Friends of Morocco: Virtual Magazine: Peace Corps in Morocco

Becoming a Peace Corps Volunteer
by David Lepeska on 25 July 2008
Vincent Wickes has been recruiting Peace Corps volunteers in and around New York City for so long he's got it down to a science of sorts. "The question is, will they make a good volunteer? Not, where should they be placed?" he said. "We look for the scarce skills, the hardest skills to find in recruitment efforts, because we know we're going to get a lot of applicants with general skills." That's good, too, because the New York native likely has a lot of hiring ahead of him - Peace Corps supporters and prominent politicians are hoping to double the number of volunteers within the next couple years.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
By David Lepeska on 25 July 2008
Mary Owen admits to being a bit Jekyll and Hyde about the Peace Corps. "It's a very good ambassador program," the former volunteer said, dubbing the Peace Corps "the best program at widening the minds of Americans." But that might not be enough. "I think we all want it to do more," she added. "But what is more?"

On First Overseas Visit, New Peace Corps Director Welcomed by Moroccans and Volunteers
WASHINGTON, D.C., November 15, 2006 – Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter traveled to the Kingdom of Morocco from November 9-13 — his first official trip — to meet with Peace Corps Volunteers and government officials. Tschetter, the 17th director of the Peace Corps, was a Peace Corps Volunteer in India from 1966-68 with his wife, Nancy, who accompanied him in Morocco.

Shortly after his arrival in Morocco, Director Tschetter met with Peace Corps Volunteers serving in a variety of programs in the four sectors of environment, youth development, health, and small business development. MORE

You could call Paul Negley an adventurer. After his 1998 graduation from Handley High School, Negley decided to backpack alone across Europe and was gone from August to December. You could call Negley an achiever. When he returned from his cross-continental trek, Negley entered Lord Fairfax Community College, with the goal of making his way into the College of William and Mary. He earned a grade point average of 4.0 and did. Or, you could call Negley a humanitarian. With his college degree in government and philosophy, Negley entered the Peace Corps. Today posted in Morocco, Negley lives in a dirt-floor hut and works against the spread of AIDS in Africa.

The Hajj and I generally keep our conversations limited to topics of health and weather because of either his disinterest or my poor Arabic. He may, on rare occasion, ask me if I worked that day, to which any response brings an "llyawn." May God help you in your task. So it was of considerable surprise the day he asked me to teach him how to use the Internet. I couldn't imagine that the Hajj, the grandfather of my hosting family, would have much use or much interest in the Internet. He has, on more than one occasion, seen me answering e-mail and asked me why there was no sound coming out of my "special television."

"No," he replied. "But my wife is dead, and I know if you know how to use the Internet, you can marry a foreign bride."

United States Ambassador to Morocco Thomas T. Riley attended the ceremony and addressed the volunteers and their host families. Morocco’s Peace Corps Director Bruce J. Cohen presided over the ceremony and expressed his appreciation for the support of Ouarzazate’s Governor, Ahmed Merghich, who also participated in the event.

The new Peace Corps volunteers have completed 11 weeks of intensive training in the Berber language dialects of Tashelhit and Tamazight, in Arabic, and in cross-cultural communications skills. They also received technical training. These new volunteers will work for two years in the sectors of health and environment in predominantly rural Moroccan communities.

In the health sector, the volunteers’ objective will be to increase sanitation and safe water supplies in rural areas. Environmental volunteers are stationed in Morocco’s national parks and ecological reserves with the dual goal of making these areas user-friendly for eco-tourism while increasing environmental awareness among local community members. A second group of volunteers, who will work in the areas of youth development and small business development, will arrive for training in Morocco this fall.

Volunteers reentered Morocco earlier this year based on the successful 42-year history of the program as well as the Moroccan people and government’s strong support of the Peace Corps in the country. Morocco is one of five predominately Muslim countries that the Peace Corps either entered or reentered since 2003. Currently, 20 percent of Peace Corps volunteers serve in predominately Muslim countries.

Since 1962, more than 4,000 Peace Corps volunteers have worked in Morocco in education, environment, health, and small business development. Volunteers in Morocco have completed projects ranging from designing English curricula to working with artisan groups on income generating projects to helping address water quality and sanitation concerns.

Friends of Morocco Virtual Magazine of Morocco on the Web

Friends of Morocco
Virtual Magazine of Morocco on the Web