I can because summer is already poking its head out. Just as I can see the signs of spring at souk, I can also see the signs of summer encroaching upon us. The first melons have appeared and this past week I had watermelon for the first time since last summer! Cherries have also made an appearance. Though still rather green and small, plums and peaches also abound. I like summer because of the abundance of fruit (unlike the oranges and bananas of winter) but really I prefer the temperate climate of spring. It doesn’t get extremely hot where I live but it’s true that this is a cool country with a very (very) hot sun.


By the spring in my town.


Part of the spring is enclosed by this barrier. It feeds the irrigation ditch (pictured) and our river.

Those bubbly things are the spring :) Its looks really funny and the water is super safe to drink.

On the walk to the spring along the river that runs through my town.

Baby Season!

There's babies everywhere! I'm not talking about the baby season that happens in nature because its spring but rather about the the babies the women in my town are having. As I have mentioned before, it is customary for people to get married in the summer. Its the warmest time of the year (weddings are usually outdoors) and just when the days are the longest. Last summer I attended a multitude of weddings and will be doing so again this summer, inshallah. Most of the girls that got married last summer were coming by the clinic in october and november because they were pregnant. There were literally about 5 to 7 women coming in every other day about pregnancies. (it was great seeing so many women going in for prenatal checks)
Its been just about nine months since all these prenatal visits...so its baby season!
My sitemate and I have been to 2 baby ceremonies already in the last month and expect to attend more as some of our friends in town come closer to their time of delievery. The baby ceremony is called "siba" and usually consists of a big lunch for all those that know the family. Its similar to the idea of a baby shower but it happens seven days after the birth rather than prior to it. People take gifts (baby clothes or sugar cones...for tea) and generally socialize and play with the baby :) This is also when the baby gets its official name. I think that they wait for this celebration until the week after the baby's birth for religious reasons as well as for health reasons. I'm not well informed about the religious reasons so i'm not going to attempt to broach that topic but I think I can say a bit about the health reasons. It seems logical that we would wait to celebrate the birth of a child once they are actually born. I mean, isn't it kind of bad karma to assume the baby will be born? Maybe thats just an issue here where infant mortality is actually sometimes a problem. Anyways, the sibas have been good and I'm glad the babies I have seen all look quite healthy. Inshallah, the rest will be just as healthy.