Friends of Morocco Annual Report for 1999

Friends of Morocco Annual Report for 2002

It just keeps on getting better. Friends of Morocco found its goals of 1) uniting Americans with a connection to Morocco, Moroccans in America and Americans of Moroccan ancestry; 2) informing Americans about the culture, needs and achievements of Morocco, Moroccans, Islam and the Arab and Berber worlds; 3) keeping members and others current on events in Morocco; and 4) supporting projects of the U.S. Peace Corps and private charitable organizations in Morocco; all made more pressing and significant with the Bush Administration terrorism focus on Muslims and Arabs and its preparations for an attack on Iraq.

Friends of Morocco is, in essence, electronic information sharing and a hard copy Newsletter; a solid web presence, an RPCV/Morocco and member database, a biennial meeting associated with NPCA and a suite of local and year of service gatherings. There is also home hospitality to Moroccans in America, charity dinners, school and community group lectures, and responses to queries. Major events in 2002 included:

40+1 Anniversary Celebration: Friends of Morocco had a solid presence at the NPCA Conference in Washington, DC in June, 2002. Mike Smith (Casablanca 63-65) was a panelist at the Business Symposium; Morocco was among the featured countries (and lunch theme) at the “Global Challenge:Kids of Peace” session hosted by Peace Corps and organized by Michelle Ghiselli (Erfroud 93-96); participation in Advocay Day on the hill; a reception for FOM with a strong contingent of Embassy staff by the Ambassador of Morocco to the US, Aziz Mekouar, at his residence; recognition in the program for long serving Moroccan staff at Peace Corps/Morocco and Barbara Ferris (Youssoufia 88-92) for her service to NPCA; a booth at the World Bazaar organized by Ruth Ann Skaff (Marrakech 72- 77) and Ellen Hunt (Nador 81-83); henna painting by Casey Troy (Ait Ahmed/Tiznit 99- 01)at the World Music Concert; State of FOM country update and DC premiere of the Dan Cahill (Kenitra 68-70)film “Bridges between Cultures”; hosting the Ambassador at the Gala; participation in the Sunday morning march to the Arlington Cemetery and Peace service; and feasts on Saturday at the Casablanca restaurant and at the Taste of Morocco restaurant on Sunday. Details in the Summer 2002 Newsletter.

Kicking off the Celebration of 40 years of Peace Corps in Morocco: The tour by 18 members of FOM October 5-15, 2002 visited the coastal cites of Rabat, Casablanca, El Jadida, Safi and Essouira then went inland to Marrakech and back to Agadir on the coast and into the Souss Vally and the Anti-Atlas towns of Taroudant and Tafarout by chartered bus. More than half of the participants extended their time in Morocco to visit friends, “family” and former sites.

Like the Moroccan-American Friendship tour in November of 2001, the touristic was combined with visits with serving volunteers, meetings with Peace Corps staff, a reunion with Moroccans connected with Peace Corps and the U.S., such as the Moroccan Chapter of the University of Minnesota Alumni Association. We visited a women’s shelter and pediatric cancer ward in Casablanca, the American Language Center of Marrakech, schools for the deaf in Agadir and a large commercial orange and Clementine farm in Taroudant.

FOM was presented with a banner “Celebrating 40 years of Peace Corps in Morocco” prepared by the Dar Chabeb (Youth Center) kids, with the help of PCV Cynthia Kerr in Ait Ourir, El Haouz –close to Marrakech to carry on our bus and for the celebration over the next year. Press coverage with coverage in 18 Moroccan newspapers and a large article in the Washington Times. The trip was also subsequently featured on the NPCA home page under “Making a Difference”. Details in the Fall 2002 Newsletter and on the FOM web site.

FOM web site: FOM was named “First Place” on the NPCA Country of Service 2002 web site awards. The site was judged reasonably comprehensive in that it has solid and extensive reference base; it tries to convey up front its objectives and provides good navigating links to associated areas. It was judged very clean and quite well organized. The site provided basic FOM information including purpose statement, contacts, and a membership application. The substantial content includes an exhaustive bibliography on Morocco in English, access to over 150 recipes, directory of films set in Morocco, directory of Moroccan restaurants throughout the US, Moroccan travel information, a Yellow Pages directory, and access to a extensive Moroccan music library and Moroccan radio stations. The site averages 60 hits per day on the Home page. The site is located at http://www.friendsofmorocco.org. There are also several “year of service” listserves, newsletters and web sites maintained by FOM members all linked from the FOM site.

Newsletter: The Friends of Morocco Newsletter was judged second place in the Country of Service/Special Interest Groups for content. Three Friends of Morocco Newsletters were produced in 2002, one mailed to over 2200 addresses and the other two mailed to 900 FOM members, recently lapsed members, complimentary mailings and free to recent volunteers mailings. They remain available for download on the FOM web site as PDF files. The Newsletter is also printed in Morocco for local distribution including free distribution to all 150 PCVs in Morocco. In addition, a monthly FOM electronic Newsletter is posted to the FOM site including references to relevant articles on the web as well as a weekly “News in Review”. All with support from Mhamed El Kadi, the Peace Corps/Morocco librarian who produces the listings for the 85% of Morocco PCVs with internet access. We also republished on our web site copies of the Friends of Tunisia newsletter, which is not otherwise available electronically.

