Taroudant, June 26, 2006On this trip I’ve learned that Morocco has great problems with abandonment of children by young, or minor, mothers. The pregnancy cases usually follow the same situation: the pregnant girl, coming from a big city such as, Marrakech, Rabat, or Casablanca, travels to the south where she gives birth in secret, far away from her family, leaves the baby, and returns back to her old life. Thus the child is left abandoned to die or be taken care of by others. Another problem which arises due to the great number of orphans in Morocco is, the illegal trafficking of children. Therefore, in an attempt to begin solving this area of Morocco’s problems, The League Marocaine pour le Protection d’Enfance was set up. This center of the league in Taroudant was the first stop on our trip. The center was established in the 1920’s by the Franciscan sisters, and was then transferred to the Maroccan authorities during the time of Morocco’s independence, and works with children orphans between the ages of three to eighteen. We learned that the League receives abandoned children from the local hospital who are taken in and raised by volunteers and some paid staff. Six houses have been set up, each with six children and two “mothers” (women who are paid to look after the children). Each house is independent from the next, consisting of everything that make up a house, such as a kitchen, bedrooms, living rooms, decorations. We also learned that most of the orphans are boys as girls are more demanded for adoption. Thus, the boys attend different schools which they travel to, and from, independently, in order to give them the sense that they are like all other children. The Taroudant wing also gives each child a photo album so that they can capture memories of their childhood. During our visit at the League in Taroudant, we also discovered that Morocco has a great number of illiterate children. It is quite common that children drop out of school as early as primary school and thus, never develop reading and writing skills. Therefore the League set up literacy classes for children of the poorer population, some of whom are working children. In addition, pre-K classes have also been set up. However, even with all the miraculous arrangements the League has achieved, we learned that it still faces numerous problems. A section of the abandoned children are handicapped and the League lacks workers who specialize in caring for handicapped children. Thus it is especially challenging and difficult for the volunteers to successfully raise the handicapped orphans. In addition, money is still needed in order to improve the Leagues set up. Nevertheless, it was still fascinating to learn about some of Morocco’s problems and to witness the generosity of people who are devoted to helping Morocco solve its troubles.
|
