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Editorial

Change in the CEI

CONTENTS:
Editorial

Professional

Training
Roundtable on

Racism
Partnership in

Casablanca
Baby Clothes

in Rabat
Beneficiaries

Stories
Contact

Like many church bodies here in

Morocco, the CEI is run by people who have often been in Morocco for several years but who
eventually leave us to return to
their home countries. This was
the case in 2015, a year in which
there was quite a bit of change
amongst church leadership. First
of all, in July, our team coordinator Carlos Funk finished his
term after three years of service
in Morocco and left to take a
pastoral position in France. His
gentle spirit and calm presence
will be missed by all of us here.
Carlos work has been taken
over by Miora Andriatsimalia
who is a pastoral intern and a
theology student at the Al
Mowafaqa Ecumenical Theological Institute. Before taking this

position with the CEI, Miora was

the pastoral intern in Agadir
where she was already very involved in the work of the local
CEI team, in addition to helping
with the accounting at the national level. We are thankful for
her faithful engagement and her
many skills that will help us greatly in our work.
Then, at the end of September,
Pastor Samuel Amdro, President of the EEAM and of the CEI,
resigned for health reasons. We
wish him a full and rapid recovery and Gods blessing on his
continued ministry in France.
Samuel is replaced by Pastor
Karen Thomas Smith who has
been involved in the work of the
CEI since its beginning in 2003,
and who was already on the
national board.

Even with the changes we have

experienced among leadership,
the work of the CEI continues in
the same spirit of welcome and
accompaniment of our brothers
and sisters among us who suffer.
The number of needy individuals
continues to grow and regularly
presents a challenge to our ability
to respond. With Gods help, we
continue to do our best to maintain hope for those who despair
and to proclaim Gods love in a
very tangible way to those who
feel rejected and forgotten. May
God bless the efforts of Gods
children throughout the world to
live out the gospel in this way.
Pastor Karen Thomas Smith
President of the EEAM and the CEI

The New CEI Team in Meknes

There were about thirty of us in
one of the rooms at the church,
gathered around a table in order
to be able to easily have a discussion. Before distributing the food
packages, we had a moment for
prayer and a chance for all of the
migrants to introduce themselves. Afterwards, we took time
to hear about different situations,
listening to stories about the
needs and difficulties that arise in
daily life. This time is important
for us to be able to share in their
suffering and their joy. We gave
out the food packages containing
rice, lentils, dry pasta, canned

tomatoes, oil, sugar,

spice cubes, and
vegetables. Those
who were present to
share and receive
included men, women, boys, and girls, as
well young children.
After the distribution, some wanted
individual interviews.
It was a great comfort to see the
smiles of relief on the faces of
people receiving food aid and
having the time to be listened to
by members of the CEI. We
thank the Lord the work done by

the CEI, and we are faithful that

it will continue to come to the
aid of those who are in need for
many years to come.
Michelson, Meknes

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Professional Training Program

Trainees in painting are redoing the buildings of the Rabat - Kenitra congregation
At the beginning of October,
the CEIs professional training
program in painting started in
Rabat. In addition to the training, this was a good opportunity to refresh some of the
buildings at the local church
that was hosting the session.

CONTENTS:
Editorial

Professional Training
Roundtable on

Racism
Partnership in

Casablanca
Baby Clothes

in Rabat
Beneficiaries

Stories
Contact

CEI

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It has been more than a year

that the CEI has offered this
professional training in painting
and construction. This course
was unveiled in Agadir under
the leadership of Fredy Razafindrakoto, who is also in
charge of the curriculum. Having finished the work at the
site in the southern Moroccan
city in three two- to threemonth sessions, he kindly accepted to go to other EEAM
churches to continue the activity. The current session of the
CEIs painting and construction
training (October-Decmber
2015) was hosted by the
church of Rabat and its satellite
congregation in Kenitra.
The least we can say is that the
work of the five trainees in this
workshop under the direction
of their teacher was remarkable. One simply has to look
around the celebrated Upper
Room at the Rabat church to
realize itthe walls are now
painted a radiant pink that
beautifully complements the
yellow of several wall decorations. The newfound clean
look has not just been beneficial to the Rabat church, but
also to the national church
which uses it for various meetings. Also in Rabat, the attached residence and the CEI
room, which houses the workshop for the professional training sessions in womens hairdressing, were also repainted.

