Interview with Ricki Morell, June 3, 2023

Interview Summary

Ricki Morell served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in a Health and Human Services program in Morocco from 1979-1981. Ricki grew up in the New York metropolitan area. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, and a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University in New York City. She spent her career as a journalist and freelance writer.

Ricki calls her Peace Corps service a “seminal experience” that reflected major themes in her early life and upbringing. As a child of Jewish immigrants – her father was born in Poland and her mother in England – she felt “a child of the world.” After spending her junior year of college in Paris, she decided to put her French language fluency to use in the Peace Corps, an international volunteer-based program. She had also studied Russian in college. While waiting for a Peace Corps assignment, she used those rudimentary Russian language skills in an entry-level job at a technical magazine publisher in New York City. After several Peace Corps job offers that Ricki declined, she finally was offered what seemed like the perfect position for her: assistant director of a residential therapeutic home in Marrakech, Morocco for boys who were polio survivors.

TRAINING : Ricki’s Peace Corps training began with a brief orientation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where she met the other trainees in her group, which consisted mostly of volunteers going to teach skilled trades at vocational education schools. Her group traveled to Fez, Morocco for three months of Moroccan Arabic language and cross-cultural training.

ASSIGNMENT: Ricki was able to use both her French and her Arabic in her job at the Foyer Cheshire, a residential therapeutic home in Marrakech, Morocco for 20 to 30 boys. These boys had survived polio but needed physical rehabilitation and education to become self-sufficient. She recalls the home as a beautiful, historic building in the shadow of the Koutoubia, the biggest mosque in Marrakech, and steps from the famous Jemaa-el Fna square at the center of the old city, or medina. A British non-profit, the Leonard Cheshire Foundation, had established this home in Morocco as one of its many facilities worldwide for individuals with disabilities. The Foundation was named for Leonard Cheshire, a highly decorated World War II British pilot. Queen Elizabeth II was also a sponsor of the home. It had originally been staffed by British volunteers. Ricki was one of several U.S. Peace Corps Volunteers, some with expertise in physical therapy, who helped staff the home. During her first year of service, Ricki was assistant director, and another Peace Corps volunteer was director. During her second year of service, Ricki became the director, and a newly trained Peace Corps volunteer became the assistant director. Duties included fundraising, administration, organizing medical care and hospital visits, as well as providing emotional support for the boys. She worked alongside the Moroccan housemother and her Moroccan staff, who provided continuity and a sense of community. She also worked with the boys’ physical therapists and teachers. She occasionally stayed overnight at the home on a staff rotation, but otherwise, she shared a “riad” (Moroccan house with central gardens) in the old city with other Peace Corps Volunteers. Ricki was also responsible for preparing for meetings with a local board of directors whose chair was La Comtesse de Breteuil. La Comtesse was part of a wealthy expatriate community in Marrakech that included celebrities such as Yves St. Laurent, and she was adept at using those connections in her fundraising efforts for the Foyer Cheshire. Sometimes, La Comtesse would invite Ricki and her fellow Peace Corps volunteers to dinner at her villa in Gueliz, the modern new city of Marrakech. Thus, Ricki found herself spending some of her time visiting boys’ families in the poorest parts of Morocco, and, at other times, brushing up against this privileged expatriate world. It was an “odd juxtaposition,” she recalled.

MOST IMPORTANT ACCOMPLISHMENT: Ricki’s remembers her most important accomplishment as helping the boys gain admission into public school. It was her job to convince a local public school principal that children with physical disabilities could learn just as well as those who were able-bodied. It took several conversations, but the principal finally and reluctantly agreed. One of those mainstreamed students, who used a wheelchair fashioned like a recumbent bike, became such an outstanding student that he was hired to work for the Peace Corps office in Rabat, Morocco. He worked there for many years until he retired.

