Wonder Women: Girls Finding Secondary Education in Morocco

The echoed singing through the minaret softly enters your ears, and you rub your eyes to adjust to the faint light.  You lay in bed in the dark, the call to prayer continues as an alarm clock for the village.  With out the capability of a snooze button, you comply, getting up, reaching for your headscarf, your feet finding warmth from your cold floor onto your prayer rug, facing Mecca as you begin Fajr, your morning prayers.

As the sun begins to pierce through the windows, the cool mountain air in your room is warmed by the early morning light.  You dip your flatbread in Argan oil at breakfast, quickly drinking your hot tea, grabbing your small bag and backpack you say goodbye to your family and leave for school.  But instead of walking out the door and waiting at your driveway for the school bus, like most American children, you begin your weekly 10 kilometer journey down the small dirt road towards the main road at the edge of town.  Once you arrive to the paved road, you wait for a Grand Taxi to come pick you up.  These are group rides that are collective cabs, very common in Morocco and an essential way to get around as a mode of public transit in the Atlas Mountain region.

You climb into your taxi, paying a few dirham for the hour, or for some two hour ride to Asni.  Once you arrive in Asni, you walk from the taxi drop off a few blocks to school and after your long morning commute, your day has JUST now begun.  And the day, is far from over.  You have classes in the morning, then head back to the boarding house for afternoon prayer and lunch, then back to class again.  Once school is over, you walk back to the boarding house, pray, have dinner and then study late into the evening.  You pray a fifth time before bed and then go to sleep, repeating the cycle all over again in the morning.  This is a typical day for a rural high school aged girl in Morocco, working hard for her education is an understatement.

Education In Morocco 

To really understand how difficult it is to be a teenage girl in Morocco, you need to know a little more about the education system.  There is primary and secondary school for children ages 6-15 and it is free and compulsory, run by the Ministry of Education.  While the attendance rate for primary school is relatively high, the rate of attendance for secondary and higher education is less than half.  Out of those who can actually continue on to high school or university, the percentage of those students who live in rural areas is even lower and if you are female you are one of few.  In rural areas of Morocco, girls are encouraged to stay home to help with household chores, join a cooperative or work on a family farm.  Secondary schools are located in larger towns, some 50 or 70 kilometers from their villages, making attendance nearly impossible for these girls who are eager to learn.

Along with accessibility, Illiteracy is another consistent problem in the education system.  Because only 10% of Moroccan women continue on to higher education, many of the older generation of Moroccan women are illiterate, but this number is steadily decreasing.  Most of the girls at our house had only one parent who knows how to read, usually the father.  When asked about what books were in their home, most have the Koran and maybe a handful of other books, mainly religious in nature.  In places like the Atlas Mountains, having a large family library would be a luxury.

About half the population continues to secondary education but it is far less in rural areas and the drop out rate is high.  They learn through either a general or vocation track, and mostly Arabic is the main language in classes, however French is widely used as well.  While I was there, talk of switching to a full French curriculum was being suggested.  Because a lot of the smaller villages in the region speak Berber and Arabic, the girls are often behind when they enter the secondary school in Asni in their language courses.  This makes supplementary learning through volunteers and a structured group housing a perfect addition to the lacking program.  Education for All is a non profit organization that is building and running boarding homes for rural girls to have a place for them to learn and grow.

Education for All (EFA) offers room and board to girls who may otherwise not have the means to access secondary education in Asni.  They come from poor families, far away villages and they are commitment to their studies is unwavering.  EFA is changing the conversation about education in Morocco, challenging the standards in patriarchal society one bright girl at a time.

Moroccan Teenagers; they’re just like us 

I was curious about living with 40 teenagers, let alone 40 teenagers who aren’t American.  I was quickly and warmly welcomed and although me being an english speaking, white western women living in a house full of North African, muslim girls, we had so many things in common.  We all loved singing and dancing, in our free time the girls would ask to use the computer to put on You Tube videos and practice dance routines.  We are all afraid of failure, Selma and Rihab both had a track meet where they were running a 5k race and were nervous to loose.  Rihab returned proudly the next day winning the race.

