forty moroccan women, ten volunteers, one weekend, lots of brainstorming and discussions. the result was the Women’s Wellness Workshop. we had a great name, great ideas, and a lot of enthusiasm. but would that be enough to make the health weekend a reality? ten of us female volunteers decided to do a health workshop this spring, to do follow-up from the workshop that was held last year. but we wanted to make this bigger and better, involve more women and have a heap more organization. so after receiving generous gifts from home (thank you!), lots of communication between volunteers and moroccans, several organizational obstacles (including a transportation strike that required us to move the workshop dates on the day of the workshop), and a frenzy of activity a couple of days before the workshop, it actually happened!
the premise behind the workshop was to bring several women from various villages in morocco, and hold a short health workshop that pertains specifically to women. the topics included exercise (mostly yoga), and AIDS and STI discussion, illness and disease specific to women, healthy cooking, natural medicine and prevention, learning through art, massage and meditation, and sustainability. the sustainability, while maybe not the most important part of the workshop, is nonetheless essential to promoting the information we distributed. the women that came to the workshop are then expected to return home and plan a follow-up workshop for the women in their respective villages. so they prioritize the needs of the women in their region, and plan out activities that will benefit them the most. the sessions can take the form of informal tea talks or can be more scheduled, like the weekend that we provided for them. despite some setbacks, the weekend happened and an amazing group of women showed up to partake. it was organized well, everything ran smoothly for the most part, and most of the sessions were led by other moroccan women (some women trained in AIDS information, birth control methods, several nurses, etc) which is a much more effective means of transferring knowledge than if PCVs attempted to do it. it was one of the most gratifying things i have done here – to see women gaining knowledge that can help them and their families, to show them that they do have control over their own bodies in regards to STIs and family planning, to see them discussing the sessions long after they were done, and excited to go back home to share what they learned. it was so rewarding to see some immediate results, because that is so rare here.
some irony overshadowed the event however, and while it didn’t affect the workshop itself much, it was heartbreaking to see. a moroccan woman in sefrou worked so diligently with us to make the weekend happen. she arranged the host families for the participants, arranged the place for the workshop, catered a couscous meal for all the participants, donated many of her personal items to help facilitate different sessions, did translations, and was a key member in the transpiration of the workshop. she is a brilliant woman, speaks at least 5 languages, and is so personable and ready to help with anything you ask of her. however, she was unfortunately unable to participate in the workshop or help us with translations (a paid position) because of her husband. insecure in the fact that his wife is more educated then himself, and is capable of bringing money into the home just as he is, he forbid her to participate in anything that may enable her to gain more education – or help other women to gain knowledge. it was heart-wrenching to be empowering so many women while knowing that at the same time, the woman who helped to make it possible was trapped in her house with two small children and such limited freedom. she was distraught over not being able to help or participate, but too afraid of what her husband would do if she tried to attend the workshop. she desires to leave him, but depends on him financially because he won’t let her work – which leaves her no option if her children get sick or an accident occurs. so while the workshop was an amazing experience and so fulfilling, a small part of me was torn up seeing this capable, intelligent woman with so much potential forced into domesticity. it’s just one more example of the extremes and irony that surround us here every day. or maybe it’s like that everywhere, and just more obvious to me here since I am out of my element, always observing.
