Friends of Morocco Quarterly Newsletter January 2019 News from Morocco (compiled almost weekly by Mhamed El Kadi in Morocco) 01/19 Weekly News in Review 01/12 Weekly News in Review 01/05 Weekly News in Review 12/22 Weekly News in Review 12/15 Weekly News in Review 12/08 Weekly News in Review 12/01 Weekly News in Review Watch here as Peace Corps Morocco's 100th group of trainees swears in as official volunteers! 9K views · November 29, 2018 Video 1:57:41 Staj 100 Volunteers 1 Staj 100 Trainees SWEARING-IN SPEECH, JONAH VANROEKEL 12/20/2018 Peace Corps Morocco page by and for volunteers Peace Corps Morocco YouTube page Peace Corps Morocco Facebook page Peace Corps “Official” government page The Peace Corps Morocco Gender and Development (GAD) Committee reorganized the Google Drive resources to match the new Peace Corps Morocco Project Framework. There’s a resource guide to help you find anything you are looking for specifically, but the folders are now organized to help you browse by type of activity (club, camp, splash activity, etc.) Cooperating to success: a photostory of Oued Ifrane’s weaving women 11/20/2018 by Rachael Diniega An Interdisciplinary Conference on Gender, Identity and Youth Empowerment in Morocco - Dates: March 15 - 16, 2019 as part of the Kennesaw state University Year of Morocco program in Kennesaw, GA (outside Atlanta), As part of KSU’s award-winning Annual Country Study Program, the goal of this international conference is to examine ever-changing Moroccan identities with a special focus on the cultural, economic, political and social agency of young women and men. The conference features over 30 presentations from leading scholars, policy-makers, and community leaders from six different countries. 2 Through Kennesaw State University’s Year of Morocco (YoM), students will have the opportunity to visit Morocco, experience its hospitality, and learn first-hand about what makes the country and its people unique. Examining themes such as colonialism, conflict, identity, language, migration, development and sustainability, the program brings an awareness of and appreciation for Morocco directly to the campus community through numerous events and special coursework. Innov Gnawa Concert Date: March 16, 2019 Time: 8 p.m. Location: Morgan Hall Bailey Performance Center Tickets: $15 - $20 Band Website Buy Tickets Travel to Morocco Royal Air Maroc (RAM) has announced it will launch the first-ever Miami-Casablanca route on April 3, 2019, giving Miami International Airport its first passenger flights to Africa since the year 2000 and Florida’s only nonstop service to the continent. RAM will operate three weekly roundtrip flights between Miami and its Casablanca hub, where it offers dozens of connections to North African, West African and Middle Eastern destinations. The route will be operated with new-generation Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft configured to accommodate 18 business class and 255 economy class passengers. Flights will depart CMN at 11:20 a.m. Eastern time and arrive at MIA at 7:05 p.m., to then depart MIA at 8:45 p.m. and arrive at CMT at 5:55 a.m. the following day. National Peace Corps Association Next Step Travel to Morocco April 6 to 19 Interested in exploring Morocco? A Next Step Travel trip might be ideal for you! Travel in the company of Morocco RPCVs and others from across the Peace Corps world. Meet with serving PCVs and Peace Corps Morocco staff. TRIP PRICE: $2980. SINGLE SUPPLEMENT: $554. TRIP SIZE: MAXIMUM OF 15. Airfare extra. Trip operated by Cross Cultural Adventures - a RPCV Morocco run tour company. Next Step Travel's Inaugural Trip to Morocco a Smashing Success! by Tim Resch (Ouezzane and Rabat 70-74) Diverse Things to Do Along the Exotic "Road to Morocco by Mike Anderson Morocco - Imperial Cities & Sahara Tour, Merry & David Fredrick’s (Peace Corps Morocco Directors 1986 to 1990) 2019 Tour, 13 days & nights in Morocco, April 28 - May 12, 2019. Includes air Washington DC Dulles to Casablanca and return. Cost/person based on double occupancy: $3,390 by check. $3,522 by credit card. Single supplement: $535. Contact [email protected] for itinerary and other information. Taking up to 25 persons, now half-booked. PM for brochure, questions Journey Beyond Travel, a Moroccan travel agency founded by Morocco RPCV Thomas Hollowell, has an excellent blog resource including Morocco Safety: Is Morocco a Safe Country to Travel? The Friends of Morocco web site has two travel resource pages: Travel Services for Morocco and Links for Travel in Morocco 3 Peace Corps Connect 2019 will be held in Austin, Texas, June 20-22, 2019. Check out this video by the Heart of Texas Peace Corps Association (HOTPCA), the host affiliate group for the event, 20 Jun 2019 @ 4:00pm EDT to 22 Jun 2019 @ 6:00pm EDT WorldView magazine serves the greater Peace Corps community with news, comment, the arts, politics, and commerce