Abdeljalil ait Elghassal: May 2005
Morocco Teacher
Reflections on his BRIDGE Exchange to
The High School for Law and Public Service, NY
Now
that we are back home after...3 weeks spent in the USA I would like to
express my thanks to iEARN...for the opportunity given to me and the 4
Moroccan students from my school to benifit from the trip which was
excellent. Actually
although it was tiring it was worth the while...because I wanted to
enjoy it fully and didn't want to lose [a] single minute...The 2 main
activities I focused on were trying to interact with as many of people
as possible and learn as much as I could about their ways of
life...thinking and their diverse cultures [and in turn, teach them] about
my country, my religion and my civilization...
To do so I had prepared 3 topics, one about Morocco and Marrakesh, one
about tolerance in Islam and the other about the status of women in
Morocco...In fact, I have learned a lot [and] helped to change the
misconceptions the others had and at the same time changed those I had
myself. At the university and through the lot of reading I had done I learned
about American History, civilization and cultures. I had also learned
about the American "melting pot" and the diversity of cultures that
composed and still compose the American society, yet "the one who has
seen is not like the one who has heard" as the Moroccan saying states...
Now
I can say say that I have new friends in the USA, with whom I can share
different things and to whom I promise to stay in contact...Ms
Mary Sari, teacher and iEARN coordinator [at] The High School for Law
and Public Service [emailed me], "We have enjoyed your visit so
much...We have missed you so much since you left and we do hope to see
you again. I am determined to visit Morocco ... I know that the
participants from our school have developed a very deep appreciation
and respect for Morocco and the Islamic world in general and I THINK
YOUR PRESENCE IN OUR SCHOOL WAS A GREAT ASSET. Slowly we are opening
the mind of what has been a very insular and closed community. We are
changing the mentality and hopefully this is a small step...You are
very sociable and easy to talk to. I enjoyed your company. You are very
knowledgeable and helpful ... I wish you the best and keep in touch ..."
When
you get such nice words and feelings you can be nothing else than happy
and satisfied because you have done your duty perfectly well, [we] have
achieved something and contributed in narrowing the gap and building a
bridge between two peoples that didn't know much about each
other...or they had false ideas and misconceptions about each other.So
LONG LIVE iEARN!
