Twelve students travelled to Morocco’s capital on May 28. While in Rabat, the group was introduced to Morocco’s political and social history, Daridja (dialect of Arabic), and cuisine and architecture in a series of class sessions and walking tours anchored by Morningside’s Rabat-based partner organization, the Centre for Cross-Cultural Learning (CCCL).

The crux of the trip consisted of visits to NGOs and social enterprises in Rabat and Marrakech, to learn about local community needs and how service is provided. In Rabat, students visited the AMPF (Moroccan Association of Family Planning) and the ADFM (Democratic Association of Moroccan Women), that respectively focus on sexual health education and enhancing women’s rights. In Marrakech, students visited Al Nour, a non-profit that trains women with disabilities to take up gainful employment, and Project SOAR, an NGO that teaches girls to value themselves as equal members of society who can pursue higher education and careers. At Amal, students learned about the precarity and financial struggles that female domestic helpers face, and how this social enterprise trains them to become sought-after chefs and kitchen staff within Marrakech’s growing tourism sector. During this visit, the students also learned how to cook various kinds of tagines and couscous dishes. Another new addition following last year was a visit to the Moroccan Centre for Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship (MCISE), a non-profit that supports Moroccans in establishing, funding, and growing new social enterprises all over the country.