CAES Morocco: Leading Across Differences

Before coming to Morocco, my assumptions on Muslim countries were that gender roles are incredibly strict. My aunt, who has lived in Bangladesh for over 25 years now, has spent my lifetime explaining the culture and exposing my family to traditions and cultures outside of what we have in our everyday lives in America. In Bangladesh, she is not able to go out of her home without being accompanied by a man, and when she does go out, she is covered from head to toe. I always thought this was a forced thing upon women, as my Aunt is a non-Muslim in a Muslim country and is required to wear the traditional dress. Now I see just how wrong my assumptions were.  The women I have seen and spoken to, discuss the pride they have in their religion and culture. It is a sign of self-respect and respect to others to dress conservatively and to cover hair. I have noticed the level of sacred respect that the men (particularly the generation above my own) have for women. Of course there are outliers ...

    Sometimes I take the opportunities available to me for granted. Although I may wake up every Monday from September to May complaining about needing to make that morning’s first class, the fact of the matter is that my own ability to attend those classes is a gift unto itself. This has been a thought rattling around my brain for the past few months but it has especially come to mind as we’ve toured several of Morocco’s places of higher education on this trip (something I only have access to thanks to me being a student at UGA.) As we saw both sides of Morocco’s loosening education system, it was hard not to notice similarities in the differences between the fully public ENA and the semi-privatized model of AUI. One of the ENA graduate students that came with us to visit AUI would joke about how the students there were all “rich kids” because they could afford the cost of tuition in a country where public universities are tuition-free, a sentiment I myself held against...

      A common road trip game in my family is to count the number of churches we pass on the to our destination. There are 2 on my street back home, and many more just around the bend. In Morocco, however, I've noticed that religion does more than just exist on the side of the road; it infiltrates every aspect of life. The largest religious practice in country is Sunni Muslim, a subsect of Islam, with 99% percent of the population identifying as such (US Dept of State, 2022). Islam is similar to Christianity in many ways, such as the aspect of monotheism, or the belief in a singular God. In conversations with the ENA students, I also learned that Islam recognizes many of the same prophetic figures as Christianity, with examples including Adam (the first man) and Jesus. In the case of Jesus, the Islamic community views him as a man who spoke the word of God, rather than a son of. Another difference between Christianity and Islam is the strict adherence to practices an...

 Throughout my lifetime, I have always had access to a quality education and schools that put effort into learning. My family also encouraged my educational efforts sparingly, where I always had access to a tutor whenever I needed it. In fact, females always performed better in my district, whether that be on standardized tests for the county or classroom exams. Girls in my classes always seemed to have a larger desire to learn, and the statistics showed it.  It came as a shock to me to see that this is not the case in other countries, specifically Morocco. " In 2018, the adult literacy rate in Morocco was around  83 percent among men and 65 percent among women " (Statista Research Department, 2024). This disparity has been a historical trend, in which many decades been  have had more access to education. In Morocco, as in many parts of the world, cultural norms and socioeconomic disparities have historically conspired to limit opportunities for girls. Access to educ...

           When choosing what I wanted to study at UGA, I always knew that I wanted to study some form of biological science and complete the requirements to apply for medical school. I also knew that I wanted to add a minor to my studies that was completely unrelated to the field of STEM to help engage my non-science interests. As I scrolled through some of the minors offered, I came across ASL, or American Sign Language, and decided I would give it a try. I've always wanted to learn another language besides English, but have always struggled in learning verbal languages. So, why not try a language where I don't have to listen or speak? When I began my ASL 1 course, I was so glad that I had given it a try. Not only is the language itself so interesting and different, but learning about deaf culture opened my eyes to a whole new world existing right around me. One interesting thing I learned throughout my studies is that although they are listed under the A...

 

          As June has approached and brought the beginning of Pride Month back home in the States, I have been more aware of the fact that Morocco has an apparent lack of LGBTQ representation. I assumed it was related to the Islamic faith practiced by almost all citizens here, and when prompted for this post, I decided to look more into why this is.       After doing some research, I found that in Morocco, LGBTQ individuals face many challenges due to societal norms as well as legal restrictions. As reported by Santi (2019) in El País , homosexuality is illegal, which has resulted in widespread discrimination and violence against LGBTQ people. Many of them conceal their identities to avoid persecution, harassment, and imprisonment. If accused and prosecuted, individuals can face up to 3 to 5 years in prison and may face fines. In addition to these sanctions, before a trial has even occurred, anyone accused of participating in homosexual ...