Program Reviews

I had a seriously disappointing and discouraging experience with the Moroccan Center for Arabic Studies and its Program Director. Earlier this year and for 6 weeks, I volunteered as an English teacher at a Middle School in Rabat.

I started questioning a lot of things early on and decided I had to share my concerns with the Program Director. So I did, twice. Once on my own and once with a fellow volunteer. The outcomes of these conversations confirmed all my doubts.

To keep it as concise as possible:
- I experienced first hand the lack of structure, curriculum, and continuity in the teaching English program. I taught a group of mainly new students (meaning they had never been taught English by a volunteer, or anyone else for that matter, before) and wasn’t given any background or insights on the students and their level of English, what previous volunteers have worked on and accomplished or what the organization’s goals were. It became clear that MCAS is not involved in building a program that develops the student’s learning and ensures its continuity.

- I had serious doubts about where the money I paid to cover program costs was going, so I asked the Program Director for a breakdown. Unfortunately, he was unwilling to share any financial information and instead came up with ridiculous numbers on the spot, as well as claimed to have made a donation to the school on my behalf. The Program Director confirmed all my doubts – the amount I paid is unjustified and the vast majority of it is not going where it should be, to cover our accommodation, food, etc

- The Program Director was unreliable, absent and unprofessional throughout my time in Rabat. When I needed his help or support, he often let me down. It was clear that we, as volunteers, and our work were not at all a priority of his.

- Throughout my 6 weeks in Rabat, I was almost never informed of anything important I needed to know. I was not given any information or insight into the programs by the Program Director – not even during orientation, which was all about travel in Morocco. We were also never informed of the renovation work in the volunteer house that would last for weeks, with workers coming in and out of the house at any time.

- The volunteer house did not feel like a private, safe space for me and my fellow volunteers. The Program Director invited strangers over to the volunteer house multiple times without informing us. We never knew who was going in and out of the house and, at any point, who else was there. This made our stay uncomfortable, to say the least.

The Program Director's last words to me were “I hope I never meet someone like you ever again,” accusing me of having ulterior motives and going so far as to blame it on my nationality. I’m sharing this with you because I think it reveals so much.

If you are looking to benefit communities in Rabat and leave a positive impact as a volunteer, MCAS is not the place. It’s a business.

**I went through all of this with a fellow volunteer (Catharina), whose review you can read below.

Great opportunity where I got to teach English at a local school in Rabat, take Arabic language courses, and stay with a host family in the old town Medina. The school staff was friendly, helpful, and flexible on which age group you teach, hours you teach, and lesson plans. It def helps to know French or Arabic but not necessary. The kids were super excited to meet me and are eager to learn English. My Arabic instructor 'Abdesalam' was one of the best I've had - experienced, efficient, and well worth it. I'm really glad I came and the coordinator Ali really cares and made sure I had the best use of my time.

I know this is a long review, but please bear with me and read it before you consider volunteering with MCAS.

I volunteered in the Childcare Program at Lalla Meriem Center for 12 weeks in January - April 2019. I took Arabic lessons three times a week after work, with an amazing teacher that I’d recommend to anyone. But it’s the project manager of MCAS, that I want to talk about. He’s not a man to be trusted.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that he wasn’t fulfilling his role as a program leader and soon enough I was seriously questioning my time in Rabat and the kind of impact I was making. A fellow volunteer and I decided at one point that it was time to share our concerns with the project manager and ask him all the questions we had. We expected him to be more than open to make the time to listen to us, but he made it very difficult to reach him and made up all sort of excuses as to why he didn’t have the time. After a lot of persistence, we had a discussion with him. And to say that it was shockingly revealing is an understatement. It confirmed all of our doubts and concerns.

An idea of the concerns that arose during my experience with MCAS:

-How MCAS is building ethical programs that benefit the community? My fellow volunteer was in the teaching English program at Abdesalam El Saih Middle School for 6 weeks, and she experienced a huge lack of structure, curriculum and continuity in this program. She wasn’t given any background or insights on the students and their level of English, what previous volunteers have worked on and accomplished, how they have been helpful or what their specific goals were and how MCAS is actively involved in developing the student’s learning and ensuring its continuity.

-Lack of transparency – where is my money going? After some time in Rabat, it became very clear that the amount I paid for volunteering is completely unjustified and that it was not going where it should be going – towards program costs. I did some research and asked my father, who’s Moroccan, about prices for various of things, and he completely agreed that I was paying way too much. At one point the project manager claimed that he had donated 10 000 MAD of my money, without my consent, to the orphanage I was working at. He didn’t provide me with any sort of proof of this. When I actually made donations directly with the orphanage, they gave me a receipt the same day.

