(My town), Morocco is a relatively large town of 40,000 people.
The town center is developed by Moroccan standards, though some of the most outlying homes have no electricity and reside without power. In one of the distant neighborhoods – Majidi stands association Rihan.
Rihan was founded in 2005 in order to help fight child labor, prostitution and to serve as a learning center for women and children in the surrounding neighborhoods. The association provides potential work skills and education to women and children whom are illiterate, unschooled, or did not complete their studies. Women and children whom do not hold a high school diploma equivalent are considered to be the high-risk group for child labor and prostitution. Unfortunately, Majidi and the surrounding areas have a higher rate of such individuals.
The association is very active in community engagement. Rihan leaders often go door to door, encouraging any unschooled candidates to join the program. Effort is made to insure that parents are aware of the association goals and will be involved in their children’s education. The program is well known, with new members arriving almost weekly.
The members of Rihan, 25 teenage children and 30 women, attend free classes of Standard Arabic, Mathematics and various crafts such as machine sewing, crocheting and embroidery. The association contains a classroom and a studio. The classroom is equipped for academic studies, and the studio contains sewing and knitting equipment. Students are separated into 2 age groups and alternate between the rooms mornings and afternoons, 4 days a week.
Starting in October 2008, Peace Corps Volunteer - Olga Shvayetskaya began to work with association Rihan. In collaboration with the leaders of the association, she began introducing new artistic methods and processes to a group of 19 children and another of 15 women. Using her background degree and work experience as an artist and fashion designer she works with the students in building product development skills by introducing them to various techniques. The central goal of these activities is to encourage the students’ creativity, empowerment and to further create a personalized and marketable product in order to generate an income.
Our Need:
The association has an amazing drive, structure and intention, however it is hindered by its lack of funds and running water. Although the association is able to gather the interested individuals to help them avoid unfortunate life paths, the association has trouble providing the members with truly income generating skills. The product making skills taught within the association, such as sewing and crocheting are taught within a common Moroccan curriculum and do not sufficiently foster creativity and experimentation with products. Without the option of creating a unique product item, the students face a saturated market for their work skills.
Lack of sufficient funds limits the quality and quantity of the materials available to the students. The teachers at Rihan try to work with the existing materials and funds by limiting their curriculum. Currently, the students construct only miniature garments out of a thin polyester muslin, without pervading an understanding of proper-scaled garments and how the garments must fit. Lack of appropriate fabric makes smaller marketable textile items, such as bags or wallets impossible to instruct and produce. Likewise, large classes are forced to use one pattern making ruler and one pair of fabric scissors. The implementation of new techniques beyond sewing is also stumped by the association’s inability to afford new materials and equipment. The curriculum is stagnant, and unable to achieve the result the association leaders desire. Although there is a budget that is allocated for the members’ supplies, it is insufficient and cannot provide all the materials the association needs in order to start an expanded curriculum. Adding even a few of the lacking supplies would exponentially increase work efficiency in the classroom. Providing initial equipment for new technical processes will encourage creativity, foster empowerment and educate the students in ways of generating their own income.
Rihan faces another obstacle in its lack of running water installation. There is an incurring health hazard in the lack of a working faucet in the bathroom facility. As use of toilet paper is not customary, the water container in the facility creates a significant sanitation concern. Lack of running water within the facility also increases the chances for dehydration among students, especially during the hotter months.
Besides only the hygienic issues, the absence of water takes away much product building capacity and effects productivity. Working with fabric requires water, whether it would be to fill an iron, wash off the chalk on the fabric or rinse the garment. As most artistic processes require water, this deficiency limits Rihan to teaching, either by foregoing important steps and sacrificing product quality, or skipping techniques all together. The intended screen-printing method and tie-dying, both require water.
The project will be comprised of three sections: sustainably equipping the association for product generation by providing running water, initial equipment and learning materials, training the members and association leaders in new techniques and creating a catalog documenting new techniques learned and products made.
Water Installation and Materials:
Running water will be installed by a local plumber, fulfilling Rihan’s hygiene need and expanding their product possibilities. Irons and ironing boards will be purchased in town in order to insure adequate sewing quality, product finishing and in order to complete the final step of the screen-printing process. The completion of this segment will insure the association members with a sufficient production environment and a working studio. As the majority of the materials provided will be reusable, and therefore semi-permanent (60% of the SPA financed budget), the association will be able to continue incorporating the new techniques learned into their curriculum.
Materials will be obtained for multiple new methods and currently short supplies will be supplemented in order to increase learning efficiency. The materials will serve for both of the classes of the Moroccan sewing instructor, as well as the new curriculum courses, as many of the projects will be a collaboration between the both. The majority of the supplies will be bought locally. The exception are the screen printing fabric, paints and squeegees that are only available in Casablanca, located 3 hours away. Some of the sewing materials for the machines and irons will likewise need to be purchased in Beni Mellal, a city an hour away.
