on planting seeds

me and the ifrane crew - the five other volunteers i work with in this region - just had our first major success. we successfully pulled off (with the help of various other moroccan organizations) an environmental education workshop for local teachers. the goal was to provide a two day workshop that stimulated discussion revolving around environmental concerns, help establish a curriculum for the teachers to utilize in our schools, as well as demonstrate some activities for them to adapt for their teaching situation. the first day was mostly lecture style and the second day was a field trip to put into practice some of the ideas we had discussed. each teacher then left with a packet full of materials to share with their students and utilize during EE activities. it was a big hit and we have a second workshop with 25 more teachers next month. in addition, my life has gotten incredibly busy overnight. we are starting an EE club in my village and i am starting to work in close conjunction with the teachers and head of the school. i also am having many meetings regarding starting a solid waste management program in my village, which has serious trash issues, but no way to deal with them. i helped out with a womens health workshop last month and will be initiating one with my local women, aided by the young girl who attended the workshop with me...sustainability is the goal here. even more exciting is that another volunteer and i are going to be leading a summer camp in august, focusing on environmental issues. there are camps all summer near this area, but none are solely environmental and usually the kids who attend are privileged kids from Rabat and Casablanca. this camp has an environmental theme, utilizes moroccan staff, and allows children from our small villages to go for a very small fee. so work is suddenly hopping and i am frantically trying to keep up with everything. but its so good...and strange. i have been here a year and now suddenly everything is falling into place - i keep reflecting in an attempt to see how i could have started everything earlier, but it resonates with this country and culture. it would seem strange to have had it happen any other way.