Happy COP21!

The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference is kicking off in Paris today.

On Sunday 29 November, groups all over the world mobilised for the People's Climate March, raising their voices together against climate change. I marched in Agadir with some friends from Dar Si Hmad and the Surfrider Foundation.

 
I also wrote a brief piece about the connections between climate change and gender-based violence for Dar Si Hmad's 16 Days Campaign: http://darsihmadorg.blogspot.com/2015/11/the-peoples-climate-march-and-violence.html.

Meanwhile in the UK, the team of Low Carbon Mentors I help lead worked with a high school in Norwich to write a statement against climate change. The students presented their statement to local MP Chloe Smith and sent to it 10 Downing Street, MP Clive Lewis, the Bishop of East Anglia, and Paris.

The English high schoolers call for a world "where racism, world hunger and poverty are extinct instead of animals". Read their powerful statement here: https://brightfuturesnorfolk.wordpress.com/2015/11/30/norfolk-students-write-statement-on-climate-change/.

Day 2: Catching fog for capacity building

On Day 2 of the 16 Days Campaign running from 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to 10 December, Human Rights Day coordinated by the United Nations to focus on violence against women, girls’ education, and human rights, I have written a post for my research partner that describes their flagship program in more detail.

Read more about Dar Si Hmad's fog harvesting project and the connection between women, water, and empowerment here: http://darsihmadorg.blogspot.com/2015/11/environment-for-empowerment-catching.html.

Violence Against Women: Bad News, Good News

Today marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

It's kind of a crap day. We shouldn't need an International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Because that shouldn't be a thing.

But it is.

That's the bad news.

The good news? There are really cool people doing creative things about it.

Check out a piece I wrote with The Conversation, a cool open-source peer-reviewed blog-journal: https://theconversation.com/north-africa-small-glimmers-of-light-in-bid-to-stop-violence-against-women-50997

"Ramblings" Reboots

After an embarassingly long (eight months!) hiatus, "Ramblings with Rebecca", my YouTube vlog, returns today with an apology and a promise to myself to start posting once again.

As I am off in the field, there are certainly stories to tell and issues to be reflected upon! My intention is to ramble a bit more habitually, using the vlog as a tool for intellectual exploration as I grapple with a variety of concepts and questions. Come along for the ride, if you like: https://www.youtube.com/user/RamblingswithRebecca (the specific "Reboot" episode is available at https://youtu.be/aq0KQpu8ATQ).

After France, Beirut, and all the rest...time to spread some love

I've been struggling about whether and how to post in the past few days. The attacks in France were horrible. The attacks that have happened - and are happening - elsewhere in the world were and are also horrible.
Suffering and trauma are not things easily compared or measured.
Global media and various countries pay attention to some kinds of trauma, and some people's suffering, more than others. And we must question why and how this is, and work against egocentric and unjust systems that enable this. We must also recognise that losing loved ones, feeling physically unsafe, and encountering intolerant ideology is painful no matter who you are and where you live.
So mourn. Cry for those who have suffered and are scared. Weep for our broken world. And then...figure out what you can do to make it better.
When we encounter the worst of humanity, we must seek to be the best of it.
As one option for those of you who are physically and/or relationally removed from the recent attacks, here is one way to reach out and show your support. The day before the Paris attacks, dozens of people died from terrorist action in Beirut, Lebanon. A beloved friend of mine, Maya Terro, is striving to empower the best of humanity in her country to respond to systemic hunger and economic inequality. SOUPer Meals on Wheels is a mobile food kitchen that helps alleviate the ongoing suffering of Syrian refugees and Lebanon's poorest. Rebuilding lives in the midst of terrorism is not an easy task, and it takes all kinds of efforts. A hot meal, prepared by a diverse set of volunteers, is a powerful way to let people know they are loved. Giving to the Food Truck will support efforts to make those regularly affected by terrorism more able to engage in and support their new communities. I invite you to support a bit of peace and friendship in the midst of our war-torn world: https://www.generosity.com/fundraisers/souper-meals-on-wheels--2

Taroudant

I have been incredibly spoiled for day trips as of late. Yesterday, the two Fulbright Teaching Assistants I'm living with decided to adventure to Taroudant. Why not join them?
Taroudant is nicknamed the "Grandmother of Marrakech", so named for its similar red sandstone walls and its status as a market town. It's very cute and far less touristy than many of the places I've been visiting thus far, which made for a nice change. I found some fantastic handmade leather flip-flops in the souk and we found some adorable residential streets to wander for a very different 'vibe' than in the more city-like Agadir.
One of the more fun aspects of our day was my first Grand Taxi experience. We got a 1.5 hour ride in a taxi for incredibly cheap...via the 'public transit' system in Morocco that squeezes at least seven people into 5-person cars. Quite the way to travel for long periods of time, especially at checkpoints when the authorities glance into your car and take no issue whatsoever with the number of folks crammed in and lack of seatbelts going on.

Sheep, donkeys, and goats grazing roadside are not an uncommon sight in Morocco. The large camel herd we found en route to Taroudant is a slightly rarer, but very much delightful, version.

The fun of finding residential streets is that occasionally you stumble upon very cool public service announcement murals! We found a series of ones encouraging people to put rubbish in bins, to plant trees, and to exercise, among others.

You can get anything at a souk. Anything.

There was obviously some kind of football match happening yesterday afternoon; we sat down at one restaurant and didn't even manage to get served because the staff were so busy with match-watchers/watching themselves. We passed a couple of boys desperately peering through the cracks on this gate to see a cafe's television; later, we saw a huge crowd of teenage boys pouring out of the municipal stadium, where they'd clearly been screening whatever it was. 

Pots. Lots and lots of pots.

This country honestly has some amazingly beautiful doorways. I've got a whole series of photos like this because I can't seem to stop taking pictures of them.

And one should always take time to stop and smell the flowers. Especially on beautifully sunny days in market towns, because there's something magical about quiet alleys and blue skies. :)

Marrakesh Day Trip

Yesterday, some of my research partners from Dar Si Hmad attended a meeting in Marrakesh with MEPI, the US-Middle East Partnership Initiative, who fund one of the organisation's youth empowerment projects.

I did not attend the meeting; however, one of my housemates and I took the opportunity to see another part of the country, driving up with the crew to Morocco's fourth-largest city. The "Red City" has walls of red sandstone that are around 900 years old; the city itself is nearly one thousand. Its central square, Jemaa el-Fnaa, has a claim to the busiest square in Africa and it is truly bustling with snake charmers, henna artists, Berber youth acrobats, monkeys on leads, juice stands, and virtually every souvenir you could possibly imagine, want, or need. The city's streets and souks (outdoor markets) are likewise full with a dizzying array of silks, jewelry, lamps, kitchenware, scarves, art, decorative knives...you name it. We had a lovely day exploring a palace from the 1500s, a working Jewish synagogue, and some of the more residential streets.

Fountain in the center of Marrakesh's synagogue

Oops. I seem to have found a tree to climb. Like a dangling monkey.

The direct collision of old and new transport mechanisms.

Not only in London are the busses red, double decker, and touristy

Fezzes are cool. Also silly and fun.