📝 Detailed information
🏢 About the local organisation
This project is the result of a partnership of CSM with the centre of qualification professionally and hotelier and tourist in CASABLANCA Education and with other non-for-profit organizations dealing with children with less opportunities.
💼 What the programme involves
The aim of this project is to contribute to the improvement of a residence of students with less opportunities.
Apart from being in charge of keeping the center in good conditions, cleaning it, building green spaces and painting the walls, in a creative way when possible, those young people can participate also in various activities. The volunteers have the possibility to get in contact with the local people, take part in the Moroccan habitudes and way of life.
The general organization and responsibility of the workcamp lies in a camp leader who may as well prepare an animation program for the participants, including the proposition of spare-time activities in the surrounding area, although the volunteers can also take initiative on this and propose other activities.
- Painting the youth center, both just as a basic maintenance and also in a creative way. The camp leaders will make a program to paint frescoes but the volunteers can also propose ideas.
- Cleaning the center as a part of its maintenance while the children are on holidays.
- 'Green activities'. The volunteers will help creating green spaces, planting trees or shrubbery for example.
- Cooking in teams with other volunteers, both national and international.
- Some extra activities will be organized by the association like animation with children.
🏠 Accommodation on site
The volunteers will be accommodating in the centre. We have an agreement with the qualification professionally and hotelier and tourist in CASABLANCA and we are allowed to use the classrooms for the volunteers to stay there. We will set up the place with mats and blankets although it is highly recommended for the volunteers to bring their sleeping bags just in case.
We need to highlight a couple of things that might be a bit difficult for the volunteers, given the past experiences with them. In Morocco, is rare to find the toilets that they are used to have in Europe. In this country, the toilet is normally a typical turkish bath.
Also, as they will be living in the center, will be shower they can use to clean themselves.
International volunteers can also ask the national ones to take them to hammam, the public baths. Its a nice experience that they will enjoy, while relaxing and enjoying the hot water and the steam, good for the skin.
📍 About the location
This workcamp is also for national volunteers so the ones coming from abroad will appreciate their everyday life habits and culture through practical and social involvement. They will get in touch with national volunteers and social workers in the center so that they can get involved in the community, not only inside the center but also outside, when they finish their work.
Casablanca, in Arabic Dar El Baida, is the biggest city in Morocco and actually in Magheb region. Is the economic and business center in Morocco. Casablanca is one of the most important ones in Africa, demographically and economically, being one of the largest financial centers in the continent.
Its port is one of the largest artificial ports in the world and the primary naval base of the Moroccan Navy.
Completed in 1993 after many years in construction, the Hassan II Mosque is among Africa's largest, with one of the world's tallest minarets to boot. Thanks to its location on the waterfront, and the laser atop the minaret that beams toward Mecca, it's one of Morocco's most striking buildings. It's also one of the only mosques that permits non-Muslim visitors into its halls.
Casablanca's central market is small and manageable. White-walled stalls with green clay tile roofs dotted with foliage make for all the Instagrammable backgrounds you'll ever need. Vendors sell produce, nuts and dates and, in one stand, argan oil, the traditional Moroccan elixir for most everything. Linger long enough and eventually you will see the vendors line up for the call to prayer, and then join them in a quick tagine lunch, served at outdoor tables.
The Aïn-Diab coast, the seaside annex of the city, is the traditional spot for inhabitants of Casablanca going out for the evening, especially at weekends. Trendy restaurants and popular pubs abound along the seafront. Some of these establishments, with or without seawater swimming pools, are there since the thirties, like an unusual restaurant built on piles.