A large variety of fabric will be donated by multiple fashion companies and will be shipped from the United States.
Education In New Materials and Techniques
Using their past educations and work experiences, the current textile teacher Laila Soltani and the Peace Corps Volunteer will be instructing the participants in how to make various patterns, properly sew and finish products, fit garments, screen-print and tie-dye. Focus of the core class with the PCV will be given to production of simple bags and wallets. More complex pieces, such as shirts and pants, will be created in Laila’s class and will vary with each learner’s sewing abilities. By providing the members with adequate skills, they will be encouraged and equipped for their own item production. The exorbitant and interchangeable use of all these skills will foster creativity development and serve as a guide for developing a personal product through a 4-month curriculum. Regional Peace Corps Volunteers experienced in Color Theory and natural dye workshops will participate in initial introduction workshops of their subjects. The option of creating product for sale will be emphasized throughout the curriculum by final techniques, which will discuss each item’s quality and marketability.
The screen-printing process is emphasized within this curriculum. This process is ideal for new product development within this community. The method creates a non-labor-intensive product, which is inexpensive and can therefore target the local market within Morocco. As many economists point out, a stimulation within the local economy, based on the local market is much more sustainable and beneficial then exportation, or marketing to tourists and economy outsiders. The omnipresence of the graphic image and logo in today’s fashion also gives screen-printed items a significant prospect for success. The lack of experience in this method amongst many Moroccan artists, gives association members a chance to come up with a truly unique product within the market.
Besides giving each individual member the skills to create their own marketable product, the materials and skills given to the association as a whole create the capacity for the association to market its own product and generate its own revenue. Utilizing any of the methods learned, the association would be able to create product for the local Moroccan market and sustain or supplement their financial and material needs. The collaborative learning will encourage the participants to collectively buy new materials of any learned processes if they run short. Refill supplies for the curriculum taught can be affordable to students when bought in bulk by dividing the cost amongst small groups.
The following project curriculum has been developed by collaboration of the volunteer and the Moroccan staff. The core 1.5 hour class will be taught four times a week, alternating between two separate groups by the volunteer. Many project items will be completed in both the core class with Olga Shvayetskaya and the sewing class with Laila Soltani. Laila Soltani will observe many classes and familiarize herself with all the processes in order to complete the Arabic sections of the final catalog. By learning all of the techniques she will be able to make the curriculum sustainable in the future.
| Introduction to Screen-Printing Duration: 2-4 weeks | The students will create an individualized stencil derived by modifying an existing image. The new developed image will be transferred onto textile and clothing items through the screen-printing method. The objective of this beginning will be to familiarize the students with the stenciling and printing techniques. |
| Color Theory Duration: 2 weeks | Students will be introduced to the basics of color. Primary, secondary and tertiary colors will be discussed and demonstrated in the beginning weeks. Complimentary, analogous and monotone color palettes will be discussed in the second week sessions. |
| Tie-Dying and Natural Dying Duration: 2 weeks With Screen-Printing Duration: 2 weeks | An introduction to methods of natural dying along with the tie-dying technique will be taught by demonstration. Each student will then participate in creating their own tie-dyed shirt. Once dyed, the students will be given an option to use a past made stencil, or create a new stencil in order to further personalize their garment. |
| Wallet Design Duration: 4-6 weeks | Participants will render finished designs of 4-6 wallets, incorporating the available fabric supplies. They will select one design, which will be then physically produced by pattern creation, cutting and sewing. Students will be given the option in further personalizing their wallets through screen-printing. |
| Shoulder Bag Duration: 6-8 weeks | Participants will render finished designs of simple bags, or other garments (based on their sewing/patternmaking proficiency). They will then make the pattern, cut, sew, and finish the item. The participants will be encouraged to utilize as many learned methods as possible for these final designs. |
Catalog
As a final step the Peace Corps Volunteer in (My town) will digitally create a project catalog. One color hard copy will be printed for physical record and the digital file will stay with both Rihan and its sponsor BDD. The book will serve as a library and guide to products made and techniques used as part of this project. The catalog will be bilingual in Arabic and English in order to serve as a guide within the association, as well as a showcase for potential students and sponsors. The instructors of the association will be responsible for writing the Arabic sections of the booklet in order to insure their comprehension in the techniques taught. The catalog will be worked on and completed in the months of July and August during the association’s recess period.
OK! If you made it this far, you are probably my mom.. (I love you too mom!) and since you have done all this reading, I figured I would throw in some photos of the kiddies for ya.
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