Dear Friends,
Greetings of love and peace from Fez, Morocco; and early greetings for the 11thAnniversary of URI’s Charter Signing, tomorrow, 26 June 2011 [By the time I’ve been able to finish and post this, the greetings are no longer early].
Today has been a wild and improbable day, beginning at 6 AM in the lobby of our hotel in Rabat as we prepared to board a bus to take us to Fez. As often happens, there was a gap between plan and execution and we didn’t depart until nearly 7 AM, meaning we were considerably late for our rendezvous with the young leaders, who had been staying at our meeting venue. But we managed to unite and travel for nearly four hours through the beautiful Moroccan countryside, a good part of it seemingly endless stands of cork trees, which had their outer bark harvested from the ground six or seven feet up the trunk, giving way to grove of olive trees and fields of recently harvested hay against the backdrop of distant mountains as we approached Fez. All along the highway we encountered shepherds tending herds of sheep, and donkey carts, often driven by women, hauling water or other necessities.
We arrived in Fez in time for our meeting hosted by the mayor’s office, learning that the temperature was over 50 degrees Celsius, hot enough to melt you in a moment, especially to melt me as I had been advised to wear a coat and tie for our official ceremony! We were informed that the mayor was busy with preparations for this Friday’s referendum on Morocco’s proposed new constitution, but we were warmly welcomed by Dr. Amraoui Allal, the Vice President of the City Council and the Vice Mayor, whose name I was unable to get, in a panel expertly moderated by a young man who is head of a local association of journalists which was hosting us here. In their welcomes, they noted that Fez is a city that prides itself on embodying a spirit of tolerance and co-existence, openly embracing Judaism, Christianity and Islam in an embodiment of religious pluralism that is a model for a conflicted world.
This spirit is perhaps most famously embodied in the annual Fez Festival of Sacred Music. Though it wasn’t mentioned in anyone’s remarks, it is worth noting that the political stresses in the Middle East have created a situation in Morocco where Jews are welcomed openly but Israelis are not. According to Simone, who holds Moroccan, French and Israeli passports and is one of the small group of elders in this assembly, this dates back to the second Intifada, when what had been warm and productive ties between Israel and Morocco were strained to the breaking point. May the day come swiftly when the diverse people of this region are able to live in peace in the spirit of tolerance and co-existence of which Fez is so rightfully proud.
The people of Fez also take great pride in being home to the oldest continuously operating university in the world, which we were privileged to pass by during an afternoon walk through the Old City. It is worth noting that this esteemed center of learning was founded over 1200 years ago by a woman and was a beacon of enlightened scholarship at a time when Europe was in “the Dark Ages”!
After the city officials’ remarks, Tareq, Naoufal and I were invited to offer remarks. Each of us thanked our gracious hosts and spoke of how we felt URI’s work reflected the spirit of Fez. I noted that eleven years before on this day people from around the world were preparing to sign the URI Charter and bring the global URI into existence. After sharing the opening sentence of the Charter, I was able to provide an overview of the engagement of URI’s growing global community around the world. Of course, everyone’s remarks were translated, either from Arabic into English or vice versa, with some French thrown in from time to time. Our ceremony closed with an exchange of gifts and coffee, tea and cookies.
The afternoon included a traditional Moroccan lunch hosted in a beautiful private home on the edge of the Old City that serves a the Office of International Affairs, followed by an extended walking/shopping tour through ancient, narrow, winding lanes lined with shops selling traditional crafts and food and modern clothing and necessities. The people were friendly and engaging. At one point, Elad bought some chips (French fries) for a small group of children who were trying to get money from us. They accompanied him (and us) the rest of the time and then became part of a remarkable event in a large plaza at the edge of the Old City.
One of our young leaders from Palestine, who has a lot of experience with scouting, engaged a group of children sitting on the stone steps that rise like seats in an amphitheater on one edge of the plaza in a simple children’s game that seemed a lot like Simon Says, a game I played growing up. At a moment, he drew these children down into the plaza where they formed a circle and began a game of call and response. Everyone in the plaza was soon mesmerized by the children; and other children began racing from different parts of the plaza to be part of this great event. The circle, which had started with about 15 children soon grew to 50 or more.
It was fascinating to watch this young leader engage the children in a way that was both respectful and directive enough to create creative order out of chaos. It was fascinating to watch these poor children of the Old City – the youngest probably three, the oldest 13 or so – playing together so easily and being so proud to be the center of everyone’s attention. It was also interesting to see how easily some children rushed into the circle, while some hovered around the edge, wanting and not wanting to be part of it, and a few older boys on bikes swooped around the circle for a while in a mildly menacing effort to make themselves the center of attention, but when they failed they left the scene to the circle of children, most of whom I imagine will remember this day for the rest of their lives because something good and often unrecognized in them was called forth and honored.
All of this activity, played out under a scorching sun, left all of us inspired, grateful and tired.
Fortunately, in spite of my weariness and the endless obstacles that cropped up, I was able, on the way back to the hotel, to stop for a couple of hours to visit a free veterinary clinic called American Fondouk, which was founded over 80 years ago by the grandfather of a URI friend in the San Francisco Bay Area. The clinic, which often makes the difference in the survival of a donkey or mule that is a family’s livelihood, is currently run by two young veterinarians -- Anne McDonald and Jeremy Campfield. They welcomed me graciously, showed me their facilities and introduced me to several very friendly dogs, a mule and a donkey they are treating. Then we sat for over an hour and talked about their work and URI’s work in a room with delicious air conditioning. I came away impressed by the work of Fondouk and by this young couple as they seek to provide essential care for the working animals of poor families in a way that is respectful of local veterinarians who charge for their services.
The day ended with dinner, final stories and goodbyes to those who were staying an extra day or so, before heading to bed and at least a little sleep before our early bus back to Rabat and then homeward from there.
In fact, I finish this on the bus, weary but feeling privileged once again to have shared in a URI MENA gathering, this one including colleagues from Europe. I am impressed by the creativity, courage and commitment of URI members in both regions. I’m impressed by these passionate young professionals, who are both boldly idealistic and deeply practical. They are creating a new path into the future – the work is not easy or without conflict, but it is filled with light and hope. I pray it continues to be blessed. I am clear it is a blessing to MENA and to Europe and beyond.
Faithfully,
Charles
