Monday, June 15, 2009

A Dream Come True

On the outskirts of Larache, there lies a village, which is poor and abandoned. Rakada, hidden and forgotten behind a simple dirt path, is located some 7 miles from Larache. . Only 200 meters separates the village from the Atlantic ocean and this place is a jumping off point for drugs on their way to Spain and illegal immigrants that dream of making to the Spanish coasts. For young people, to be born here means to grow up in a world where life is difficult and few will be able to ever escape the harsh reality of life here. As for the girls, many will never have the opportunity to study more than the first six years of elementary school. Here there are no middle or high schools and the only option to continue would be to travel to Larache, 10 km from Rakada. For many of the parents the city is a dangerous world and they prefer that their daughter stays in the house to help the family instead of sending her off, away from the watchful eye of her brothers, cousins, etc. For the boys, if they don't get involved with the drug mafias they will pass an adolescence trapped inside of a dark world where there are plenty of drugs everywhere but there are no job opportunities. Frustrated, weak, and defeated by the village life and the routine of a drug addict they will pass their days dreaming of an easier life in the city or in Spain. When we think of international aid, when we think of the people that need us more than anyone, they are places like this, like Rakada, that ask for whatever little help we can offer. The truth is that there are thousands Rakadas in Morocco and thousands and thousands of children who will have to grow up in an environment like this one. With confidence in our ability to make an impact, the help of TS-CPLP, individuals in Spain, and local associations we came together to plan an activity of animation to bring a little bit of light, joy, and education to the children of Rakada. Our instructor and friend in the course, Seloua, is a teacher here and she took care of the huge task of facilitating for us access to the school and the community. For a week the students in the course, besides their normal responsibilities, worked to prepare the activity. Come now, with us and discover the beauty of the work that these socio-cultural monitors do and the things that are possible with a little bit of money, a voluntary spirit that has no end, and a group of children that need to laugh, paint, create things, and feel good about themselves and the world that they live in.
Before Getting Started There Was Some Prep Work To Get Done
Everybody Participated

9:00-10:00
10:30-11:30 Our Monitors Warm Up The Crowd

They themselves didn't hesitate to demonstrate their artistic talent.
It Seems That For Every Part of the World There is a Rap Star...

And at 11:30 we could get started with the workshops
Arts and Crafts
Workshop on Raising Awareness of Recycling and the Environment
Two Parts
1)Collect Trash Around the School Zone and Raise Awareness Amongst the Students About the Importance of Respecting the Environment
Art Workshop
The Grand Finale...Our Lovable Clowns Haninu and Fininu
Everybody is Loving the Performance
The children said that it was not only the first time that someone had come from outside to do something for the public but for many of the children it was the first time in their life that they had seen a clown!
Thanks to everyone who made this idea a reality. On this day, 120 children had the opportunity to have fun, play, and feel good.
¡¡¡Chukran!!!