Today I took a local city bus to visit without notice a digital/programming solidarity school.

Before that, it was funny to see that despite the number of modern construction, they were still working by hand on the building next door to break tiles.

I waited quite a bit before the bus to come, just the time to go to the youth center in front of the bus stop. They are having a refuge and activities to upskill them as well. A partner of the NGO I saw yesterday.

On the way to the bus, I discovered a strange business, or even multiple small businesses, burning heads and feet of animals, not far at all from the Medina and the central Market. Just walking on the street next to it...
I stopped to take pictures and a guy was not happy with that!
Is it bigger than the smoking and drugs market? Not sure as I said so many times no in the streets, But for sure, their sellers speak eniugh French, English, Spanish and more...

Then, in the bus, I was the only foreigner, not so surprising with the number of taxis taken by locals. The bus is 40 dirhams but I don't know (yet) for the taxi.

It was a good way to see shops and activities outside the center. Real life for most locals.
Someone was asking for money to help a family member get better, showing picture of his illness. Many people share a few coins and she cried when I gave her 20 dirhams (2€).

It was also a good way to see the boards of the shops written with the nomads alphabet in extra of the Arabic. No French or English there...

I could give to many people but it is not easy... But here, if locals were supporting her as well, the despair we could hear on her voice was real ++

Arrived at my stop, I had to cross small paths, a bit like in the Medina to reach the other side and the school. We could feel it was poorer and no tourists pass there. Some kids threw me a ball to play in some of the alleys.

I had an amazing discussion with two of the employees of this state school that helped me to understand the ecosystem and could open to diverse paths of collaboration.

The employee who was from Casablanca lost her accent, working in France and told me Tangier was not as French speaking as Casablanca or Rabat. And most importantly, she told me she never took the bus there...

Just the exploration I was looking for! A great combination of people, visits, ways of life, surprises,discovery of great projects and potential partners to co-create things, or at least explore the local ecosystem.Read more