MOST UNIQUE EXPERIENCE: Ricki’s most unique experience was to prepare the children and Foyer Cheshire for a visit from their patron, Queen Elizabeth II, in October 1980. The Queen was on her first state visit to Morocco. Ricki and the staff taught the children a song, and the Pasha of Marrakech supplied rugs and urns as decorations. When the Queen arrived, the children sang, and Ricki led the Queen on a tour of Foyer. They stopped to converse for several minutes in the small classroom, where Ricki answered the monarch’s cogent questions about the status of people with disabilities in Morocco. Note: In 2022, while viewing Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, Ricki wrote “When the Queen Came to Visit.” She reads her remembrance in her oral history recording at 16:15 – 20:17.

MOROCCO ARTIFACTS, MEMORIES, AND COOKING/EATING CUSTOMS: Ricki displayed several artifacts from her time living in Morocco.
1. Pillow from the Berber Imilchil Marriage Festival in the Middle Atlas Mountains.
2. Teapot for serving traditional Moroccan mint tea.
3. Moroccan cookbook given to the home’s Peace Corps volunteers by the U.S. Consul General.
4. Cooking and eating customs
a. Tajine or tagine (North African dish served in an earthenware pot)
b. Couscous
c. Wedding fare
d. Eating customs for a guest: for example, accepting and eating a sheep’s eyeball offered by the host so as not to b. Public ovens and public baths (hammams)

EXPERIENCES IN MOROCCAN CULTURE: Ricki commented on some of her experiences living in Moroccan culture offend.
1. She traveled to the mountains where the Berber people live and speak the Berber language, Tamazight.
2. She noticed that foreign women, and tourists, were often harassed when out in public, particularly if they didn’t respect the modest dress customs of the Islamic culture. Moroccan women wore long loose clothing and headscarves and, sometimes, face coverings when out in public. Ricki also dressed modestly to respect their culture.
3. Marrakech’s very small Jewish community was welcoming to Ricki, who is Jewish. Most Moroccan Jews left for Israel in the 1960s, but a small and active Jewish community remains.
4. Ramadan feasts and customs. Ricki fasted with Muslims during her first year.
5. “Behind the veil.” Women celebrated differently and more exuberantly when celebrating by themselves.

LEAVING MOROCCO: Ricki extended her 2 years of Peace Corps service at the Foyer Cheshire in Marrakech for six months, until August 1981. She loved her job and living in Marrakech and took advantage of the opportunity to extend her service.

AFTER PEACE CORPS MOROCCO: During her time in Morocco, Ricki decided that she wanted to be a journalist as a way of experiencing a wide variety of people and cultures and writing about them. On a tip from a fellow volunteer, she traveled to New Hampshire USA to meet with the editor of the Concord Monitor newspaper who said he had no jobs. Thinking quickly on the spot, she told the editor that someone she knew in Morocco, the former head of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in Morocco, had just retired to open a bookstore in Concord. She offered to write a story about it. The next day, when she turned it in, he offered her a job as a stringer/freelancer. She moved to Concord with her Peace Corps resettlement money, and after a few months, she was hired full-time. She eventually went to journalism school and became a professional journalist. Ricki credits her success getting hired from her experience in Peace Corps Morocco, where she learned not to take no for an answer, and to keep trying until you get what you need. 2023 Ricki lives with her husband, John Hechinger, also a journalist, in the Boston area. They are the parents of one child who works as a clinical psychology research assistant. Ricki describes herself as “a journalist by profession and sometime fiction writer.” She volunteers with a new nonprofit online local paper in Brookline, Massachusetts. For the past five years, Ricki has been volunteering to help settle a Syrian refugee family who, she says, has become like a second family. Ricki is considering returning to Morocco for a visit next year (2024). Ricki reflected that her reasons for joining Peace Corps in 1979 are still valid. She said she joined to broaden her own experience and to help other people. She is aware of criticism that volunteering with Peace Corps represents a kind of “neo-colonialism.” She does wish that the Peace Corps had been able to achieve the goal of installing a Moroccan director of the Foyer Cheshire so that international volunteers would be helpers, not leaders. Even though she understands and theoretically agrees with the critique, on a personal level, she’ll always be grateful to the Peace Corps and to the Moroccan people she met for giving her the opportunity of a lifetime, and two of the best years of her life.

