EXPERIENCE IN MOROCCO from Milagros, August team 2017

We are all an important part of the world in which we live and the society, culture and country to which we belong. The hazards of destiny mark in some way the paths we take throughout our lives.
Luckily or unfortunately, we should debate it, I was lucky to develop my life in one of the countries considered the first world; which does not mean that it ignores the needs and problems of the less developed countries that, to a greater or lesser extent, are the result of economic and political powers carried out by governments without thinking about benefiting the majority of their population but interested in having them submitted as machines to produce money and resources for their own benefit.
That is why I decided to take sides and contribute my bit in this network. So now I belong to the 12-months Poverty Activist programme as a volunteer in CICD, with the aim of going to Africa to help alleviate the consequences of these poorly managed policies.
Among the many opportunities we have within the programme, one of them was travelling to Morocco for a week. It was a journey of research and study about its history, politics, lifestyles, customs, women's rights, etc. of the Arab world, in general, and of the Berber population, in particular.
I have to say that it was an amazing journey and it was like going back in time and living in first person as life was in the countries considered first world not long ago.

Morocco fantastic sky

The incredible dessert

Marocco streets

Its people, full of kindness, hospitality, humility, generosity ... I lack words to describe it, is the most important part of this trip. On the other hand, I was struck by a part of its economy as the stalls selling everything imaginable: clothes, live animals, gifts, food, woollen objects, leather, brass, silver, candles, paintings .. .
With this, we value the number of people who can contribute to family support with their little jobs, with the handicraft work of wool, leather, brass, which from these raw materials they transform into elements of daily use. That reminded me and saddened me thinking about the number of posts of work lost because of the industry and its machinery in the industrialised capitalist countries.
Another point that caught my attention was the use, still, of the donkey as a means of transport to move people, to carry objects from one place to another, to transport food, such as olives after harvesting; how to prepare their meals and how they organize to eat from the same dish, sharing that food with others if necessary ...
But there is a detail that really surprised me: they do not use toilet paper in the bathrooms.
In the end, all these details are what give meaning to life, a life more in contact with nature itself, a true relationship between the components of the community to which they belong, very different from the one we live in a large city, where we do not even know the neighbour who lives next to us.
With all this, what I want to emphasize is that, to enter the world of volunteering, to be able to live, feel, smell, share, collaborate and spend a period of our lives with people who do not live in a "welfare state" like ours. It is well worth it, as a life experience, as personal growth, to become aware that we are all part of the same world and with our contribution we can achieve a better world if we propose it.

“Let the children go to school “ – CICD travel-team investigating and helping in Malawi!

We are in the very last weeks of this 3 months travel, now we are headed to Zambia, our last destination where we will conclude the travel and finalize the Investigation.In the last two weeks we were in Malawi, more specifically in Ntchisi, a very rural area. We were making our investigation in different households and also helping the DAPP project called “Let the children go to school”.

This project focuses in the children attending school and does it in many different ways. One of the biggest problems in the primary schools is the drop out rate. There are many children that stop going to school for different reasons, one of the biggest and strongest reasons is the fact that most of the kids eat only once or twice a day.
Imagine that you are attending school from 7am to 12.30pm with nothing in your stomach since the 6pm of the day before… What will you think about while you are in school if not the 13pm meal?! How can you focus properly and have the energy to learn, to be in silence, to be in school?! Well, this is a huge reason for the dropout rate so what the project “let the children go to school” is trying to provide a porridge meal for the learners in the morning. But this cannot be done so easily - the community has to be involved. So what the Project does is to provide the community (usually the mothers of the children in school) with seeds and then they grow maize for example. They will then consume it and if there is more than needed they can even sell it. The community takes care of the fields and when the time comes it is the own mothers of the kids making the porridge for all the children in school. This has been proven to reduce the dropout rate and many children come back to school.

We were lucky to participate in the first day of the feeding project in one of the primary schools. We went there and the first thing the head teachers showed us was the fields of maize that they were so proud of and very thankful to DAPP. And then we saw the 2 community members making the porridge and we ended up helping to make it and serve it to the children. When we arrived the school was full of kids, super noisy and energetic and then suddenly after eating the porridge everything was calmer and ready to come back to class and learn.
The project itself also takes care of the installations of the school, helps to build up a classroom or playgrounds, what we also helped with was on the decoration of a classroom. The walls were white when we came in and when we left there were colorful shapes, numbers, music instruments, and the ABC and Chichewa language examples on the walls. In a few hours we made the classroom much more alive!

We also isited some other schools where we always went first to check out the garden farming and then look around the school . The teachers always asked for advice about how to make the primary school better.

These are some of the examples about our actions here in Malawi. During our investigation we could conclude that this area of Malawi is very, very poor. Access to water is not the easiest but it seems there is always one water pump “nearby”. Electricity is super rare and even the ones that can afford electricity cannot totally rely on it cause the blackouts are constant. People cook with charcoal most of the time. Women get married between the 18 and 22 years old and have their first kids around that age too and have an average of 5 children.
What we could see was that the families can usually only have lunch and dinner and no other meal can be provided.
The area where we were there is basically no industry, the families live of farming and live is hard for them, even though they always receive visitors with the warmest smile and by the end of a conversation they even ask us if we want to stay and eat nshima with them.
When we asked what makes them happy the answers are usually the same for all the families: having a good shelter ; good crops(which provide food on the table); clothing; children being able to go to school. Some woman are part of woman’s club but not so many and when the woman are asked “if you only had two children, a boy and a girl, and could only afford to send one to school which one would it be?” most of them answer they would send the girl and that proves that mentalities are changing cause in different conversations what the locals share with us is that usually in a situation like that it is the boys who are chosen to go to school.

