Scolar support in Casablanca, Sidi Bernoussi

This project is the result of a partnership of CSM with the Ministry of youth and with other non-for-profit organizations dealing with children with less opportunities.

The aim of this project is to contribute to the education of children with less opportunity. Some of them don't have the chance to learn languages, sometimes because the classrooms are too crowded to deliver a good services, sometimes because the teachers in public schools cannot teach languages properly, as the education level was low, specially english. Also, is the students want private lessons in summer to reinforce their competences, they would have to pay a high price that the parents cannot afford in most of the cases. Volunteers coming from abroad are the best option to deliver a free service for these children and at the same time for them to get a good international experience.

This workcamp consists at the reinforcement of languages capacities of children and young with few opportunities. In this operation we will try to gather both Moroccan and International volunteers to profit the occasion to make emphasis in the intercultural exchange.

The volunteers will work five days each week and get two free days, it can be the weekend or other days, this will depend on the work plan. They will teach one or two of the languages (English – French). All the volunteers will work for hours each day in the morning. Some extra activities will be organized by the association like animation with children.

Casablanca, in Arabic Dar El Baida, is the biggest city in Morocco and actually in Magheb region. Is the economic and business center in Morocco. Casablanca is one of the most important ones in Africa, demographically and economically, being one of the largest financial centers in the continent.

Its port is one of the largest artificial ports in the world and the primary naval base of the Moroccan Navy.

Completed in 1993 after many years in construction, the Hassan II Mosque is among Africa's largest, with one of the world's tallest minarets to boot. Thanks to its location on the waterfront, and the laser atop the minaret that beams toward Mecca, it’s one of Morocco's most striking buildings. It’s also one of the only mosques that permits non-Muslim visitors into its halls.

Casablanca’s central market is small and manageable. White-walled stalls with green clay tile roofs dotted with foliage make for all the Instagrammable backgrounds you’ll ever need. Vendors sell produce, nuts and dates and, in one stand, argan oil, the traditional Moroccan elixir for most everything. Linger long enough and eventually you will see the vendors line up for the call to prayer, and then join them in a quick tagine lunch, served at outdoor tables.

The Aïn-Diab coast, the seaside annex of the city, is the traditional spot for inhabitants of Casablanca going out for the evening, especially at weekends. Trendy restaurants and popular pubs abound along the seafront. Some of these establishments, with or without seawater swimming pools, are there since the thirties, like an unusual restaurant built on piles.

If the volunteer has some pedagogical skills, that will give some extra quality to the project, although they are not required to have any previous experience. We are looking for enthusiastic, positive and respectful people, who are willing to work close with people from other nationalities to learn new skills and develop new relationships in ways that they choose and at a pace they feel comfortable with. Patience and reliability are basic skills to work with children.

Youth center of Sidi El Bernoussi  

Ain sbaa train station. A big number of airports have international flights to Casablanca. If you happen to fly to any other city, you will have trains very often, and you can check them online in ONCF website:

http://www.oncf.ma/Pages/Accueil.aspx

You can also get a bus very easily, transports to Casablanca run very often because is the bigges city in Morocco, but not all bus companies have website. The most popular and efficient is CTM: http://www.ctm.ma/

You can easily catch a train to Ain Sbaa  train station. It costs around  3 euro and half . You can only in local currency so please don’t forget to change money inside the airtport  Check the time table and prices of tickets here. You can also take a taxi direct to Casablanca it will cost 20 or 30 euro. The info sheet will be send 3 weeks before the project starts.

Volunteers will be accommodated in a host family. We need to highlight a couple of things that might be a bit difficult for the volunteers, given the past experiences with them. In Morocco, is rare to find the toilets that they are used to have in Europe. In this country, the toilet is normally a typical turkish bath.

International volunteers can also ask the national ones to take them to hammam, the public baths. Its a nice experience that they will enjoy, while relaxing and enjoying the hot water and the steam, good for the skin.