We did yoga in the mornings on the rooftop terrace, we studied for exams in the evenings after dinner and my last night in Asni we made pizzas and had a big celebration for the end of the term and for my time living with the group.  Saida sang a beautiful song, Khadija, one of the quieter girls of the group let her personality shine on the dance floor.

It was rewarding to see the potential lived in one small space on this planet and inspiring to be certain that this group of girls would become women and go on to do great things.

Fatima was the first girl to go to secondary school in her village.  Now, there are several other girls who have followed her lead and are also attending classes in Asni.  This idea to keep learning and an opportunity to have the chance to continue your education can be contagious, encouraging others to better themselves through example.

Each girl has a story, some travel far distances, others have lost their parents or come from very impoverished families.  Some girls have just started learning English, others want to become teachers.  I had a chance to interview each of the girls in my house and every one of them said they plan on working or continuing their education when they complete their studies, and they all expressed how grateful they are for Education for All.

Laughter is often heard throughout our hallways at the EFA boarding house.  Music is playing or small groups are having conversations about physics, the environment, philosophy or helping each other with a math problem before a test.  Girls are practicing English upstairs on the roof deck while others sit around a table and brush up on their Islamic studies.  Solidarity, friendship, trust, love, laughter dedication and support are palpable here.  On Saturday mornings, everyone pitches in to complete final chores before leaving for the weekend to go back to their families.  They sign out at Aicha’s desk and take their phones back from her locked cabinet and head out the door towards home.  My last Saturday with the girls was an emotional one.  I said my farewells to all of the girls, we all cried and hugged and I promised to return to see them again before they graduate for University.  I never imagined that volunteering in Morocco would allow me to gain and grow such friendships.

After everyone leaves, it’s just Aicha and I in the house, we gather up our things and get ready to lock up for their end of year break.  The house falls quiet without the girls, without its heart.

Education for All & Volunteering In Morocco 

Education for All may be based in the UK but the soul of the project lies within the hearts and minds of the women who run the program and the girls who have the opportunity to attend.  Volunteering in Morocco, I was blown away on a daily basis by EFA and its operations.  The camaraderie, the intellect, the passion and the dedication the house mothers, cooks and girls all have for each other and for the mission is inspiring.  The house mothers are like second moms to these girls, giving them support in a home away from home.  One evening, a brother of one of the girls was knocking on the door.  Their mother had hurt her hand working on their property and had to be driven to the hospital in Marrakech, an hour away.  The girl was clearly upset, crying and hugging her mother as she whispered in her daughters ear that all would be ok.  Aicha, our fearless house mother, took them both in her arms and reassured them it would be ok, a sense of relief in the mothers eyes and trust in the girls.  For everyone involved, Aicha is so much more than a care giver, she is part of this ever growing family of women.

Because of the distance from the schools in Asni, without these boarding homes that Education for All provides, these girls would not be able to go to school.  EFA began 10 years ago with a dozen and one apartment and now has flourished into a successful program with over 200 girls and five houses.  They provide a living space for the girls while simultaneously inserting change in their community and contribute to the local economy.  With our house consuming over 100 little loaves of bread a day, I joked that we single handedly kept the baker on our street employed!

Education for All is an organization that is looking at young women as an agent of change.  Putting your time, donations, energy and love towards educating the future generation is an investment that has the potential impact far greater than one.  Volunteering for EFA is a wonderful way to contribute towards the girls education.  There is an application and interview process to make sure you are a good fit for the position.  Since it is living and working in the girls boarding houses, it is a female only volunteer opportunity, making it a special project.  There is nothing more powerful than getting a group of strong willed women together!  The position is a three month minimum, which after living and working with the girls I think is essential to ensure that you can have the time to get to know everyone and make the most positive influence you can.  A basic knowledge of French is really helpful and if you are fluent in French, that would be ideal.  The girls are all mostly multilingual, knowing Berber, Arabic, French and learning English.  By the end of the first week some of the girls found out I knew a little Spanish and even with all of their studying they wanted to learn ANOTHER language so we practiced basic Spanish in the evenings after dinner, showing how Spanish and French are connected as romance languages.  Their desire to learn was one of the many impressive things I learned from these girls!  Get involved with EFA and see how you can give monetarily or donate your time.