Visiting Rotary Tanger Détroit

Later in my trip, I attended a Rotary Tanger Detroit meeting. Something interesting I should bring up is that in total I contacted 15 Rotary clubs in Morocco, in the various cities that I knew that I'd visit, yet Tanger Detroit is the only one that responded to my email! Some Rotary clubs have embraced technology with open arms and utilize it to their every need, but I think others have little need for keeping an updated website or email.

This club is one of two in the city of Tanger (also known as Tangier or Tangiers), and true to the unique history of Tangier the club was diverse in the nationality of the members as there were members present from Morocco, Britain, France, and the U.S. The entire meeting was conducted in French, but several of the English-speaking members provided translation for me and my mom. President Azeddine Bousfiha first gave a summary of the projects in 2011 that Rotary Tangier Detroit funded, which are:
a kitchen that serves thousands (a partnership with the Ceuta club)
raincoat donations to children who walk in the rain to attend primary school
a deaf society's sign language conference that provided resources and training to both deaf people and their families
an association for single mothers in Morocco to help them find jobs and keep their babies

All very relevant and, I'm sure, deserving causes. Next I gave my presentation (also with translation into French provided by the American Rotarian, Jerry Loftus) and presented Azeddine with the Westwood Village Rotary Club banner.


After this, the meeting proceeded with discussion about the creation of a Rotaract club in Tangier, and the upcoming District Conference.

Compared to the Casablanca Al Manar club, Tangier Detroit was much more traditional; although women members are allowed, they do not currently have any. The other Tangier Rotary club apparently still does not allow women, which came as quite a surprise to me. A controversial topic that has come up is the creation of a third Rotary club in Tangier that would be limited to females. On one hand, Moroccan women may not be entirely comfortable in a male-dominated club especially as the stereotype of Rotary as an all-male smoking club persists, and an all-female club could be geared toward their needs and causes. On the other hand this negative stereotype of Rotary needs to be changed as it affects the perception of Rotary worldwide, and it will never be changed if there remain clubs separated by gender. Furthermore, if the slogan of Rotary is 'Service above Self', gender, race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation are certainly a part of 'Self' and should not be a determination for membership. This is the power of Rotary- uniting unique and different individuals by their passion for service.