Although, Morocco has challenging aspects too. Poverty is an issue, like many other places. There are many people in Morocco who look at travelers and just see them as things to take advantage of for money. There are beggars, aggressive sales men, and people trying to give you directions just for money. The conservative nature of Morocco also makes foreign women traveling more susceptible to harassment from men because of the patriarchal power of countries like Morocco.
I also learned a lot about islam and being Muslim in Morocco. People of Islamic faith are not dangerous or scary like the media makes them out to be sometimes. The Islamic faith does not teach bad things. Some people who are Muslim use Islam as an excuse or weapon to make people do bad things out of corruption such as terrorists. But Islam teaching isn't inherently bad or much different than Christianity. Religion have more in common than different, they all teach love. Some people think their religion seem corrupt because they manipulate people to do bad things through religion. But this can happen with other religions and beliefs. A truth about religion that was made more clear to me is that most religions have a lot in common. They are all about love. I believe that there is truth in all religions. There is no one right and wrong belief or way to live. I like learning and being open to all possibilities. Diversity in beliefs, perspectives, and ways of living should not be feared, but should be used to grow, learn, and improve from. Being open to different ways of thinking and doing things makes you more creative and better at problem solving. Getting to know other people's beliefs, perspectives, and experiences also makes you a more compassionate person. Diversity makes our world more unique and interesting, It adds many opportunities for growth and improvement to become more well rounded. The universe is full of many wonders and mysteries, and I think not knowing all the answers makes life more interesting and worth living.
But the more I travel, the more I realize that there are kind and helpful people everywhere you go, all you have to do is open your eyes and heart to seek them out. You can find good people of all faiths, backgrounds, and nationalities. My faith in humanity grows every time I travel. For every person who came up to me and only saw me as a dollar sign, there were many others who came up to me who genuinely wanted to help out of the kindness of their hearts. For every guy who came up to me and said "I love you" and "Can I have your number or FB", who saw me as just a mysterious foreign woman to catcall, there were many other people who really wanted to get to know me and gave me genuine compliments such as "You seem like you have a kind heart and beautiful soul." I had strangers buy me water, offer me food, help me with my luggage in bus stations, give me directions or advice without asking for money, help serve me breakfast at a free hotel breakfast when she was a guest herself, and do many other random acts of kindness.
The most memorable random act of kindness was from the night I lost my phone on a taxi and was trying to make my way back at night to where I was staying, from a solo weekend adventure. A and her children came up to me and tried to help. At first, It was hard because neither she or her children spoke English, but then she found another girl who did. They went to the taxi station with me and tried to help me find my phone. They also let me use their phone to get the address of the place I was staying (since the address I had was on my lost phone). We wandered a bit before getting the address, as I tried to describe the school I was staying at. They took me to a couple of schools they thought it could be and talked to other people that they thought could help, until we finally got the address and made our way to the school. I had made my way to the school through out Larache before by myself, but it was a little more difficult at night. Things looked less familiar but I think I could have made it by myself. Maybe, I could have even made it by myself there a little quicker. We went a lot of ways I did not think were right, but they just wanted to make sure and did not want me to walk alone at night. I thought it was so kind of them to be so concerned about my safety that they did not want me to walk alone.
They thought other people would not be as helpful or would not be able to speak English to help me. I was so grateful for them. Even though that situation was unfortunate and I was disappointed in myself for losing my phone, It was the experience on this trip that gave me the most hope and faith in humanity.
I learned a lot through working with my kiddos who have autism and their mother's in my Workaway parent teaching project. Work away is a website resource that trades affordable/ free accommodation in exchange for all types of volunteer, all around the world. We are so lucky in the USA to have the resources and knowledge of autism that we have. In Morocco, the resources are expensive, non existent, or done poorly. There are some people who claim to be professionals but they do not know as much as they think, and end up doing more harm than good. This is also due to a lack of understanding of autism, that we tried to to have the resources and understanding improve with our program. The bad therapy, even made the parents not trust real therapist anymore or give up on trying. A lot of the kids that we had with autism were denied from schools, some even denied from therapy, because the children are thought to be too difficult to teach. The families were so happy to find our program, although some were skeptical at first. For many of the families we were the first to say their children were not to difficult, their children are capable of learning, and we love their children. It made them so happy to see other people love their children and believe that they have potential. Many of them have had lost hope. Some mothers had done everything for their child and did not teach their child anything because they were told time and time again, that their child was not capable of anything, by professionals, such as doctors and therapists. It made my day to see their face light up when they saw their child do things that they never thought were possible. Simple things such as seeing their child help their mother put on their own shirt, was so meaningful to them. Other children were able to communicate with their mothers through a picture exchange program for the first time effectively. Being able to communicate with their child made such a huge difference, now they can understand and connect with their child more clearly than ever before. They were also delighted to see challenging behaviors such as crying and running away decrease. It was amazing to give the parents the tools and resources they need to help their children learn, grow, and improve in the future, instead of feeling hopeless. They now have the power to help and teach their child. I am glad I helped make a difference in their lives!