-Lack of support: The program manager was an unreliable, absent figure during our time in Rabat – keeping in mind that he was basically the only stable point of contact for us. When I needed his help or support, he often let me down. And when he was physically there to answer my questions, he was not present – always in a hurry, doing something else and apparently indifferent.

-Lack of communication: The program manager almost never informed us of anything we needed to know during our stay. We were not given any information or insight into the programs – not even during orientation. We were never informed of the renovation work in the volunteer house that would last for weeks, during which workers were coming in and out of the house at any time.

-Lack of privacy: The volunteer house did not feel like a private, safe space for us. More than once, the program manager invited strangers over to the volunteer house without informing us. We never knew who was going in and out of the house and, at any point, who else was there. He also basically lives in the volunteer house, which we found very uncomfortable.

Throughout our conversation with the program manager, he was impatient, uncooperative and at some point he became aggressive. To keep it as short as possible, the program manager was completely unwilling to disclose any financial information when we asked for a breakdown and instead chose to make false claims. He had nothing to say about how he is building a teaching program that ensures any sort of continuity. And his last words to my fellow volunteer were “I hope I never meet someone like you ever again,” accusing her of having ulterior motives and going so far as to blame it on her nationality. The program manager was more or less absent after this.

I have shared my experience because I feel like it is the right thing to do for the community I worked with and for anyone looking into volunteering with MCAS. I can confidently say that the program manager is untrustworthy, unaccountable and unprofessional. If you are looking for an ethical organization that actively works on building programs that benefit local communities– not a business– I would strongly suggest you look elsewhere.

During my internship with Morocco World News, I was able to spread awareness in my writing by bringing global awareness of Morocco to an English-speaking audience. I covered a wide range of Moroccan topics all the way from social and cultural issues to the latest sport news. Every week, I was required to submit articles on the latest update of Morocco’s team in the 2018 World Cup, while also speaking on the holy month of Ramadan.

On top of that, I covered topics relating to Morocco’s politics and economy, such as the future health insurance plans for 2026 and the Moroccan delegation meetings with Qatar and United Arab Emirates. During the second month of my stay in Morocco, I was given another opportunity to teach 13 to 15 year olds English. This was my first-time teaching English and at first, I was nervous, but I learned how to keep the students engaged with the course work by playing educational games and having them work on creative writing pieces. I grew and benefited from this teaching program by learning how to interact with teenagers even if there was a slight language barrier.

While teaching English, my students benefited a lot from me by expressing their appreciation. I had one of my students tell me, "Karen, what you are doing is great. I appreciate you coming to Morocco and taking the time to teach us English." Also, another student that was very engaged in the course work told me on my last day, "Karen we learned a lot from you. And I just want to say thank you." There was no better feeling than knowing I made an impact in their education. The director, Ali, was also very supportive and willing to make any changes necessary to make my experience better. Leaving Morocco made me realize how much I enjoyed my trip. I fell in love with the people, culture, and traditions. Being able to experience the Islamic cultural traditions, such as Ramadan and the call to prayer was something I will never forget. During the weekend, my roommates and I explored some of the most beautiful cities in Morocco like Chefchaouen, aka the Blue City, Marrakesh, and the Sahara Desert. Overall, my experience with MCAS was educationally and socially an unforgettable experience.

