Education volunteering with Berber girls in Morocco
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
This project is run and managed by a local charity with a deep understanding of local social and environmental issues.
Discussion among volunteers and the girls about environmental issues is encouraged, and there are outings and talks as part of the girls broader education to encourage a contextually appropriate environmental awareness.
All volunteers for this project, well before they travel, are provided with context information about the local environmental issues, including a locally appropriate code of conduct, covering environmental and social priorities and responsibilities.
You may be invited to stay with a village family when the girls go home on occasional weekends - you will experience the realities of the local environmental context and can help to fit this into a broader picture, beyond the girls' own experience.
In our UK office we reduce, reuse and recycle paper. We use recycled paper and keep print to a minimum. Any irreparable electronic appliances and all ink cartridges are recycled through recognised recycling channels.
We encourage our independent partners and projects to adopt similar environmental policies. However, local voluntary initiatives and individual projects may sometimes find it difficult to adopt these practises.
We encourage volunteers to offset the carbon emissions from their flights.
Community
Our core values are respect & dignity; responsibility & sustainability; service & partnership; economic transparency. As with all the projects where we arrange volunteer placements, this projects is designed to be culturally sustainable and economically transparent, as well as being community-driven.
Respect & dignity – there must be mutual respect for the dignity and cultural values of volunteers and local people, and by living in a safe environment within the local community, volunteers are able to share and discuss aspects of ordinary daily life. All volunteers are provided with context and background information relevant to the project – this includes a code of conduct and child protection policy.
Responsibility & sustainability – volunteers work with local people, not instead of them. Through skills-share, volunteers help to build local capacity so that local people can work to achieve the futures that they want for themselves.
Service & partnership – we work closely with our local partners in matching the volunteer and their skills to the specific requirements of the project. Our local partners agree with the project as to how volunteer input can advance the project at the particular time of a volunteer’s placement. The project is provided with information to enable them to make an informed decision as to whether or not the volunteer is appropriate for that project.
Economic transparency – the placement cost is paid by the volunteer direct to the local partner team, not to us. We ensure that at least 80% of the cost remains where it is needed most, in the host country, and is used to further enhance this project. How and where your money is spent is clearly shown for each project, and includes a ring-fenced project donation exclusively for this project.
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