Author Archives: Richard Reilly

Sharing Important Moments

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While shopping today, I ran into a older married couple that is serving in this wonderful beach-side city.  They informed me that their son just became a father a few hours ago.  It only took me a couple questions to realize that I was talking to newly-minted grandparents.  This was their grandchild.  If it weren’t for them telling me, I’m sure I could have guessed by the eternal grin on their faces.  I wonder if that grin ever really fades.

For today’s 50-Day Memory Challenge, I took a memory I wrote last year and completely rewrote it.  It is about the Inauguration of Barack Obama.

Day Two: Inauguration Day 2009

Getting Back to Writing with a Memory Challenge

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Now that this blog is back to being a writing blog rather than a Peace Corp Writer’s blog, it is time to embark on a new project.  After much contemplation, I decided to restart the 50-Day Memory challenge.  I tried to do this last year, but broke a lot of the rules and stopped far short of the goal.  If all goes well, I should be done with this project in early October.  I hope you enjoy.

The 50-Day Memory Challenge

An Email Chain

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I have started to severely fall behind on my blogging.  This is not due to laziness.  Actually, I have tried to write updates several times.  Every time that I start to write, however, i censure myself.  On this blog, my supervisors and fellow Moroccans are able to read what I am writing.  As a result, most of my real updates are now going to be done through Email.  If you want to be included in my email list, just send me a message or leave your email in the comments.

Thank you =)

I will continue to update with writing material here once I have enough time to type up all the things I have written.

Working with Special Needs in a Developing Country

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI am coming to the end of a ten day camp in Eastern Morocco.  With more than 100 kids between two youth centers, this has been a great experience.  Today, however, opened up a new and rather interesting avenue.  At one of the youth centers, the administration lets two boys with Down’s Syndrome come to camp even though they don’t have the money to pay.  They have been a great addition to the camp.

As the son of a mother who works with special needs, I’ve grown up believing that special needs children need to be integrated with other children.  It helps the kids with special needs socialize while still giving them the care they need.  It also helps the kids without special needs because it teaches them how to interact with special needs kids.  Integration is extremely important.

So, when it comes to the developing world, dealing with special needs is usually a grand failure.  When a family has a kid with special needs, they are usually raised inside the house.  This has many facets to it.  Some families are ashamed.  Others don’t want their child to be subject to the harassment—many Autistic locals are simply referred to as The Local Crazy Man.  Whatever the reason, people with special needs are not integrated well into Moroccan Society.

Today I found a dark side to this divide.  90% of the kids at camp interact well with these two special needs kids.  The problem is three little boys who seem to take pleasure in bullying, harassing, and assaulting these boys.  It started off looking friendly.  The kids would ask the special needs boys to sit next to them.  They would whisper things in their ears.  The thing is, the special needs boys seemed to dislike what was being said and leave.

Later in the morning, I saw one of the boys give the special needs boy a hug.  He obvious didn’t like it and tried to get away.  The boy wouldn’t let go.  It eventually led to both kids on the ground and upset.  Only a few minutes later, I watched as a boy ran past one of the special needs boys and straight-up smacked him in the face before running off.  I ended up yelling at two of the young boys and bringing them to the Moroccan Staff.  The thing is, even the older Moroccans don’t know how to work with kids with special needs so they saw it as nothing more than boys messing around.

On the plus side, I just received an email telling me that I was picked to work with the Special Olympics of Morocco this September.  I really want to learn how to work with Special Needs kids in this country.  I worked with them a lot in America, but the dynamic is very different here.  Something like this could be well worth dedicating my entire service to.  Now if I could only figure out how to access the special needs population in my own town…

 

Change the clocks, again…this time for Ramadan

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IMG_1181Here’s the thing about Morocco.  It has two Daylight Savings Times.  The first one is like most other countries have.  The thing is, it is interrupted by a 30-day second daylight savings time.  This second change is due to the biggest holiday on the Muslim Calendar–Ramadan.  During the 30 days of Ramadan, all Muslims are suppose to fast during daylight hours.  That means no water or food between 5:30am and 7:45pm.  I consider this level of fasting to be a bit dangerous and excessive so I will not be partaking.  But there are several cultural changes I will experience in the days ahead.

  1. First and foremost, I must maintain the appearance that I am fasting.  Eating or drinking during daylight hours is considered very inappropriate whether you are Muslim or not.  Imagine not drinking water for 12 hours and seeing a person walk through the street drinking out of his water bottle.  So, for the next thirty day I will be hiding my water bottle and eating my meals inside
  2. Breaking Fast is the new cultural integration.  I have been told that most Peace Corps Volunteers will be invited to break fast with several families over the course of Ramadan.  I’ve already been invited by one man in this town and my tutor back in Sefrou.  I am excited to eat more Moroccan food over the next month.  It’ll be a good replacement for my own meals.
  3. Daylight hours means ghost town.  Since people need to save energy during the daylight hours, many will stay inside or sleep.  Several towns turn into nocturnal villages–with many people staying up until 3 or 4 in the morning and not waking up until noonish.  This will be an interesting experience.  Since it’s 100 degrees or more every day, this is probably a good thing.
  4. A third clock change at the end of Ramadan.  I feel like I’m never going to know what time it is if they switch the clock four times a year.

I am excited and kind of antsy to experience this holiday.  The thing is, Morocco is 99% Muslim.  By comparison, the US is only about 70% Christian.  In Morocco, this is something that everyone in the country does together.  It is a very community-based event.  I’ll keep you updated as I continue collecting the experiences.

