Morocco 2012: A Recap

by Madiha Afzal, Morocco 2012 Faculty Director and Assistant Professor, School of Public Policy

 

I (and Assistant Director Erica Burdick) had the wonderful opportunity to take 19 University of Maryland students on a fantastic and intense 18-day study abroad course this winter term to Morocco (the fourth Morocco trip from the School of Public Policy) to learn about its political and social development. The students were predominantly from the School of Public Policy's MPP program, with two exceptions: a sophomore Journalism major from the College Park Scholars Public Leadership program and a Master’s student in Education Policy.

 

The course began in College Park towards the end of the fall semester, when students had to complete about 400 pages of readings on the political process in Morocco, especially the events of the last year, on Morocco’s economic development, on women’s issues, and on Amazigh (the marginalized indigenous people of Morocco) rights. On December 31, the students boarded a plane and landed in Morocco just in time to kick off the New Year. We were based in Rabat, where the students were paired with home-stay families in the Rabat Medina (old city) and our group was hosted at the AMIDEAST center (the site of all our lectures and group discussions).



The first week was filled with lectures by Moroccan scholars and activists on diverse topics ranging from Darija (Moroccan Arabic), Islam, the Arab spring in Morocco, the political process in Morocco, and on women and the family law. Our lectures in Rabat were punctuated nicely with a historic and academic tour of the Chellah, a gem of Roman and Muslim ruins, the Tour Hassan, and the Kasbah des Oudaias. We also heard from a World Bank officer about the Bank’s work in Morocco and had the distinct opportunity to visit the Royal Institute of Amazigh Studies.

The first weekend, we embarked on the first of two adventures: a road trip to the beautiful medieval city of Meknes, and onward to bustling, lively, historic and hectic Fez, where we had a wonderful academic architectural tour of the Medina and stayed for two nights. Then onward to Ain Leuh (a beautiful small town in the Middle Atlas Mountains) where we visited a women’s collective supported by a Peace Corps volunteer, and Toufstlt (a small Amazigh village), where we visited the village elementary school, befriended some schoolchildren, and stayed overnight with Amazigh families. The village stay was the highlight of the course for many. After returning to Rabat, we heard additional lectures on Amazigh rights and on illegal immigration, and had site visits to a Moroccan NGO working with migrants and immigrants, and to USAID, Parliament, and the King’s National Initiative for Human Development. Our second adventure on our final weekend in Morocco was a road trip to Marrakech through busy Casablanca, where we visited an association working with single mothers. Marrakech, where we stayed for two nights, is a city of many charms (and snake charmers!), and almost overrun by tourists. We visited a women’s collective in a small town outside the city. Back in Rabat for our final day, the students presented their paper topics and we concluded the trip with a wonderful Moroccan group dinner with traditional music and henna.



Each of the lecturers and site visits informed us and challenged what we thought we knew, and we challenged them right back with an abundance of thought-provoking questions. We had very frequent group discussions, which were animated, with a wide variety of viewpoints, and were always excellent. We learned that Morocco is a country where many identities and cultures co-exist peacefully, though not always in harmony: Amazigh, Arab, French. It is a country with a strong, intelligent, and deft monarchy, which is able to rule effectively with just the right degree of concessions to its people. Due in no small part to the leadership of the country, it appears to be moving in a different path from other nations which have encountered a violent Arab spring. Morocco just elected a moderate Islamist party (the Party for Justice and Development, the PJD) which many in the country have a ‘wait-and-see’ approach towards, and others are optimistic about, with one exception: women’s groups, who tend to be apprehensive if not downright negative about the PJD. Morocco is a middle income country with a great degree of inequality and a high level of youth unemployment.



We have returned from Rabat to Maryland enriched beyond measure, grateful for the welcome, hospitality, and kindness we received, and truly humbled by the breathtaking yet serene beauty of Morocco’s cities, mountains, valleys, villages, historic sites and old medinas.