Clubs

Afternoons were spent in clubs. The students were split up into three groups and they switched clubs everyday. This made it easier on us volunteers because we only needed one lesson plan and could just improve that lesson as went through the week.

I helped out a couple other volunteers to lead a health club. The leader of the club talked about general health and the importance of eating balanced meals and not putting a quarter pound of sugar in your tea every time you make it. That part lasted about 20 minutes and then we brought out different fruits and veggies: Green Peppers, carrots, cucumbers, oranges, bananas, raisons, peanuts and toothpicks and we put the students to work building different sculptures. They did a great job and were more creative than I ever imagined them being. It was rewarding to see them getting into it and building things from little people/faces, to boats and cars to beach scenes etc.

Actually, the creativity and ability of the kids to entertain themselves for hours on end was amazing. They had drums with them at all times and were never short of a song or chant to keep things moving. From breakfast until bed time there seemed to be some sort of “camp sound track” being played. We went on a field trip one day to a place called Ait Benhaddou, where we had to hike around and they still had their drums and were singing the whole time. Other tourists stopped and stared, trying to figure out whom this musically inclined, group of youth was. That was probably one of my favorite parts of the experience, the ability of the children to break into song at any moment.