After this job in downtown

Rabat, Papa Fredy and his team
immediately went to work on
the pastoral residence in the
neighborhood of Agdal. As
with their first project they did
a fantastic job, making the
place seem like brand new and
giving it a sense of elegance. It
had only been partially repainted in 2013 for the arrival of
Pastor Daniel Dushimimana
and his family. The CEIs painting and construction workshop
made for a perfect opportunity
to finish up the job, all the
more so because the materials
were generously provided by
the congregation; the CEI
simply had to provide its trainer and his team of trainees.
The quality with which the
building was renovated will
surely benefit the Rabat church

for many years to come.

The group of painting trainees
is currently working at its third
and final site, the annex church
in Kenitra. To be sure, the
session will not be enough to
take care of all of the necessary repairs, and the CEI is not
in a position to financially support a full renovation, as this
would go over the budget for
the training workshop. Nevertheless, certain high-priority
repairs, like the fence, will get
a good start. In all sincerity, we
pray that this team of trainees
and their teacher be abundantly blessed for the work they
have accomplished for the
house of God.
Jean-Louis, Rabat

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Roundtable to Discuss Racism

ASCITUDE, an association based Nador, organized a roundtable in Oujda between
organizations, sub-Saharan African migrants, and Syrian refugees.

Fighting
racism means
continued
awareness and
education of
the general
population

CONTENTS:
Editorial

Professional

Training

Roundtable on Racism
Partnership in

Casablanca
Baby Clothes

in Rabat
Beneficiaries

Stories
Contact

The goal of this round table

was to discuss the role of media which, through article titles
and content, spreads mostly
negative images of sub-Saharan
African migrants and contributes to maintainingand even
creatingracist sentiments
towards them. Multiple articles
were cited, notably an article
in a Meknes newspaper which
suggested putting all subSaharan African migrants into
one specific place and prohibiting them from moving freely
around the city since they
represent a threat to the general population.
Another observation: Muslim
migrants are better-accepted
and have a much better fate
than those of other faiths. This
phenomenon sometimes drives
migrants to adopt Muslim
names in order to enjoy certain privileges. Syrians also
receive distinctly better treatment than sub-Saharan Africans. Certain imams, during
Friday prayer, even ask attendees to provide help to

Syrian families and might even

go so far as to suggest marriage between Moroccan men
and Syrian women.
One must also recognize that
the absence of any political
party or movement encouraging racism in the area means
that the situation is not getting
worse.
The CEIs contribution to the
discussion at the roundtable
focused on two different time
periods: that preceding the
initiative to regularize migrants, marked by racist behav-

ior, and that following the

initiative, during which we
notice a certain improvement
of the situation. We also presented several other factors in
trying to understand racist
reactions of the general population in Oujda: historic xenophobia directed towards
people with dark skin, stereotypes, occasionally the attitude
of certain official bodies, etc.
In conclusion, we provided
several suggestions for the
purpose of improving the situation, including that the
roundtable needs to
be followed up by a
poster and advertising
campaign in newspapers. Fighting racism
m ean s
c on tinu e d
awareness and education of the general
population; racism is,
at its base, a symptom
of ignorance.
Sidney, Oujda

CEI

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Evolution
in
Casablanca
The Casablanca team works in coordination with local partners
Every Thursday, the local CEI
team in Casablanca welcomes
our migrant brothers and sisters and tries to help their
situation by distributing food
and clothes, and by buying
medications prescribed by our
volunteer doctors. We also
organize awareness and education campaigns for the vulnerable population that we receive
about prevention of various
serious illnesses (tuberculosis,
HIV, STDs, flu, etc.). At least
120 people benefit from this
activity every month, and the
demand continues to grow
following regular expulsions of

northern migrant populations

towards larger cities further
south, namely Casablanca aand
Rabat.
In order to better respond to
the needs of the vulnerable
population in Casablanca, the
CEI team has been working
more and more in partnership
with other local aid associations and participating in the
Migrant Aid Collective of Casablanca of which we are an
active member. The team has
been working particularly
closely with SAM-Caritas
(Service dAccueil aux Migrantes, an aid organization for

female migrants). This partnership is based in the accompaniment of small AGR projects
(Activities to Generate Revenue) co-financed by the two
groups. The projects are chosen after discussing the applicants together, home visits are
done by a member of each
team, and then accompaniment
is done by a member of one
team or the other. Vulnerability criteria are considered as a
priority so as to help a maximum of people pull themselves
from difficult situations into
financial autonomy.
William Ledy, Casablanca

