You Must Be The Change You Want To See In The World

Last week, I was walking down a street with a couple of boys who frequent the dar chebab (youth center) where I do most of my volunteering as a PCV. One of the boys had ripped up sheets of paper into tiny scraps. He began to let them go, so that they fluttered away in the wind. I asked him in Darija, that is, Moroccan Arabic, "Why are you doing that?" as I ran to pick up the scraps of paper.

When I rejoined them, the one who had dropped the pieces of paper asked me where he should put the scraps of paper he was holding. He motioned as if he should put them in his pocket. I told him that that was a good idea, and put the scraps I was holding into my own pockets.

In recalling this interaction, I am reminded of another instance in which I was picking up scraps of paper which had scattered in the wind here in my town. A few weeks ago, I was walking down a street. A motorized vehicle with a tarp tied over the sides and the top of the vehicle, but not over the back of it, passed me. As it passed me, numerous small sheets of paper flew out of the back of the vehicle. As I bent to pick up the pieces of paper, I saw that others were yet flying out of the vehicle.

Once I got further down the street, some young children, perhaps five, six and seven years old, saw me picking up the pieces of paper. They began to scurry around and pick up the pieces of paper and bring them to me.

Are those kids going to pick up litter, or things which end up becoming garbage, when I'm not doing so in front of them? I don't know. Ultimately they're responsible for their actions, just like I'm responsible for mine. I can, and should, model the behavior that I would like to see in the world. Otherwise I'll just end up complaining about what I don't like. Rather than actually doing something about it.