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Volunteers' blog

Tuesday 22 March 2011

Volunteering with Education For All

I began volunteering with EFA on November 2009. (It seems like it was yesterday!)

When I arrived in Dar Asni I was surprised, the house is so pretty and the organisation directed by Latifa is really good. The girls and both Latifa were so nice. One week after it was so hard to leave them and go to Talat N’Yacoub.

The first days were really hard. I was in the middle of nowhere, the girls didn’t know yet each other, EFA wasn’t well-known by the locals so they were suspicious, the house wasn’t started...I really felt like I couldn’t do it. But I began to build relationship with the girls and I realized how much they needed somebody to help them...that motivates me to succeed.

Then Khadija the gorgeous house-mother arrived and I felt immediately comfortable with her. Together we made a huge work; first with the girls who feel now like sisters and have changed (in many ways), secondly in the house which became really nice and warm, and finally with the community around Talat N’Yacoub who knows us, respects us, encourages us and helps us with our project. And all this with the help of the committee of course, who is always present and helpful despite the distance. And I thank them for this and for the trust they gave me.

I’m really proud to be a part of this project when I see how the girls have evolved. They didn’t only improve their marks at school, they became more open-minded, independent and have a better understanding of life. They are conscious that education is the key to their individual and collective future. They are becoming real women, the women who will change Morocco.

Karima Targaoui