Saturday

ach katerewen a sa7bi?


when I was volunteering at enactus, few years ago, the coach of the team (one of the best men i have ever met) and I had a long conversation about the Moroccan culture and how it affects people's personalities and productivity. And i remember him saying that our society not only discourages its members but also mocks them in a way and that was a tremendous eye opener to me. if you analyse our langage you'll see that words like "chnou katerewen", "che kaderebez", "chnou had tekherebi9" are words we use more than often, le9eme3, le7egera are familiar concepts, what we don't realise is that those words are incredibly harsh and discouraging. they can bring some people down, they can make them think twice before saying something else, they can make them insecure and sometimes self conscious. yes you can speak your mind if you don't like something but please, be gentle.

so i say let's not judge people because we don't know their story, we don't know what they've been through, how they think, what are their motivations, even if they hurt you, even if they're horrible to you, let's not put labels, let's keep an open mind, let's say lah ou 3elem or lah yehedi instead of lah yele9eha lik, let's encourage each other, let's help each other out to achieve ridiculous ambitions, it doesnt matter how silly or none sense other people's ideas might seem to you, it's not because you don't understand it, you don't agree with it, that's it's not worth a shot, let's not kill each others hopes and dreams, let's be positive, let's be kind, let's be helpful, let's be patient, let's share and let's never ever mock someone's else's aspirations! who knows what you could become if someone believes in you ? and who knows what someone could become if you believe in them ?


// quand je faisais du bénévolat chez ENACTUS, il y'a quelques années, j'ai eu avec le coach de l'équipe (l'un des meilleurs hommes que j'aie jamais rencontré) une longue conversation à propos de la culture marocaine et comment elle affecte la personnalité et la productivité des marocains. Et je me souviens qu'il m'avait dit que notre société non seulement décourage ses membres, mais cerise sur le gâteau  elle se moque d'eux aussi. ce fut une révélation incroyable. si vous analysez notre langage, vous verrez que des mots comme "Chnou katerewen", "che kaderebez", "Chnou had tekherebi9" sont des mots que nous utilisons plus que souvent, le9eme3, le7egera sont des concepts familiers, ce que nous ne réalisons pas est que ces mots sont incroyablement décourageants. vous voyez quand vous dites à quelqu'un que ri kayerewen, ça peut le bloquer, peut être que la prochaine fois, il ne dira pas ce qu'il a à dire par peur de se faire descendre, peut être qu'a force il perdra sa confiance en soi. alors oui si une idée ne vous plait pas, vous pouvez vous exprimez mais soyez gentils, soyez compréhensifs, ne soyez pas brutes.

Donc moi je dis, ne jugeons pas les gens parce que nous ne connaissons pas leur histoire, nous ne savons pas ce qu'ils ont vécu, comment ils pensent, quelles sont leurs motivations, même si ces personnes vous ont blessé, même si vous pensez que ce sont des personnages hideux, ne mettons pas d'étiquettes automatiquement, gardons un esprit ouvert, disons lah 3elem ous ou lah yehedi au lieu de lah yele9eha lik, encourageons nous, aidons les autres à réaliser leurs ambitions, peut importe si leurs idées vous semblent stupides ou irréalistes, ce n'est pas parce que vous ne comprenez pas cette personne, n'êtes pas d'accord avec leur idéaux... que ce n'est pas la peine de leur donner une chance, ne tuons pas les rêves et les espérances de nos compatriotes et soyons positifs. soyons gentils, soyons compréhensifs, soyons patient, aidons nous les uns les autres, partageons nos connaissances et nous ne moquons jamais de ce que les autres ont à dire. qui sait ce que vous pourriez devenir si quelqu'un croit en vous? et qui sait ce que quelqu'un pourrait le devenir si vous croyez en eux?

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10 comments:

  1. Well... I believe what you're discussing here is nowhere close to be peculiar to the Moroccan culture... Each culture, actually embodied in its language, provides means to put our feelings and perceptions into words, be it positive or negative. It's all up to the individual to make use of the language based a great deal on his background.
    You in fact managed to give out examples of words like "chnou katrewen" or "layle9iha lik" but at the same time mentioned words like "lah yehdi" or "lah 3elem", this means our language -just like any other- goes either way.

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    1. i totally agree that language is what you make of it! and what i'm saying is that i see way more negativity than positivity in our society and i'm hoping that it could change!

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  2. i hope everything will change into the better! :D

    Letters To Juliet

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  3. So what exactly does the sign mean ? Sorry I didn't understand what the word is saying.

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    1. i'm sorry i didnt translate it to english! it's in arabic it's initially a stop sign but two letters have been inversed to mean "wake up"... also the title is a moroccan expression that means "what are you doing mate" but with a very negative tone which implies that the person is doing something wrong or doesnt know what they're doing! i'm just trying to point out some expressions that moroccans use often and that are very discouraging and put people down in an effort to make some realise how important it is to support one another!

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  4. Dear Ichraq.

    thank you so so much for your kind words on my blog on my move to a new place! I am absolutely excited about the town and about my new adventures, and also, who knows -- Mr Right might be just living here (someone could have told me before than,, ;-))

    I was just reading Natasha's comment, and I was also feeling not quite sure on what it was about, as my Arabic skills equal zero (unfortunately). Now that you have explained it in the comment I know that your reflection on the Morocan culture is an interesting approach and super interesting to read! I would love to travel to Morocco one day in the future; a friend of mine is married to a Moroccan, and he cooks like a god! Also, when I was in hospital 1,5 years ago, I was there with a Moroccan girl, well lady, she was 30, and she was such a brave woman: She was divorced and lived with her new (also Moroccan) boyfriend in Eindhoven. I was so impressed how she mastered the language, the totally different culture and all the challenges she must have experienced when she moved away from home. She said that she did not see her family in 8 years - the time she was in Holland. And I can imagine that divorce is not something common to do in Morocco, or am I wrong here?

    Anyways, I love your blog Ichraq! And I shall be back to the blog world and be more active again - now that I have settled in my new home :-)

    Have a wonderful day!

    Love,
    Svenja
    xx

    Happybluebird

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    1. Moroccans are a bit everywhere! and divorce is frowned upon and was not very common because the woman was afterwards badly perceived for some reason but things have changed quite a bit and now people get divorced if they feel like it and it's more acceptable!
      and thank you for your kind words! you're way too sweet :)

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  5. it really is important to not judge people, especially if you don't know them really good. guess that's a big problem in the whole world!

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