Young people in Morocco are about 30 % of the entire population, but just a half of them are active in education or work. In this context, however brief and incomplete, Volunteering and Youth Work have the potential to be crucial issues and important ways to enhance the condition of youngsters.
I had experiences about this two worlds and the first one is actually my service. I personally think that the opportunity that Morocco has to take part in Erasmus+ programs is really important. Everywhere I've been I met people and almost every time I told my story. People where interested and surprised and I bet I left a little mark. Volunteering is a way to travel, to engage yourself socially, to meet new people, to educate yourself, to join your personal good and the society's one. Volunteering gives wide opportunity as a bridge from formal education to job. Volunteering is the best way to make the good of everyone, outside of market logic. Every initiative took to go in the direction of its improvement is fundamental to open the perspectives of the people. During my service, I saw closely a pair really interesting.
Remajec is a network of associations which I worked on during my service, subscribing candidatures to get funds from agencies like US AID. Their purpose is really smart, because it perfectly fits within the context of Morocco. Its aim is to organize the different associations on the territory to maximize their impact. Remajec is a mean to build partnership, to share different fields of action to create synergy between them. More over, it is a mean to exchange competencies and tools. In the end, these associations united together have the number to organize big projects with bigger european associations like “Solidarité laique”. In fact, together they organized a really interesting exchange between youth councils in Morocco and their colleagues in France. Bigger lights are more visible and can gather more people around the associative world.
Anaconda challenge is an opportunity to advertise volunteering world with an event and to make volunteers of different associations of Taroudant and surrounding areas meet. Another aim was to sponsor a healthy way of living. This year 15 teams faced each other in an athletic competition: an obstacle course, on the military style. From jumping over fire to climbing vertical nets, from swimming in mud to crazy bike rides, everything had to be completed in team, all together.
To sum up, it is difficult to motivate young people to participate in volunteering activities when it is already so hard to study and find a job, but luckily someone understood that this is also a way to form yourself and to create services. Volunteering gives you awareness about real people's need and competencies to act on them that slowly can become an important tool to build your future. Do what people need, and you will have and especially be what you need. Do not wait to be asked to do something, don't wait to be placed. Use your will to do what you think it is for the best, be a volunteer.
(Participants during Anaconda Challenge).
Luca
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