Report for July 2009

Literacy Class Celebration: Women enrolled in the Arabic literacy and language classes organized a party to mark the end of their school year. ( About 150 women are enrolled in various classes at the Legation totaling about 26 class hours. This program has established the Legation as a popular center for community activities, accessible to neighborhood women residents throughout the year)

A floral bouquet for the Director

                                           Gathering of Neighborhood Women

Three volunteer teachers of English from the American School of Tangier were also honored with a gift.

Arabic language teacher (left) and English language volunteer (right)

TALIM Assistant Director, Yhtimad Bouziane, who has supervised the Women’s Program activities for the last 10 years, received an acknowledgement of appreciation as well.

TALIM Assistant Director Yhtimad Bouziane (center)

Handicraft Exposition: Students enrolled in the handicraft classes that take place from September to June, organized an exposition of their work in July. Their classroom at the Legation was filled with their accomplishments-- from three dimensional paintings to embroidery. They were able to sell many of these items which provided added income to their families.

In a new initiative this year, TALIM Assistant Director Bouziane, organized weekly cooking classes in the main kitchen of the Legation. These classes have been highly popular, providing the participants with a marketable skill.

                                                                 Evidence of lessons learned

Summer Arabic Language Program: The Legation provided program assistance for the two month summer Arabic program at the American School of Tangier which is under the direction of Becky Schulthies, an accomplished Arabist and doctoral candidate. I arranged for Moroccan film maker Moumen Smihi to give a conference at the Legation for the 45 American students enrolled this year. He spoke about the challenges facing the serious film maker and, also, about the cosmopolitan quality of Islamic civilization that has been eroded overtime. (Moumen was the recipient of an AIMS grant in the 1990s and is the producer of many films including Matisse in Tangier much of which was filmed at the Legation) Mr. Smihi had the opportunity to meet Dr. William Granara, Professor of Arabic Language and Literature at Harvard University’s Center for Middle Easter Studies who attended the lecture. Dr. Granara came to Tangier to review the summer Arabic program

At the request of Becky Schulthies, TALIM Assistant Director Yhtimad Bouziane arranged family stays for three students enrolled in the summer program.

Research Activity: Two Maghribi scholars visited the Legation and received grants offered by the American Institute for Moroccan Studies under a program designed to encourage regional academic research. They were Tunisian academics, Naim Ghali and Fadhel Blibech. (The Legation is the representative of AIMS in Morocco. AIMS also has centers in Oran, Algeria and Tunis)

A number of scholars visited our Research Library during the month. Among the topics of interest were:

--Women’s health in rural Morocco
--Moroccan architecture and ecology
   --Berber Architecture
--Women in the economy and education
--Tourism in Morocco
--Moroccan-American connections in contemporary literature
--Islamic Spain;
--Islam and globalization

Binational Board Meeting: I attended a plenary meeting of the Moroccan-American Commission for Educational and Cultural Exchange (MACECE) in Rabat. (MACECE is composed of five Americans nominated by the American ambassador and five Moroccans chosen by the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation whose principal responsibility is the selection of Fulbright grantees to the U.S.) It was the final meeting for MACECE Executive Secretary, Daoud Casewit, who ends a 13 year tenure in that job. His successor is Dr. James Miller, president of the American Institute for Maghrib Studies (AIMS) who will take up his responsibilities in October.

Meeting with the Governor: As a member of the board of the Micro credit Foundation of the North, I joined my Moroccan colleagues in a meeting with the Wali (governor of Tangier northern region) to seek his advice about a growing default in repayment of micro credit loans now reaching nearly 25%.   Our Foundation has 2,500 active loans and has made 18,400 loans since its inception.

Visitors: The Legation hosted over 400 drop-in visitors plus 200 persons from a cruise ship. Professor Thomas Gage , professor at Humboldt State University visited with his wife and discussed with me opportunities for promoting writing exchanges between Moroccan and American students. (His Writing Project). Craig Karp, Counselor for Political Affairs at the American Embassy in Rabat, visited the Legation and at the end of the month Steven Ehrlinger, New York Times Bureau Chief in Paris.

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