This past weekend, I went on a bicycle trek with a half dozen other PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers), a Moroccan counterpart of mine, who is a high school sports teacher, and a half dozen other Moroccans. We rode our bicycles to surrounding villages nearby my town to educate local community members and play sports with local youths. One other PCV, Hanna, was a Health PCV; one other PCV, Jeff, was a SBD (Small Business Development) PCV. Both of them speak Berber, which is helpful, as many people speak Berber in this region. The rest of us PCVs on the bike trek, Katy, Molly, Ben, Olivia and I, were YD (Youth Development) PCVs.
I should first note that my counterpart has done this bicycle trek multiple times in past years. So, I was working with the benefit of this event having previously happened.
However, I still wanted to make sure that certain logistics had been addressed. For example, in helping my counterpart plan this activity, I asked if there would be places to stop for water along the way. Since I found that there were not any businesses along the route, I accordingly told PCVs to bring along sufficient water and snacks for the ride.
We started out this past Saturday morning on our bicycles. Before we had gone a few hundred meters, the vast majority of the houses started to just be houses made of mud and straw. After a couple of kilometers, there were virtually no businesses, except for an occasional one where one could buy credit for one's cell phone. After a few kilometers from the start of the ride, we stopped in a douar (outlying village). The two PCVs who speak Berber did presentations on hand washing and toothbrushing to Moroccan kids who are probably three, four and five years old. These kids are so cute, and I was so glad that we were helping them given how impoverished they are, that I had to keep myself from starting to cry while those presentations were being done. In that village, the female PCVs, thus including the Health PCV, met with local women about women's health issues.
After eating lunch in that village, we continued on our bicycles. We rode for a good deal of the afternoon. Finally we arrived at our destination, a beautiful gorge near another village. We camped in the gorge. The next morning, after having breakfast in the gorge, we hiked back up out of the gorge to the village.
In the village, we played some sports with some of the local youths there, including playing frisbee. PCVs and Moroccans split the kids into groups, so we had a few different groups of kids doing different activities at the same time. At one point, my Moroccan counterpart sports teacher was playing volleyball with some kids, though without a net.
A little later, we had lunch in that village. After lunch, the female PCVs again met with local women to educate them about women's health issues. There is no hospital, or even a clinic, in either of these villages we visited, so it seemed helpful that the female PCVs conducted these women's health education sessions.
After these educational sessions, all of us on the bike trek rode our bicycles back to my town. I was happy that we got to help some people living a little further away from resources in the area.
I should first note that my counterpart has done this bicycle trek multiple times in past years. So, I was working with the benefit of this event having previously happened.
However, I still wanted to make sure that certain logistics had been addressed. For example, in helping my counterpart plan this activity, I asked if there would be places to stop for water along the way. Since I found that there were not any businesses along the route, I accordingly told PCVs to bring along sufficient water and snacks for the ride.
We started out this past Saturday morning on our bicycles. Before we had gone a few hundred meters, the vast majority of the houses started to just be houses made of mud and straw. After a couple of kilometers, there were virtually no businesses, except for an occasional one where one could buy credit for one's cell phone. After a few kilometers from the start of the ride, we stopped in a douar (outlying village). The two PCVs who speak Berber did presentations on hand washing and toothbrushing to Moroccan kids who are probably three, four and five years old. These kids are so cute, and I was so glad that we were helping them given how impoverished they are, that I had to keep myself from starting to cry while those presentations were being done. In that village, the female PCVs, thus including the Health PCV, met with local women about women's health issues.
After eating lunch in that village, we continued on our bicycles. We rode for a good deal of the afternoon. Finally we arrived at our destination, a beautiful gorge near another village. We camped in the gorge. The next morning, after having breakfast in the gorge, we hiked back up out of the gorge to the village.
In the village, we played some sports with some of the local youths there, including playing frisbee. PCVs and Moroccans split the kids into groups, so we had a few different groups of kids doing different activities at the same time. At one point, my Moroccan counterpart sports teacher was playing volleyball with some kids, though without a net.
A little later, we had lunch in that village. After lunch, the female PCVs again met with local women to educate them about women's health issues. There is no hospital, or even a clinic, in either of these villages we visited, so it seemed helpful that the female PCVs conducted these women's health education sessions.
After these educational sessions, all of us on the bike trek rode our bicycles back to my town. I was happy that we got to help some people living a little further away from resources in the area.
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