São Paulo – For those who want to know Morocco in an offbeat kind of way, away from tour guides’ advises, a good alternative is to opt to do volunteer work in the North Africa country. Those interested in the idea can find opportunities in the educational, social and environment areas.
In Brazil, anyone interested can contact Experimento Intercâmbio Cultural, a company that organizes work and study international trips and put the travelers in contact with Thaqafat Association, the organization that works together with one hundred Moroccan NGOs and places the volunteers in the country.
Fernanda Zocchio Semeoni, Experimento’s director of products and operations, explains that the volunteer work program can be taken by people 18 years or older. On average, the participants age is 23 years old and 80% of them is women.
“In general, they’re college students on vacation. Others are professionals that already took courses abroad and want a stronger bond with the community [where the work takes place]. It’s for more adventurous people”, says Semeoni about the participants’ profile.
She points out that the volunteer work can be a different way of being a tourist. “The person gets to know the destination from a totally different point of view than that of the tourist, a look from within. In Morocco, in general, the person stays with a host family. He [the participant] lives an experience”, she remarks.
The program minimum duration is four weeks and the maximum reaches 12. The city is chosen according to the volunteer work project selected for the participant.
In the educational area, there are opportunities in projects related to music, computer science and language (English and French) for children and youngsters. In the social area, the volunteer can work with projects related to children and women with special needs, the ones that were abandoned or suffer from a disease.
In the environment area, the participant can work with tree planting or school maintenance and cleaning. For those with verified connection with the tourism area, some NGOs also offer the opportunity for the volunteers to learn about the Moroccan cultural diversity.
Besides the work placement with the NGOs, the program includes an Arab course for projects with longer duration; assistance during the project, local support during the program, homestay or other lodging, and orientation upon the arrival in the capital Rabat.
The airline tickets are not included in the program but, according to Semeoni, Experimento offers special prices for the volunteers to acquire their tickets with the company. It’s not necessary a visa to stay in Morocco for a period up to 12 weeks.
About the program in the Arab country, the director says that one of the things that caught your attention the most is the welcoming and stay offered by the host families. In the last three years, the company sent five participants of the program to the African country.
According to Semeoni, the demand for volunteer work programs is rising in the last couple of years. The director remarks that the volunteer programs can be done all year long but that the participation is subject to availability of the program chosen by the traveler.
Service
Volunteer Work Program in Morocco
Four weeks project with a host family – US$ 1,946 + Experimento fare of R$ 385 (US$ 149.17)
12 weeks project with host Family – US$ 3,576 +Experimento fare of R$ 385 (US$ 149.17)
12 weeks project with host family and Arab course – US$ 4,253 + Experimento fare of R$ 385 (US$ 149.17)
(Amounts relating to January 2015)
More information about the volunteer program in Morocco and contact details of Experimento’s offices are available in their website
site www.experimento.org.br.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
