US peace corps general manager in Morocco next week
Morocco-USA, Culture, 6/8/2002

General manager of the US Peace Corps, Gaddi H. Vasquez, will be visiting Morocco this June 8-11 for talks with Moroccan officials.

The peace corps executive will meet ministers of health, of social economy, small and medium-sized enterprises and handicraft, of agriculture, rural development, water and forests, and of youth and sports.

The peace corps will also open in Rabat, together with Moroccan crafts workers, a fair of Moroccan rural handicraft items, showcasing various craftsmanship from various Moroccan rural regions.

The first peace corps volunteers came to Morocco in 1963, in accordance with a Morocco-US agreement. Since then, over 4,000 volunteers served in Morocco teaching English, giving various vocational training courses and extending other social services.

The Peace Corps says on its website health volunteers work in predominantly rural Moroccan communities with the objectives to improve maternal and child health care and to increase safe water supplies. Vaccination campaigns, nurses training, and dental and personal hygiene awareness are other programs that have been implemented.

Education volunteers, along with their Moroccan colleagues, are designing and improving teaching methodologies. Developing and expanding resource centers for both secondary and university schools are also targeted projects.

Agriculture volunteers have initiated three different women's cooperatives in rabbit, chicken, and dairy goat production. Agriculture volunteers also train small rural farmers in the areas of crop extension, sustainable agriculture, income-generating development and rural women's development.

Environment volunteers are stationed in Morocco's national parks and ecological reserves with the dual goal of making these areas more user-friendly for eco-tourism while increasing environmental awareness among local members of the community. Additionally, environment volunteers have taken on other projects, including introducing solar ovens to communities, creating income-generation opportunities related to eco-tourism for local communities, terrain mapping, species inventories, and designing environmental education curricula.

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