As JFK once said, “We must find the time to stop and thank all of the people who make a difference in our lives”. Well for me that has to be the director of MCAS. He has done so much for not only for me but for our entire organization. Ali has helped our non-profit organization called Children's Global Alliance; where we teach ESL classes at Abde Salan Middle School in Rabat, Morocco. He does so much work to make everything happen including home visits with our students, excursions, and more. He works a lot behind the scenes, so the rest of the CGA group and I didn’t get to see a lot of it, yet he makes sure that every single student gets the best education that MCAS can offer. During our breaks, Ali would always compliment our work, and I would respond with “Thank you for letting me be here”
As our group did home visits throughout the 2 school weeks of June 4th-15th, My first home visit was with Hiba. Though she is not in my class, she was really excited for us to come and meet her family. We met her mother and her younger sister, and her father was working that day. We were greeted with a warm welcome and big hugs. Hiba wanted to become a music teacher because she loves music, and at one point wanted a guitar, but couldn’t because it was too expensive. The girls offered us to draw with them, and they showed us there family album, showing us a glimpse of their family lives. At one point in the conversation I asked Hiba who her hero was, and she said that it was her mom, and when I asked Hibas mother, she said it was one of her brothers that helped her a lot when she was growing up. Hiba’s mother also told us that she was really proud that Hiba was in the early stages of becoming trilingual in Arabic, French, (second most common language) and now English. Just from that home visit alone, I realized that these were some special kids, and I couldn’t wait to see them grow at the school.
Our next home visit was with Fatimazahra, she was a student that we thought in the advanced class. We were welcomed by her, her little brother, her mom, and her grandmother. Her mom greeted us with a warm welcome and beautiful smiles. They told us that their grandmother was entering the 1st stages of Alzheimer's and that Fatimazahra and her little brother would take care of their grandmother after school. Fatimazahra also told us that she wanted to be a cop when she grows up. We also talked about how life was different for Fatima Zahra's mom growing up, she wanted to visit the U.S. especially Colorado (that is where our group was from) and we compared to positive shift that is happening to Fatima Zahra's life right now in the country of Morocco. Fatima Zahra's mother was really happy that her daughter was becoming trilingual, because they thought Arabic, French, and now English! Also they offered so much food to us during Ramadan; the ninth month of the Muslim year, during which strict fasting is observed from sunrise to sunset, we didn’t want to eat because we would feel bad, but they insisted we did, because it is part of the Islamic culture to be a good host, so we ate, laugh, too pictures, and had a good time. I was really fortunate to meet these people and I couldn’t wait to see Fatimazahra progress in the future.
All of my students are really creative and they have so many stories to tell, for the last 3 days of work my partner and I assigned a culture based research project on Morocco. Our students researched so much from Morocco being in the World Cup, to how we could fix Morocco’s poverty, to how a Moroccan wedding is planned, and more! Whenever we said they had time to work on their projects in the class all I could see was joy, energy, and excitement, they would pull out there sketches, work on their drawings, and organize their data. The presentation day was one of the best experiences of not only my life but my students as well.
As the final day came it was really difficult for everyone. Especially when they asked if I will be back next year, it was devastating for me to answer with that I wouldn’t be coming back next year to teach them again. Even though it was only for 2 weeks I got to see my students grow not only in English but as young adolescents. All of this was possible thanks to MCAS, and Rabat will always be my home away from home. Teaching and learning from these kids was one of the best parts of my life, shukraan (thank you)

I recently completed a two month trip to Rabat with MCAS, staying in a riad with a few other students and volunteers, and I loved it! I took Arabic Fusha classes from 9-5 Monday - Thursday and my amazing teacher Abdessalam Nousiel was really patient and helped me to progress so much! Everyone at MCAS is lovely and always helped with any queries I had; Ali is a fantastic program director and helped me to make the most of my time there. I’ll be returning in June for two weeks to refresh my Arabic skills, and I can’t wait! Thank you to Ali and MCAS for a memorable trip.

I took Arabic courses through one on one instruction at MCAS and I enjoyed it. The teaching was very professional and the management was flexible with my academic needs. The center is located in a central area of Rabat and offers plenty of opportunities for exploring the old city and the surrounding area. The staff is friendly and engaging as well. I would suggest MCAS for similar students who are looking for tailored one on one instruction.

I recently just completed a trip to Rabat, Morocco at the end of December where we all worked closely to MCAS everdays. The language insturction was clear and concise and the history class was so insightful and amazing. We had wonderful people working with us to make sure we had a place to stay, food for every meal and made sure we were safe in our environment. These people from MCAS were with us everyday and quickly went from instructors to dear friends. I look forward to keeping in contact with these people and taking all that I have learned back to the states.

I went to Rabat, Morocco with a group from Loyola Marymount University during our winter break trip from Dec. 27-Jan. 6. I had a wonderful time in Morocco thanks to the incredible support of the MCAS staff! Great language instruction as well as incredible meeting opportunities. 10/10 would recommend! Ikbal and Jihane were amazing and Ali worked behind the scenes all day to make sure that our stay in Rabat was as amazing as possible. Thank you so much MCAS staff for hosting us for this trip.

My time in Morocco was truly unforgettable, and that is greatly due to the incredible people and programs of MCAS. Ali, Jihan, and Ikbal were the best hosts I could have asked for, they took care of everything at the house for us and provided us with such in depth education of the culture and languages of Morocco. I would absolutely recommend anyone looking to go abroad to study at MCAS! I will definitely be going back.