Individual Struggles

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In the time that I’ve been in Peace Corps, I’ve come to solidify I thought process that has been growing on me over the past couple years: “Do not judge someone by their actions (or inactions).  Wait until you have the full story.”  This idea grew out of my father who told me this story (which I think is from the book, “7 Habits of a Highly Effective Person):

A man working in NYC just finished an 80 hour work-week.  He gets on the subway, exhausted, and tries to rest his mind as he goes home.  At the next stop, a middle-aged woman enters the subway car with a 2 year old and a 4 year old.  She sits down close to the man.  When the subway starts moving, the two kids start chasing each other around and screaming when they catch each other.  This annoys the man who just wanted a nice trip back home.  He notices that the mother is just staring out the window–not paying attention.  Then one of the boys knocks over the man’s briefcase and keeps running.  This annoys the man so much that he calls out to the woman and tells her to control her kids.  She snaps out of her daze and says, “I’m sorry.  Their father passed away this evening and…”

Ever since I heard that story, I’ve come to realize that there is little value in first impressions.  We all are experiencing our individual struggles.  That is how I am getting through today.  I am one of four volunteers helping run a camp in Eastern Morocco right now.  Tomorrow we will say goodbye to one of the four because his own personal struggle has grown in recent days.  It’ll be hard without him, but I know I cannot judge him for it.  On the same cord, I woke up feeling rather ill today.  In order to be prepared for when there are only three of us, I decided to use this morning to rest and get better.  I hope I won’t be too harshly judge for missing a day (though I’ve come to care less and less about what others think about me).

Then I logged onto Facebook this morning.  I started talking to a very close friend of mine.  She is going through a struggle with her family (the fighting itself sounds like it has a lot to do with judging others when we have no right to judge them).  I did my best to listen because that’s really all we can do.  When someone is struggling, we can listen.  From time to time, you may need to tell someone to snap out of it, but most struggles need little more than a listening ear.  Although, I wish I could be there in person to offer better support.

Thank you Dad for teaching me this valuable life lesson.

Getting into Summer Camp

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June 30, 2013Today is the fifth day of a ten day Summer camp which me and there other volunteers are working at.  We’ve done lots of songs.  We’ve taught the kids about eating healthy and exercising.  We’ve done art.  We even did a couple hours on environmentalism.  Now, halfway through the camp, I am really into the swing of things.  Today we are going to the swimming pool with more than 60 kids.  It is going to be crazy.

Today is a special day for me.  It has been since 2006.  It’s a day where I spend a lot of time thinking.  It’s strange how quickly time goes by at times.  Then again, considering how much has changed in the past seven years, it’s incredible how slow time is simultaneously.  Here is the piece I prepared for today.  I hope you like it.

Seven Years Later…

I want your opinion on Oral Histories

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I am currently figuring out what kind of novel I should write while in the Peace Corps.  This will be my fifth one.  The thing is, I found a niche for myself with my previous novel–The Stagner Chronicle.   I am thinking about exploring this realm/genre of oral histories even further.  It worked well with a dystopian novel.  Now I’m starting to wonder–would it work with literary fiction?  How about science fiction?  Comedy?  I have a few ideas up my sleeve, but I want to hear from my readers.  Are you guys interested in reading Oral History-style books like World War Z and Rant?

I’m falling in love with genre.  It allows the story to be a character.  Since the players in the story are the narrators, it pulls you in.  It makes you decide what really happened.  There is no black and white when it comes to an Oral History.  That’s why I love it.  Now I want to do know if you guys feel the same.  If you haven’t read one, feel free to grab a free download of my last novel–The Stagner Chronicle–Here.

A Bittersweet Fourth of July

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This Fourth of July is bittersweet.  On one hand, I get to spend it with three other Americans who I am doing camp with.  We plan on making American food and watching Team America.  On the other hand, The Staj of Love (Morocco 2013-2015) lost its first member.  He will be leaving tonight on a medical separation.  It’s sad to say goodbye to someone who shared in the struggles of being in a strange new environment.   He will be missed.

Our group of 95 is now 94.  Over the next 21 months, that number will gradually go down.  People get sick.  Family members die.  Peoples’ lives change in dramatic and unexpected ways.  It’s going to be hard to watch any of us leave.  But we know it’s going to happen.  I’m still in awe of my Staj.  We are approaching six months and still no one has left by choice.  It seems we all want to put our best effort forward.  Many of us will succeed.  Many of us will (and have) hit walls.  But it appears that we are ready to find ways around those walls.  No one here wants to give up easily.

As we celebrate Independence Day in our own way—whether it be eating watermelon or gathering with other volunteers—we are endlessly reminded of America.  I’m starting to realize how strange it will be to experience American Holidays in a place that lets the day pass without a second glance.  The Fourth.  Thanksgiving Day.  Christmas.  I’ll be lucky enough to have my parents here for Thanksgiving.  And Christmas will be a strange opportunity to gather with other volunteers and exchange stories.

On the other end of this equation, we are about to experience the biggest Holiday in the Muslim World.  Ramadan starts on July 8th.  For 30 days, every person will go without food and water during daylight hours.  Breaking fast will families will become the new form of integration for most of us.  I’m starting to get excited.  However hard it will be to go without American holidays for a couple years, I believe it is more than enough to experience another culture’s holidays in its place.

I’m starting to realize how long 27 months is.  It’s hard to believe that we are already 22% done with our service.  The time is flying by.  I’m doing everything possible to throw myself into my work.  There are plenty of difficulties, but they are always worth it in the end.  I just hope I can keep this positive attitude through the heat of the summer.

Until next time.