Hi there! My name is Yvonne, I am a library worker in Bath, England. Before that I have done various jobs working with children of different ages such as preschool, after school clubs and school holiday playschemes. Having worked and studied since leaving school and college, I decided it was time to take a sabbatical. Because my main interests are in Arts & crafts and working with children I was searching for something connected to that; so I found the Moroccan Children’s Trust on the internet, contacted them, made an application and took it from there…Wow! I have arrived in Morocco at last…after all the planning, communication with the MCT volunteer coordinator, Oliver Roy and liaising with my employer to let me have time off; not to mention the fond farewells from family and friends….I travelled out with my husband so that we could spend a few days exploring the area and for him to help me ‘settle in’. We left a dreary and cold England but from the moment we stepped out of the airport we were greeted by the warmth of a North African evening and a very smiley and welcoming taxi driver who took us to our riad.
We enjoyed exploring the Atlantic coast between Essaouira and Agadir: walks along beaches, dunes and shopping in the souks. We got a very cheap bus tickets! A lovely MCT representative picked us up from Agadir bus station by this time we were fairly tired so we just sat in the car looking out at the roadside cafés and the mighty Atlas mountains in the distance feeling proud of myself and contented to have arrived when we drove through one of the 5 ‘babs’ (gates) through the city wall into Taroudant old city! We arrived at the big volunteer house where Oliver the volunteer coordinator was there to greet us with a friendly welcome.
Salam alikum! May peace be with you! This Arabic greeting is very descriptive of what life is about here in Taroudant it is a small city with a great sense of community. The friendliness and welcome that I have received since my arrival has been amazing! All the MCT workers made me feel like I am part of the family. My first 2 weeks here have been filled with lessons in classic Arabic, culture and Moroccan Darija which has been challenging but fun all taught by delightful teachers (and very patient with me!) Oliver has looked after me so well, taking me out to local cafés and juice bars and showing me around this fascinating city. The food that is cooked for us by a lovely Moroccan woman is very tasty! It’s great volunteering with MCT because I can combine my skills, have a good feeling about helping and also travel to a country that is full of surprises, exotic with an easy going attitude and a friendliness and warmth that matches the climate!
If you are feeling any doubts about coming to Taroudant to work with MCT, which I did…DON’T you won’t regret a moment of it I give you my girl scout’s promise!