of the cultures of the larger world. Each issue gives voice to Peace Corps Volunteers as they serve, to Returned Peace Corps Volunteers who are still dedicated to global service, and to everyone who wants to make the world a better place. Archives: Read back issues dating to 2008 online at Issuu.com. Downloadable! Friends of Morocco web site migration volunteers needed (Honorarium possible) Help Friends of Morocco migrate its low band-width but rich web site from its current server to the NPCA Association management SilkStart platform. The NPCA has made available their association management software program Silkstart to Friends of Morocco. Included is a website platform but to transition the content on the Friends of Morocco web site needs to be evaluated, validated, and supplemented. Our web site is a primarily a resources and links site managed in Dreamweaver and straight html. In the first stage no web skills are necessary to check links and discover new resources. Candidate pages would include any of the Souk content categories and sections of the Links page. Once content is current, we will need volunteers with some web design and management experience to transition to the Silkstart platform. If you would be willing and able to tackle a subset of the web site contact [email protected]. FOM would be able to pay a small negotiated honorarium. Peace Corps Morocco-related Blogs (active and moribund) Let us know about others [email protected] PCMorocco.org Blog Below are blogs from current and former volunteers who have asked to include them on the PCMorocco website. They are sorted by area of Morocco.. Volunteers in the North Hannah Boston (Staj 98): Hannah in Morocco Meredith Supinski & Stephen Sajewski (Staj 98): Joe and Jane in Morocco Jackie Bannon (Staj 99): Seek The Good Audrey Huetteman (Staj 99): Aud Lives Abroad Elizabeth Spencer (Staj 100): Wide Open Spaces Volunteers in the East Sarah Blakeney (Staj 98): Adventures with Sarah Kelly Parliament (Staj 98): The International Parliament Lea Philips (Staj 98): Transcending the Distance Matt Rogers (Staj 98): Matt in the Maghrib Christabel Lorenzo (Staj 99): Crreees Volunteers in the South Maddie Baker (Staj 99): Maddie Meets Morocco Ali Crain (Staj 98): alicrain 4 Renee Palecek (Staj 99): Renee, Around the World Sam Heffner (Staj 99): Not Your Average Walk In The Desert Volunteers in the West Julie Sherbill (Staj 98): We're all Shoes Adriana Curto (Staj 99): Adriana Jude Curto Volunteers in the Center اﻟﻤﻐﺮب Jesse Altman (Staj 98): Adventures in Shay Braxton (Staj 98): Shay Wanders Mathew Crichton (Staj 98): Morocco Adventures Will Burriss (Staj 98): Peace Corps Morocco with William Burriss Brad Janocha (Staj 99): Between Taxis Brad's counterpart, Chouaib Ait Said: Jethro Vlogs Jacob Laden-Guindon (Staj 100): Sensei Canada in Morocco Hamilton Turner (Returned PCV living in Morocco): Qhiwua Podcast Mathew Crichton (PCV 2016-2018): Morocco PCV Podcast Morocco That Was Peace Corps 1963 to 1972 Blog by David Brooks, Jim Erickson and friends Over 50 years ago, Peace Corps volunteers and staff arrived in Morocco. I created this blog to document their stories. The impetus behind its creation was the death of an old friend. Please consider the blog as an invitation to share your reflections on your own service and experiences. NEAR AND FAR Reflections on the United States and Morocco Blog by Bill Day Out of Sight Dragons episode seven Podcast. Sarah Presley, a visually impaired person and a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco in the mid-90s speaks about her experience in Morocco. 18:52 minutes To live is to fly: the quest for the perfect couscous. Blog by Small Business Development PCV in Taroudant Region (to 1/2010) Adventures of A Young Twentysomething. Blog by Elizabeth Whitton (to 11/2010) 27monthswithoutbaseball. (to 12/2008) AE female PCV in the Middle Atlas of Morocco (to 6/2011) Bri Weaves PCV 2007-2009 A Moroccan Journey: Joshua Cabell (to 3/2011) Life Called (to 7/2008) Live Peace Morocco (to 12/2007) Mia In Morocco (to 12/2008) Meg Goes Global: Read all about my adventures as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Souss of rural Morocco (to 6/2009) A Few Simple Adjustments: For family, friends and the curious. I've just returned from a stint as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ouarzazate, Morocco working with rural artisans. (to 9/2010) Kate's Blog Shukran, Maroc! Thank you, Morocco! On September 11, 2004 I (E. Bruce) began my 27-month adventure with the United States Peace Corps as a youth development volunteer in Morocco. This journal is public and is meant to be a record of my experience as a Peace Corps Volunteer. 5 Dorian Allyn blogs in Memoires of Morocco of her Peace Corps service 1994-96 Sam Werberg and Denise Mulligan (Fez 1996-2000) maintain a family web site which include photos from Morocco 1999-2000 and the return in 2003.