CONTENTS:
Editorial

Professional

Training
Roundtable on

Racism

Partnership in Casablanca
Baby Clothes

in Rabat
Beneficiaries

Stories
Contact

Success Story

The Casablanca CEI team was

able, in coordination with the
national board, to take care of
Mr. S, a thirty-five-year-old
Cameroonian man with a wife
and three children. He had
very serious health problems
that required multiple surgeries to resolve. The necessary

CEI

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procedures are considered

very dangerous and have a low
survival rate, but Mr. S got
through them with no complications. The follow-up examination proved to be satisfactory, and he is doing better ever
since. The story is truly marvelous because, despite the

many difficulties, Mr. S. has

recently been able to find
work. His thanks join our own
to the donors and to the directors at the national level for
their support of migrants. You
are truly a blessing from God!

William Ledy, Casablanca

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Operation Clothing Aid for infants in Rabat

A new aid program in Rabat targets infants and their mothers

the Rabat
CEI team
started to notice
more and more
mothers who
were not able to
sufficiently take
care of their
infants...
CONTENTS:
Editorial

Professional

Training
Roundtable on

Racism
Partnership in

Casablanca

Baby Clothes in Rabat

Beneficiaries

Stories
Contact

CEI

NEW S

This year, starting in March

2015, the team started a new
aid programa clothing aid for
infants. Towards the end of
2014 and the beginning of
2015, the Rabat CEI team
started to notice more and
more mothers who were not
able to sufficiently take care of
their infants, especially newborns. Multiple pregnant women towards the end of their
terms and mothers with children between one and five
years old had been coming to
ask the CEI for clothes for
their children. The CEI generally only gave out clothes that
were donated by congregation
members or others, so it was
rare to find donated clothes
for those ages. Due to the
increasing frequency of this
type of need, we decided to
open up a new type of aid
specifically for infant clothing.
We started by buying chil-

drens clothes for children

from newborns to age five
which we immediately distributed to the mothers. Next,
once the children grow and
the original clothes they received from the CEI have gotten too small, the mothers
have to bring back the small
clothes, washed and in decent
condition, to receive replacements in a bigger size. The
returned clothes will then be
able to benefit other mothers.
This method makes it possible

for us to help more mothers

who come to us, but more
importantly it lets us keep up
to date with them through
regular contact and to help
them keep up with their responsibilities.
Since March 2015, through this
new aid program, the CEI in
Rabat has been able to touch
the lives of thirty-five mothers
and their young children.
Jonah, Rabat

Goodwill Offering on December 6th, 2015

Twice a year, the CEI team in
Rabat organizes a special collection from the congregation
of Rabat. It is an important way
for the church to fellowship in
community, serving its neighbors and coming to the aid of
brothers and sisters living in
difficult situations. The dates of
these collections are announced in advance so that
church members can come to
the Sunday service with all
sorts of donations, including
non-perishable food items,
clothes, personal hygiene kits,
and cash donations. This year,
the last collection on December 6th was exceptional. The

Rabat team was able to collect

an impressive amount of food
goods, including flour, rice, oil,
canned sardines, sugar, powdered milk, dry pasta, canned
peas, and lentils, but also hygiene products and soaps. The
team also received numerous
clothes, some blankets, and
financial donations of over
6000 dirhamdouble what the
team gathered at the last collection. This successful offering
will make it possible to help
even more people in need.
Praise be to God!
Jonah, Rabat

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Our Beneficiaries Stories

E. arrived in Agadir some time ago and has
regularly benefitted from the food packages
distributed at our regular welcome hours at
the church. Recently, she was suffering from
intense tooth pain caused by severe decalcification. The CEI team intervened to direct her
to a dentist and buy her the necessary medications. After a couple of weeks of treatment,
we saw her smiling and relieved. We gave her
a special food package containing plenty of
dairy products to help continue the healing of
her decalcification. Thanks be to God.
Simon, Agadir

Having recently arrived in Tangiers from

Algeria, C. was entirely disoriented. Not
having a place to stay, she had gone to
the forest camps with her five-year-old
child in order to find some community.
When she eventually came and was received by us, she ended up telling her
story in tears. The CEI team prayed with
her, gave her a package of food, and
helped look for accommodations for her
and her child. After her consultation was
over, she gave a faint smile that bore
witness to the relief she was feeling, and
she thanked the CEI profusely for the
work it does for the most vulnerable
among us.
Amed, Tangiers

CONTENTS:
Editorial

Professional

Training
Roundtable on

Racism
Partnership in

Casablanca
Baby Clothes

Jonah, Rabat

Our deepest thanks to our dear donors,

without whom none of these projects
would be possible by the grace of God!

