Summer High School Programs in Morocco with Rustic Pathways

My Souks and Service program was absolutely life-changing. If you are interested in full cultural immersion and a great deal of service and hard work, this is the program for you. Every moment, from Atlas Mountain village to bustling Marrakech, left me in awe that I was building relationships and having a lasting impact on people living 4,000 miles away from me. One of the things I am most thankful for during the program were my Rustic leaders, who worked incredibly well with our group. With their help, we were able to have rich and eye-opening discussions, get to know everyone on a deeper level, and fully immerse ourselves in a culture we hadn't even heard of until we stepped off the plane. Having such knowledgable and open minded leaders really set the stage for fruitful service learning and an unforgettable experience.

By the end of this trip, your eyes will be opened to the endless benefits and lessons of travel, and become more aware of who you are and who you will become as a person as a student of the world.

On this trip I dove deep into the belief system surrounding Islamic faith and the Arabic language. In Morocco I was able to explore the roots of stereotypes to promote peace and build empathy by engaging with Muslims in Morocco. I traveled across Morocco for 16 days to twelve different cities and the Sahara Dessert with ten other students and a professional photographer and was able to develop a portfolio that captures the diversity of the beautiful country and learn new skills to develop as a better photographer. I created a documentary series focused on changing the negative perspectives the world has towards Islam through positive engagement and understanding cultural and religious differences while emphasizing the peace and wonder of the community. I had the absolute best time and I could not recommend Rustic more! After going on two trips with this program it has shown me how amazing the world is and how I can create my own impact on the world through experiencing new cultures and new places.

I was on Rustic Pathway's Souqs and Service program to Morocco from June 26-July 10, and I was in very good hands even before I got to my home airport on the way to our gateway airport. I was scheduled to land in New York (where we were to meet out group to fly to morocco) significantly earlier than any one else, and I was in contact with the airport coordinator before I even took off to New York. They assured that I was in good hands the whole time.
I was one of the unfortunate ones and was sick almost the entire duration of my trip, which was just due to the drastic change in diet, and being in a new place. It was never anything too major and I was still able to participate in everything almost the entire time because my program leaders (and one of the airport coordinators at JFK) kept me in great hands. It was good to know that my health was always a priority, and they stuck to it and did whatever they needed to to keep me as healthy as possible the entire trip.
As for on the trip itself, I had two of the best weeks of my entire life. This trip left a major impact on my views of Moroccan and Muslim cultures, and an impact on me as a human being in today's society. We spent about a week in a small village in the High Atlas Mountains called Zaouia Ahansal and worked very hard with The Atlas Cultural Foundation there. Our week in Zaouia was definitely the highlight of my trip. I was slightly shocked on the accommodations we had there, I knew what to expect, and Rustic's website was good at explaining exactly what we would have access to, but it still came as a bit of a shock to me. The closest thing I am able to relate our stay in Zaouia to would be "glamping". The community service we took part in was so much fun. Much more fun than I was expecting. We never worked too hard, but we got things done, and we had fun bonding with our group and the locals while doing it. One thing I did not expect with our service was the amount of breaks we took, and they weren't just stop for 15 seconds for water, they were full on 5-10 minutes, sit down and drink a cup of tea every 30 minutes. Especially during construction, it almost didn't feel productive. It wasn't strenuous work either, I moved a large pile of rocks. each rock weighed only a couple pounds and it was quite easy work. We also helped out with gardening in the community garden, and tutoring kids in the community center with games and activities. In the evenings and free time, we would go back to the guest house and take naps, play games, and hang out with the people of the house.
Zaouia was by far my favorite part of the trip, but I loved the rest also, we went to 3 other cities, Marrakech, Rabat, and Chefchaoen. We spent 3 days in Marrakech wandering the souqs, learning calligraphy, talking with local teenagers, getting henna, and my favorite, eating the food! I am a huge "foodie" and getting to eat a completely different type of cuisine for two whole weeks, I was in heaven. I will say, the souqs are not designed for people with ADHD. I can say from experience. There is so many smells, people walking buy, people asking for money, people trying to get you to buy stuff, motorcycles and scooters (vespas), donkeys and carts, did I mention smells, both good, and bad, you have to keep an eye out for your program leaders, and your group, I had a friend staying in Marrakech at the time, so I would be looking for them occasionally, and I was trying to shop and buy things. There is a reason the souqs are called sensory overload, and it's true.
Rabat was fun, but it was fast and not near as interesting as everywhere else. If vague tours of international governments are your thing, then you'll enjoy this, but me personally, it wasn't my thing.
Finally Chefchaoen. Only the best city on the planet, the blue city. The way they set up the Chefchaoen itineraire was perfect. And my program leaders changed things up a bit and told us to lead and they would point us in the right direction we got lost, some guided us being in charge. kind of. Chefchaoen was definitely towards the top of the best parts of my trip. We ate at some really great restaurants, did some fun activities, and it was a fantastic place to watch the final moroccan sunset with my 13 new best friends.
Overall, I had such an incredible experience in Morocco with Rustic Pathways. This was a trip I will not soon forget.