Interview Keyword

Peace Corps (U.S.) Morocco (Country of service) 1979-1981 (Date of service) Peace Corps Volunteer Job: Health and Human Services New York metropolitan area (State where volunteer grew up) Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts USA, (volunteer’s college) English literature (volunteer’s college degree) Columbia University in New York City, NY USA (volunteer’s graduate degree in journalism) “seminal experience” (volunteer’s Peace Corps service) child of Jewish immigrants Poland (father’s birthplace) England (mother’s birthplace) “a child of the world” French (language) Russian (language) Marrakech, Morocco (volunteer’s Peace Corps assignment location) assistant director (volunteer’s role at residential therapeutic home for 20-30 boys who were polio survivors) TRAINING Philadelphia, PA USA (Peace Corps orientation site) Fez, Morocco (Peace Corps training site for three months) Moroccan Arabic (language training) cross-cultural training ASSIGNMENT Foyer Cheshire (name of residential therapeutic home where volunteer worked) physical rehabilitation and education for self-sufficiency Koutoubia (biggest mosque in Marrakech) Jemaa-el Fna (famous square in Marrakech) medina (old city) Leonard Cheshire Foundation (a British non-profit that aids individuals with disabilities worldwide) Leonard Cheshire (a highly decorated World War II British pilot for whom the Leonard Cheshire Foundation was named) Queen Elizabeth II (a sponsor of Foyer Cheshire) volunteer’s duties at Foyer Cheshire (fundraising, administration, organizing medical care and hospital visits, providing emotional support for the boys) Moroccan housemother and her Moroccan staff “riad” (Moroccan house with central gardens that Volunteer shared with other Peace Corps volunteers) local Board of Directors for Foyer Cheshire La Comtesse de Breteuil (Board of Directors’ chair and fundraiser for Foyer Cheshire) wealthy ex-patriate community in Marrakech, including celebrities such as Yves St. Laurent Gueliz (modern new city of Marrakech) mainstream the Foyer Cheshire boys into public school (volunteer’s most important accomplishment) Rabat, Morocco (site of Peace Corps office where a Foyer Cheshire student worked for many years) Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II’s first state visit to Morocco (October 1980) Queen’s site visit to Foyer Cheshire Pasha of Marrakech (donated decorative rugs and urns for Queen’s visit) volunteer led Queen on tour of Foyer Cheshire (volunteer’s most unique experience) NOTE: In 2022, while viewing Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, Ricki wrote “When the Queen Came to Visit.” She read her remembrance in this oral history recording at 16:15 – 20:17. Morocco artifacts: 1. Pillow from the Berber Imilchil Marriage Festival in the Middle Atlas Mountains. 2. Teapot for serving traditional Moroccan mint tea. 3. Moroccan cookbook given to the Foyer Cheshire Peace Corps volunteers by the U.S Consul General. 4. Cooking and eating customs a. Tajine or tagine (North African dish served in earthenware pot) b. Couscous c. Wedding fare d. Eating customs for a guest: for example, accepting and eating a sheep’s eyeball offered by the host so as not to offend. e. Public ovens and public baths (hammams) EXPERIENCES IN MOROCCAN CULTURE Berber people Tamazight (Berber language) modest dress customs expected of women in Morocco (Islamic culture) Marrakech’s Jewish community welcomed volunteer, who is Jewish Ramadan feasts and fasting women’s celebrations “behind the veil” LIFE AFTER PEACE CORPS August 1981(volunteer close of service and return to USA) stringer/freelancer for Concord Monitor newspaper, Concord, New Hampshire USA Peace Corps resettlement money Columbia University journalism school Columbia University, New York City, NY USA professional journalist (volunteer’s career after Peace Corps) John Hechinger (volunteer’s husband, also a journalist) Boston, MA USA (volunteer’s family home after Peace Corps) “a journalist by profession and sometime fiction writer” (volunteer’s self-description) local journalism volunteer with nonprofit online paper in Brookline, MA USA local volunteer helping settle a Syrian refugee family volunteer’s possible visit to Morocco next year (2024) Peace Corps as “neocolonialism” (volunteer aware of this criticism but grateful to people of Morocco for allowing her to serve)

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