In Oases of South East Morocco
The program:
This year we are organizing a unique experience, Discovery August 2008 project is an opportunity for you to quench your curiosity thirst and to have fun discovering closely new the cultures of oases located in the middle of the desert of South east Morocco . However what makes the experience a beautiful humanitarian event is that we all will be working for the wellfare of the poor populations of the visited places. We have four dossiers to work on : Socioeconomic, woman and children, culture and environment dossiers. We will split into groups each working on a dossier and each group will be lead by a coordinator who has been working on the program of his group all year long. The Socioeconomic group will carry out a survey of the place to present before us all a report explaining the socioeconomic condition of the community. Women and children group will be doing a different job; they will be giving women introductory lessons of hygiene, nutrition security, child and woman health…etc. Environment group will study environment deterioration with local organization and people and try to find solutions as well as give sensitizations lessons. And when the Culture group is concerned, they will try to document all cultural identity of the people, their history, their gastronomy and all secrets that make their culture and present it in a report on the 6th day of our stay in the oasis. All groups have to present their reports as well on the same day. On the 7th day a good bye ceremony will be held where we will enjoy local music and dances and part in an excursion for the weekend. The next Monday is supposed to be our first day in the next oasis.
Duration of the Program:
We will pass three weeks in all the stations; about 7 days in each and we part in an excursion after the end of each program.
If you want detailed program of the group you choose, contact the coordinator in charge of it. Go to Coordinators page.
Coordinator Committee
We are people who set up the project from the beginning. We are humanitarian work activists who met in humanitarian work camps and share a desire to collaborate on an international program. The principal idea around which we gather is to promote intercultural respect and tolerance in the world. We hope that the projects we organize presently in Morocco shall grow and expand to other countries. Our coordinator committee is composed of activists and organization members from different origins. We work in cooperation with local organization in the chosen places for our projects and seek recourse to professional people whenever necessary.
All year long we spend much time working on our dossiers and discussing all details in relation to our project. Though each of us conducts his own personal life in his country we keep in touch all the time and work as a united corps
To contact coordinators write to : info@oasisprojects.org
Why this project ?We want to show participants from diffrent countries how poeple live in Oases in southeast Morocco and to be of some help for these people who live in poverty. We want to show poeple from developed countries their duty towards their fellow humans in the world.
The poet Elizabeth Romero says :
Being poor is waiting,
and telling your children to wait,
wait their whole childhoods away.
It is knowing
they blame you.
It is wondering
if there isn't a better way.
Being poor is trying
not to envy almost everyone you see.
It's not getting enough
and getting mad.
Being poor is bones and hearts
and marrows and gray street dirt.
During the last decade, social indicators improved substantially in Morocco. This was due to an increase in public social expenditures and the Government's increasing focus on rural areas (e.g., rural electrification, rural roads, potable water). Yet, both absolute poverty and economic vulnerability increased. Drop of agriculture value-added, a collapse in employment creation, and growing inequality in rural areas are the key forces behind this poverty increase. Public expenditures in social sectors, although increasing in recent years and shifting towards rural areas, were also insufficient for lifting people out of poverty and reducing inequalities. To reduce poverty in a sustained manner in the future, Morocco will need a combined policy for economic growth at the macro level and efficient spending on social policies at the sectoral level. It may also need to spend more, and in a more targeted way, on social sectors: despite the recent efforts, its level of public expenditures remains low in relation to comparator countries. The aim is to provide directions for policies which can foster growth and improve the living standards of the poor.
How we shall interfere :
Humanitarian work and Cultural discovery at the same time:
We think that ameliorating the condition of human resources in rural areas would help in ameliorating the whole condition of these areas and in facing problems like desertification ,drought and exode. Therefore, we will be working on sensiblization of these issues in these areas and providing some help for the people with the hardships of their daily life.
Discovery August an intercultural exprérience par excellence:
Living with poeple in their home land will let you experience their way life and culture and see closely cultural distances. You will learn some words of their language and lots of ideas about their traditions. You will enjoy their music and the exotic sounds of their traditional instruments. You will be entertained by dancers and musicians, demonstrating to you some different types of music and dance forms. You will see Berbers conducting their daily life activities in mud villages built in the centre of magnificent palm or olive tree groves and surrounded by rolling mountains...
To Participate in Discovery August Click here : I won’t miss it !
Coordinators and assigned dossiers:
Moulay Ali Hamdi: President of Committee
Aurelie Kam: In charge of the woman and child dossier.
Julia Pasturel: In charge of the socioeconomic dossier : Poor communities' needs and expectations.
My Ali Hamdi and Stephanie Croes : Intercultural Exchange and Discovery Dossier.
Abdelah Smita : Environment protection.