Today is a day that I don’t want to forget so I am going to tell you about it. I woke up this morning and went to my neddy because I was told that we were having a big meeting today, on what I was not told. I waited outside with the girls from my neddy for about two hours while we waited for all the big shots of my town to show up. Once all the men came they had tea and chatted while the women, including myself, watched. I was so hungry and all the snacks looked so good. I got to experience what it is like to be a women in a developing country, did you know that 2/3 of the worlds impoverished are women. Most women in developing countries eat after the men and are given their leftovers. Today we weren’t even given the leftovers but as my friend Moira reminded me, that it is normal and I should have expected that. But, I was so hungry.
Anyways, enough about my hunger and onto the important part, the meeting was to get funding from the government for the neddy (young women’s cooperative). It was interesting to observe a formal meeting Moroccan style. In order for women to be given some kind of respect from men here they have to be obnoxiously aggressive and controlling. Hafida, the lady who runs the neddy always gets on my nerves because she is so demanding but I refuse to let her boss me around like she does to all the girls. Today I understood why she acts this way it is because this is how she is forced to act in order to get men’s attention and gain some sort of respect. After I realized this about Hafida I thought about all of the powerful women in my community and they all share this quality of control and power to an excessive level. All three of these women I don’t particularly like. The point here is not that powerful Moroccan women are annoying the point is that in order to be respected by men in Morocco you have to over assert yourself to be heard. Today I turned over a new leaf and decided that I now have respect for these three women because they are the ones that are going to create freedoms for normal Moroccan women who are scared or unwilling to go the extra step to have their voices heard. I am also proud to be an American woman where I am viewed to be as valuable as a man.
I haven’t had a moment to myself today, after the five hour meeting of watching men eat, three Frenchies came over to interview me. They happened to be in town today and they are journalism students in France taking a course on development and journalism. They are doing a project on Moroccan culture and they wanted to get my opinions. It was fun to pretend like I was an expert and an academic. It was really cool to because they seemed to be really impressed by what I had to say and what I am doing here. I needed a day like today to realize why I am in Morocco. Two of the Frenchies were Moroccan but grew up in France and their Moroccan families are from cities. I got to educate them on countryside Moroccans and how they are so different from each other and know so little about each other they might as well be from different counties. It is interesting that today I taught a Moroccan about Morocco. I also realized that one of my big jobs here is to just be here and be a strong women so the girls at my neddy can learn from me to stand up for themselves and be more independent. Maybe my influence will make it so one of my neddy girls sends her daughter to high school or university!
This week has had its ups and downs all of the projects that I am trying to work on have started giving me problems. For example, I am all ready to start teaching my tooth brushing lessons but I talked to the principle and he informed me that I need to get permission from the ministry of education before I can teach. I knew this already but asked the principle earlier in the year if I needed it and he said don’t worry about it. It is up to the principle if he wants to require me to have this permission or not, and my principle has unexpectedly changed his mind, huh. So tomorrow I am going to go and try for the third time to get this piece of permission. I just want to teach God damn it! Then I am also trying to do this video project and I am waiting on a cord that my brother Sachel sent to me four weeks ago, I am trying to stay positive that it will come but to be honest I am starting to worry; it will come. I just want to start doing projects God damn it! But the week ended with me learning some lessons and I know my projects will start soon enough. I also need to remember that my biggest project started the day I arrived in Morocco and that is just me being me.
This weekend I am going to a meeting near Marrakesh and I am super excited because I am going to get some ideas for my video project. I have also been in my site for three weeks straight and I need a break. People have been knocking on my door none stop today but all in all I love it here. As I am about to enter into my second year here in Morocco I am super excited because life here is finally starting to make sense.
Love you all,
Emmy
Come visit me!!!!!