Membership Database: Over 4000 people have served in the Peace Corps in Morocco over the last 40 years. Friends of Morocco maintains an Access database with the names of over 3150 persons, most of whom were Peace Corps volunteers in Morocco, the remainder of which are Americans with experience in Morocco and Moroccans in America. FOM has valid mailing addresses for about 2250 and valid email for 900 persons. Most of the missing names date from the 60s and 70s. In 2002, the database was used for reconnecting volunteers, supporting year of service reunions, announcing local events such as film festivals, commercial concerts, cooking classes, and lectures and responding to assistance inquires. A major mailing to 2600 lapsed members soliciting membership was sent in December 2002.

Teaching about Islam and the Arab world: Already existing as a part of the Development Education/Third Goal/Peace Day component of the web site, the “Teaching about Islam and the Arab world” web page in late September was expanded and placed more prominently on the FOM web site. Members were alerted to the resource and urged to be proactive in helping American understand Islam and the Arab world. The third goal of Peace Corps is “To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.” is especially important for returned Peace Corps volunteers who served in Morocco. We understand the diversity of the world, Islam and the Arab world. We share that understanding with our friends, neighbors and the general public. For information about teaching about Islam and the Arab world see http://morocco.home.att.net/teachislam.htm.

Female Moroccan political leaders: Five senior Moroccan female political leaders participated in "Woman as Political Leaders: U.S. Elections and Political Campaigns" an International Visitor Program arranged by Meridian International Center under State Department auspices for women political activists and leaders from the Arab world. The participants included both appointed and elected government officials, aspiring candidates for political office, activists for women's rights, civil society leaders and journalists from 17 Arab countries.

Friends of Morocco hosted a reception for the visitors including representatives from the Embassy of Morocco to the US, FOM leadership; the mayor of Riverdale, MD, Michael Herman; press from the Voice of America and the Washington Times, and leaders of the Moroccan-American community in the Washington, DC area.

Moroccan-American crossed flag pins: FOM organized a bulk purchase of 1500 Moroccan-American crossed flag pins and then provided the pins at cost to the Embassy of Morocco (500); the Tangier-American Legation museum Society (TALMS) (100); Casablanca Travel and Tours (100); the Washington Moroccan Club (200) and as a membership premium. Pins were also distributed during the 40th Anniversary Celebration tour.

September 11 Memorial and Remembrance: In collaboration with the Washington Moroccan Club (WMC), and the American Moroccan in the USA (AMUSA), FOM hosted a Presentation and Dinner at the Casablanca restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia September 11, 2002 recognizing the Moroccan community efforts for the victims of the 9/11 attacks and the aftermath. The response had included blood donations, fund-raising events, and education activities. Ambassador Aziz Mekouar spoke. The FOM video “Bridges between Cultures” was shown.

FOM welcomes His Majesty King Mohammed VI to the US: FOM was represented among the welcoming delegation for the April 21-24, 2002 Official Working Visit of the King of Morocco to the US.

Reception for Incoming Peace Corps/Morocco Director, Bruce Cohen: In addition to briefings and facilitating contacts with the Embassy and the Moroccan community in Washington, DC, FOM hosted a reception for incoming Peace Corps/Morocco Director, Bruce Cohen at the Casablanca restaurant on December 10, 2002. The event was in cooperation with Friends of Tunisia, Friends of Senegal and the Gambia, the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Washington, DC and the National Peace Corps Association. A silent auction during the event raised funds for a set of Moroccan charities and FOM.

Bruce Cohen, RPCV Tunisia 67-69, worked in Peace Corps recruitment for about 15 years as he rose to Director of Recruitment in the late 80s. He then became country director in DR Congo (Zaire) 87-89, and Senegal 90-93. After that Bruce worked for the Corporation for National Service (Americorps etc) in DC and for non-profits in New York City, most recently for the US Committee for UNICEF. He speaks French and a little "Tunisian Arabic". He had been an appointed member of the NPCA Board for the last several years from his NY base.

Indianapolis Museum of Art The Fabric of Moroccan Life March 24– June 23,2002 A major exhibition of approximately 150 rugs, textiles and jewelry from Morocco, one of the world’s great centers of the textile arts was hosted at the Indianapolis Museum of Art March 24– June 23,2002. It was the largest and most comprehensive exhibition of Moroccan art ever presented in the United States. The exhibition was drawn entirely from the collection of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, one of the oldest, finest and most comprehensive collections of Moroccan rugs and textiles in the world. Most of the 350 pieces in the museum’s collection were collected by Admiral Albert Niblack, an Indianapolis native, while he was stationed in Gibraltar during the early years of the 20th century. Over the past decade, the museum has systematically added to the Niblack collection, filling gaps and adding more works to better represent important textile production areas.

Friends of Morocco provided names of members in the five state area to alert them to the Exhibit. FOM is now working with the Smithsonian Museum of African Art to bring the exhibit to Washington, DC the summer of 2003.