Interview with Liz Fanning, October 14, 2021

Interview Summary

Liz Fanning talks of her motivation to join the Peace Corps and serve in Morocco from 1993-1995. After training in Rabat, she worked on environmental projects in Morocco’s Parks, Wildlife and Environmental Education sector. She describes working with farming families in a village near Toubkal National Park in the High Atlas Mountains, and during the summers living and working with shepherds as they pastured their animals in the mountains. She recalls challenges she faced, which included language difficulties, winter rains that closed roads, struggling to make an impact, and the different culture of Marrakech versus rural areas. She describes the friendliness of the Moroccan people. She reports that her experience was transformative and led her in 2011 to found CorpsAfrica, which recruits and trains Africans to serve as development volunteers in their own countries. She describes CorpsAfrica’s progress and plans for expansion. She reflects on her rich relationships with RPCV’s and how her NGO helps to achieve Peace Corps’ Third Goal.

Interview Keyword

Peace Corps (U.S) Morocco (Country of service) 1993-1995 (Years of service) Peace Corps Volunteer Job: Community Development PWEE Volunteer (Peace Corps Volunteer working on Parks, Wildlife, Environment and Education projects) Morocco Rabat (Capital of Morocco) Marrakech (Morocco’s fourth-largest city, located north of the High Atlas Mountains) Tashelhait (Language) Toubkal National Park, Morocco Tiziane (A village in the Marrakech region of Morocco) Azib (Land used to pasture animals also a shepherd’s camp and/or a shepherd’s tent) Barbary macaque (A macaque monkey species native to the Atlas Mountains) Tifnoute Valley (A valley in the High Atlas Mountains known for its beautiful river, agriculture, and hiking opportunities) Azzaden Valley (A valley in the High Atlas Mountains known for its Amazigh villages) CorpsAfrica (A 501(c)3 organization with the mission of providing an opportunity for Africans to serve like Peace Corps volunteers in their own countries) https://www.corpsafrica.org (CorpsAfrica website) Zagora (a town located in the Draa River valley in the Moroccan region of Drâa-Tafilalet) NPCA (National Peace Corps Association) Human Centered Design (Process used to facilitate community development projects) Malawi, Morocco, Rwanda and Senegal (Countries in which CorpsAfrica has programs as of October 2021) Ghana, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Uganda (Countries to which CorpsAfrica plans to expand as of October 2021).

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