Celebration Stories from Morocco for Peace Corps Day 1998

Volunteer: Erin Dolat
Years of service: 1996-1998
Place and location: Missour, where I served is 400 km east of Rabat, 90 km from a small city (Midelt), and 200 km from a large city (Fes).

One special day that is celebrated at Missour is a picnic at the site of a mausoleum. A respected man, Sidi Dowd, was burned a few hundred meters from my village. A small building has been constructed there and at various times, villagers visit his grave. Once a year a picnic is held. People from all over came by donkey or on foot for a day-long celebrations/commemoration of Sidi Dowd. Women make lots of couscous and families eat in the caves of a neighboring hill. Extra couscous is made to give to those who did not cook but still made the journey. It is like a picnic but with more sharing involved. This occasion is quite different than a typical picnic in the United States. People bring buta gas tanks, water, food, etc. I enjoyed this experience and look forward to it again next year.

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Volunteer: Sandra Vines
Years of service: 1996 - 1998
Place and location: Rabat, the Capital

During the first week in March, Moroccans all over the country celebrate Throne Day which is the day their king, Hassan II, was first recognized as the new official ruler of Morocco.

At first glimpse this holiday appears much like an American holiday because there were green and red lights everywhere in the streets which reminded me of Christmas. However, I soon realized that these were the national colors of Morocco. At night, there was a parade attended by almost the entire city of Rabat. Women, men and children were all lined along Avenue Mohammed waiting for the Royal Cavalry to appear. The sound of the beating of the drums in the distance reminded me of the homecoming parades in my hometown of Athens, Ohio.

The enthusiasm exhibited here was much greater than any I had ever seen for a football team. As the parade first appeared, children were scaling the wall of the post office to get better view, women began to yell yu, yu, yu! in lieu of
applause. Men in beautiful red uniforms with long capes and blue geometric shaped hats were riding pure bred Arabian horses. Others were carrying brass lanterns on a pole while those in the middle stopped to play their trumpets and drums in front of us. There were flags everywhere. People were cheering and pushing their way to the front, so much that the men on horseback could not move forward. For me this national celebration was another example of the solidarity and the passion of Moroccan people.

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Volunteer: Kerry Foley
Years of service: 1997-1999
Place and location: Beni Mellal, the site where I am serving, is about 300 km southeast of Rabat at the western base of the Middle Atlas Mountains.

During the summer I was invited to a Moroccan wedding in Salé, Morocco (a suburb of Rabat). A Moroccan family used henna to dye my hair and to make a beauftiful design on my hands. I was dressed in a long dress, with embroidery around the neck and a gold belt. The groom wore a western-style dark blue suit and the bride wore a similar outfit to mine, but in white with a crown of white and a veil. The wedding celebration had begun two days prior to the wedding day with a truck filled with presents parading down the streets of Salé. At the wedding party, which I attended, the groom walked into the dance hall while the bride was carried into the room on an intricately beaded platform by four groomsmen. She sat on the platform with delight and fear, or so it seemed. The band played Moroccan music from the late evening until the next morning. It was quite a remarkable experience.

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Volunteer: Amy Mawry
Years of service: 1997-1999
Place and location: The site where I am serving is El Jadida, Faculté des Lettres, Université Chouaib Doukkali, which is 90 km south of Casablanca on the Atlantic coast.

On Novenber 6, Moroccans celebrate a day in honor of the "Green March" or the movement of a group of people into Western Sahara. There has been some dispute as to what country could rightly claim western Sahara. Morocco's government, in order to claim this land, asked Moroccans to move into it and occupy it. Over 350,000 people went willingly, and the Western Sahara was claimed in part by Morocco.

This event is celebrated much as we celebrate Martin Luther King's birthday. People observe the event and its significance by closing shops and offices, and it affords many people the opportunity to travel to be with family and friends.

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Volunteer: Pauline Salser
Years of service: 1997-1999
Place and location: I am serving in Douar Amzough Takarkoust, about 52 km south of Marrakech.

I briefly visited a family celebrating a circumcision of their four and a half year old son. It was a much greater celebration for the extended family than for the little boy, but he did receive small gifts and a great amount of attention and love from each person that attended throughout the day. The only resemblance to a celebration in the United States might have been a birthday party that totally catches participation of adult males of a family.

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Volunteer: Erica Clark
Years of service: 1996-1998
Place and location: I am serving in Tazarte (Fig), which is 60 km northeast of Marrakech in the mountains and plains.

On Ashora, children go from house to house asking for 10 centimes pieces (like a penny). If you don't give them one, they can throw water on you, or use a squirt gun, etc. Usually mass water fights break out in the streets between everybody, adults and children alike. It is similar to Halloween in the "trick or treat" spirit of things. A super soaker water gun is our ultimate wish for the day -or a giant hose! It is a simultaneous water fight throughout all of Morocco.