The most memorable random act of kindness was from the night I lost my phone on a taxi and was trying to make my way back at night to where I was staying, from a solo weekend adventure. A and her children came up to me and tried to help. At first, It was hard because neither she or her children spoke English, but then she found another girl who did. They went to the taxi station with me and tried to help me find my phone. They also let me use their phone to get the address of the place I was staying (since the address I had was on my lost phone). We wandered a bit before getting the address, as I tried to describe the school I was staying at. They took me to a couple of schools they thought it could be and talked to other people that they thought could help, until we finally got the address and made our way to the school. I had made my way to the school through out Larache before by myself, but it was a little more difficult at night. Things looked less familiar but I think I could have made it by myself. Maybe, I could have even made it by myself there a little quicker. We went a lot of ways I did not think were right, but they just wanted to make sure and did not want me to walk alone at night. I thought it was so kind of them to be so concerned about my safety that they did not want me to walk alone.
They thought other people would not be as helpful or would not be able to speak English to help me. I was so grateful for them. Even though that situation was unfortunate and I was disappointed in myself for losing my phone, It was the experience on this trip that gave me the most hope and faith in humanity.I learned a lot through working with my kiddos who have autism and their mother's in my Workaway parent teaching project. Work away is a website resource that trades affordable/ free accommodation in exchange for all types of volunteer, all around the world. We are so lucky in the USA to have the resources and knowledge of autism that we have. In Morocco, the resources are expensive, non existent, or done poorly. There are some people who claim to be professionals but they do not know as much as they think, and end up doing more harm than good. This is also due to a lack of understanding of autism, that we tried to to have the resources and understanding improve with our program. The bad therapy, even made the parents not trust real therapist anymore or give up on trying. A lot of the kids that we had with autism were denied from schools, some even denied from therapy, because the children are thought to be too difficult to teach. The families were so happy to find our program, although some were skeptical at first. For many of the families we were the first to say their children were not to difficult, their children are capable of learning, and we love their children. It made them so happy to see other people love their children and believe that they have potential. Many of them have had lost hope. Some mothers had done everything for their child and did not teach their child anything because they were told time and time again, that their child was not capable of anything, by professionals, such as doctors and therapists. It made my day to see their face light up when they saw their child do things that they never thought were possible. Simple things such as seeing their child help their mother put on their own shirt, was so meaningful to them. Other children were able to communicate with their mothers through a picture exchange program for the first time effectively. Being able to communicate with their child made such a huge difference, now they can understand and connect with their child more clearly than ever before. They were also delighted to see challenging behaviors such as crying and running away decrease. It was amazing to give the parents the tools and resources they need to help their children learn, grow, and improve in the future, instead of feeling hopeless. They now have the power to help and teach their child. I am glad I helped make a difference in their lives!
I learned a lot from my volunteer group as well. We became a diverse family through out our trip. I got to learn about many different cultures of my group members such as England, Pakistan,Spain, Holland, Mexico, Hong Kong, and Germany. I am so thankful for Hanan for giving me this amazing opportunity! She is so awesome for all she does for children who have autism and their parents! She can understand the best, since she also has a child with autism. Our group had an amazing time together and hope to reunite one day in the future. I can't wait for many more adventures through Workaway, traveling while trying to make a difference.
I will end with a few of my favorite travel quotes by Anthony Bourdain:
"It seems that the more places I see and experience, the bigger I
realize the world to be. The more I become aware of, the more I realize
how relatively little I know of it, how many places I
have still to go, how much more there is to learn. Maybe that’s
enlightenment enough - to know that there is no final resting place of
the mind, no moment of smug clarity. Perhaps wisdom, at
least for me, means realizing how small I am, and unwise, and how
far I have yet to go."
"Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t
always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But
that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change
you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your
heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you
leave something good behind."