O. is a young Nigerian woman. She arrived in Morocco via the road from Algeria after a torturous journey. Over the
course of her travel, she suffered terrible
abuse, and found herself pregnant. She
was already eight months pregnant when
she got to us.

in Rabat

Our Beneficiaries
Contact

This small story is that of R., a Cameroonian

man. He was hit by a car on September 5th, 2015
while he was begging in one of the streets of Fes.
He had a fractured arm and edemas all over his
body from the shock. The CEI intervened and
took care of his medical expenses since the case
was an emergency. By the grace of God he regained his health after two weeks of care. We
thank our marvelous God, as well as the CEI for
its medical aid program.
Freddy, Fes
CEI

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This is the story of L., a young mother

who was a victim of the weapons depot
explosion that took place in Brazzaville,
Congo in 2012 and left her handicapped
on her right foot. When we received her
at our regular welcome hours one week
in September, she was 39 weeks pregnant. We gave her a package of food and
helped her by accompanying her to the
hospital for an ultrasound to check on
the progress of her pregnancy. By the
grace of God she gave birth to a beautiful baby on Saturday, October 17th
2015. We still continue to keep her and
her baby in our prayers. The whole Rabat CEI was in agreement to incorporate
her into the CEIs new Operation Baby
program to continue helping her.

She was welcomed by one of our sisters

who is a member of the church and who
continues to house her to this day. The
Casablanca CEI team helped her in many
ways, including paying her rent, paying
for prenatal exams, supplying food packages, and various other medical assistances until the birth of her child. Today she
is a healthy mother with a healthy fourmonth-old baby.
William Ledy, Casablanca

The night following the demolition of the

camps near the university in Oujda, a
fourteen-year-old migrant was kidnapped
and tortured by his abductors. Brought
into the forest, he was tortured with
knives, beaten, and raped for twenty-four
hours. He carried scars from the abuse
and a medical certificate confirmed it. The
minor benefitted from medical, social, and
psychological care from our partners
Doctors of the World. Starting in September, the CEI took care of his food
costs and accommodations in a secure
environment that took into account his
age, his physical and mental state, and his
vulnerability. In the end, the CEI was able
to successfully guide him through the
necessary procedures to assure his voluntary return to his home in Guinea.
Hery, Oujda

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Congregations
of the EEAM
Telephone Numbers:
(+212) 6 60 14 58 49
(+212) 6 51 61 39 04
E-mail:
cei.2010.ma@gmail.com

CONTENTS:
Editorial

Professional

Training
Roundtable on

Racism
Partnership in

Casablanca
Baby Clothes

in Rabat
Beneficiaries

Stories

Contact

Members of the local CEI teams and the National Board,

together in Rabat for the 2015 General Assembly

One Last Story

On Sunday November 1st,
2015, during our welcome
service for new students,
interns, and professionals
in our church, we received
a young man from Senegal
named Mamadou.
He came to Morocco several months prior with the
goal of finding a situation
with economic stability. In
actuality, he has been
bouncing between odd
jobs without finding anything satisfactory. The last
job he held was in a call
center, working in customer service. This work was
insufficient and unsatisfactory for him, and his living
conditions were getting
more and more unstable.
As a result, he eventually
decided to return to his
home country.
Before I ever had any contact with him, he had met
with the pastor and president of the church board
who listened to his story,
and afterwards they referred him to me. He was
asking if the CEI could pay
for his transportation to
Layoune, where he could
make contact with other
people form Senegal who
make regular trips between
the two countries by car.
After conferring with the
pastor, we decided to go
to Supratour (a bus company) to get a ticket to
Layoune. The ticket was
350 dirham, and we gave
him an additional 100 dirham for the trip.
Franck, Marrakesh

CEI

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