Amazing program with amazing group leaders. I received a full scholarship for this program through a wonderful opportunity and had an amazing time. Morocco has so much to offer with a very diverse geography. I would definitely recommend it and it teaches so much about Islam which is also amazing. I had the opportunity to stay in the Saharan desert overnight and watch the stars and go sand surfing. It was really amazing and my Moroccan group leaders were very knowledgeable and open people who I bonded with really well.

I enrolled for the Moroccan Wanderer program with not a lot of expectations about what would happen during the program. Since it was a different culture and program to what I am used to I did not know what to expect. But as soon as I arrived in Morocco I knew it was going to be an amazing experience.
I arrived in Casablanca the day before because I was travelling from Colombia to Morocco via Madrid (I am Venezuelan but live in Colombia). I met my program leaders that night and met my group the next day at the Hassan II Mosque. Then we drove to Marrakesh and spent three days there getting to know the city which was amazing and very beautiful. Then we left for Ourikt the village were we would do our comunity service it was a very nice experience to get to know the locals and help them with the ongoing project for the school with the locals. Then we spent a night at an old Kasbah in Nkob wich was very pretty and the people there were extremely nice and helpful. Then we went to Merzouga wich was the place were we would leave our stuff prior to the night that we spent in the Sahara. The Sahara is something amazing it is like from another planet, it is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen and I got to ride on my favourite animal: The Camel. After that experience we headed to the Toudra Gorge in the High Atlas. We satyed in a beautiful place and had a very cool hike around the area. After that we left to Ait Benhadou which is an old fortress town near Ouarzazate. We had fun exploring the fortress and getting to know about "The Hollywood of Morocco". Then it was the last stop towards Esaouira a beatiful beach town were we had great food and very nice Landscapes also we went to a fair. The last day we drove to casablanca and my group left back to their homes and I stayed one more night with the rustic team at a hotel in Casablanca.
This definetly was one of the best experiences of my life.

Going to Morocco was definitely the highlight of my summer. Morocco was exotic to me and fascinating. The most exciting part was seeing and meeting new people. I also brushed up on my Arabic skills! If I had another opportunity to go back to Morocco I would 100% take it! When I was there I ate delicious food like couscous and chicken just thinking about it makes me hungry. I went on the trip with my best friend and had a great time.

My experience in Morocco was truly eye opening. I saw everything from the crazy markets of Marrakech to the serene villages of the Atlas Mountains. The Rustic group leaders are absolutely inspiring people! The only downside of the trip was that I couldn't really relate to a lot of the teens in the group (wealthy, East Coast kids). But overall amazing!

I absolutely loved this trip. The local guides were so kind and open about their culture. The country is muslim, and I had so many questions that they were happy to answer, even the difficult ones! I improved my photography both by shooting, and by the interesting discussions we had about the morality of street shooting when some people don't want to be shot. While not everyone on the trip is going to be a life long friend, everyone on the trip was a pleasure to be with, and I am glad to have met. I highly recommend this photography trip in morocco, for explorers and artists alike.