The reality of the rural areas is a tough one, the life style is hard and there is a lot of poverty… even though Malawians are extremely friendly and in a time of need they will come and help.
I will conclude withwhat happened to us a few days ago:
We woke up at 4am, we had a bus at 7.30 and some hours driving till the city where we had to catch the bus. It was raining all night and at 4.30 we were leaving the house. The road was muddy and the car after few meters got stuck on the mud. We were 5 pushing the car but it did not move an inch. We tried and tried and tried and nothing. One of us when to get help and after 15 minutes there we 4 men coming to help us pushing the car. Even though it was not easy, we had to spend some time filling the holes on the road with stones and there were2 or 3 people who were going to the fields and stopped to help us filling the up the holes with stones. Then it was the last big push and by then we were 9 people pushing the car and we finally managed to arrive to a “normal road”. It was extremely early in the morning and people just see the situation and think “if it was me I would need help” and they go and help with no questions. Was thanks to the people’s kindness we arrived on time to our bus!
Malawi – “the warm heart of Africa” as they say!

Mel 12.2.2017

Few weeks ago, during our travel period, I faced difficulties which potentially could mean a disaster, but because of a huge support from my school, my colleagues and African people, everything resulted into just a bit spicy trip. I'd love to share this story with you.

Everything begun with a stupid stupid idea in Namibia. We have traveled from Johannesburg, South Africa, by bus to Windhoek, Namibia.
By my birth outside the EU, I happen to have two nationalities, Czech and Russian, and I decided to use my Czech passport in South Africa, then switch to Russian passport in Namibia (Russians don't need visa in Namibia), and then switch back to Czech for the rest of the countries.
At least, that was the idea! :-)

The Namibian border officer wondered about the idea for a while, but – because of the late hour – didn't want to bother himself too much and let me through.
Same happened on the border to Botswana, people there are pretty much "Hakuna Matata" and don't trouble you unless you do something really unlawful.

The difficulties begun when we were about to cross South Africa again, to get to Mozambique.
South African officer didn't let me in with my Russian passport (visa needed), nor could I use my Czech ID, as I cannot magically appear on the border out of nowhere.
What now? – The whole team was halt on the border because of me.

After all, we decided to go back to Botswana and figure out what our possibilities are.
I couldn't apply for a South African visa in Botswana – I needed to apply in my own country – and I couldn't fly to Mozambique, as all the airlines from Gaborone go through Johannesburg.
The only realistic option was, while the rest of the team goes to Mozambique through South Africa, I take a bus to Harare, Zimbabwe, and try to deal with the situation from there.
The plan was agreed with the school and next day early morning we split – I went up to Harare and the team headed down to Johannesburg.

Or – at least it was the plan! :-D
On the station I discovered that the bus can only take me to Bulawayo, half way from Harare.
Oh well, thought I, we will improvise when I get there, so Let's go!

Day went by, as 6 hours later we approached Botswana's exit-border, this time at the north.
A lot of people went cross-country during that Christmas time, so we delayed on the border for 2 and a half hour.
Yet then I faced a real challenge – due to Advent time, all the banks, exchange offices and ATM's were hopelessly empty of USD cash, people were waiting in enormous queues from 4:00am in the morning, and after 4 hours of waiting they could only hear from a bank clerk: We have no cash!
In Zimbabwe, US-dollar is used as currency and I needed it to get visa, to pass through!

That's when the true heart of African people showed up!
A lady in the bus, who I was speaking with, lent me a 100 dollars, even without knowing that I have anything to re-pay with!
The border to Zimbabwe itself was the best I ever encountered – no glass barriers separated you from happy, smiling officers, serious about the laws, but full of jokes about the work.

Despite the fortune and blessed people across the border, our bus had a big delay and we arrived to Bulawayo at 9:45pm at the evening.
All the big buses to Harare were gone; I had no idea of the local routes and most of all, I had no local money, as I gave the rest of the dollars (with some pounds) back to the lady.
Even my phone didn't have roaming in Zim, I was all on my own…

Yet once again I could trust my being to African people!
Another lady from the bus happened to travel just right away to Harare, as I needed.
She called us a taxi, found the route of local buses and even paid my ticket to Harare!

That night I spent at the back seat of the local bus, squeezed between my new friend – she being of true African shapes – and a skinny boy, whose girlfriend slept on our laps.
But never had I felt myself so safe, as when with those friendly and humble people travelling across the country…

We arrived to Harare at 4:00am in the morning.
(That's where I saw those enormous queues in front of the banks, growing to huge sizes even at that early hour.)
My friend stayed with me all the time, to make sure that I get safely to the headquarters of DAPP Zimbabwe – the partner of our school and my contact in Harare.
As my phone still didn't work, she called us a taxi and helped me to get the directions, as I was a bit lost in the 4am-morning accent of the DAPP lady! :-D
She even accompanied me right to the gates of the headquarters, where we parted as good friends.

The following morning me, and now my colleagues, coped with the next challenge – Harare was only the half-way, as my destination was Maputo.
The original plan – to cross the border to Chimoio in Mozambique and then take a bus all the way down to Maputo – wasn't safe at all, due to increased civil conflicts in the land.
After a few skype-calls with my school and coordination with ADPP Mozambique, was agreed that I take an airplane from Harare, directly to Maputo, where I also managed to switch my hell-lucked passports back to the Czech one…

Day and a half later I was united with my team.
Happy to be at the end of my tense trip.
Grateful for the professionality of my colleagues and the warm-hearted nature of African people.
And – after all – ready for the next adventures! :-D

Article by Pavel Kostelei, 24-months FWTP Team February 2016

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