Working in Synergy

How would you define synergy? Does it vary depending on each one’s viewpoint or is it a universal term?
The dictionary definition makes the word clearer, but it does not help us deepening our theory of ‘working in synergy’. From my own vision, working in synergy is a particular way that every one of us has in performing a specific task. The particularity is related to the way of performing the task, the time spent, the order followed and the final result. For instance, if a group of five people is asked to build a home with a garden using Lego, it’s sure that one of them would begin building walls, while another one will start placing trees in the garden. The third person would start placing the door on the front of the home… this particular way of beginning with a different part of the home reveals a creative intelligence because each person believes that it is important to have beautiful trees, a well-placed door, or huge walls. Each one of those persons has its own reason to begin with this part of the house. Also, the results would be the same; a house. However, details will be much more different; I mean by details the free space for the garden, the height of the walls, the emplacement of the door, the number of windows… Think of those people if they worked together, the result would be wonderful. They would have much more ideas, more material, and more time to perform each one his or her favorite part of the house. Coping in a task is the best way to have fruitful outcomes. Synergy is simply the best way of working because you have more intelligence to explore, more ideas to employ and more outcomes to benefit from.
This strategy is the one used by firms and companies all over the world. If employees put their hands together, they have more time for leisure and they are more motivated for their work. When the company makes real benefits, its employees are also rewarded. This strategy is a productive one, but there are some rules to follow.
The gold rule is to trust all the components of the project. I mean that every person taking a part of the project needs the trust of the others, and of the boss. On that way, everyone will get confidence and work consciously. If we want to take this strategy as a model and to compare it to our Moroccan strategy; too many gaps will need to be filled up. Because in Morocco we need to work in synergy, we need others trust, we need our self-confidence, we need more motivation and we need to be paid. All those criteria are grouped in the synergy strategy. Therefore, the medicine to all our pains would simply be to work in a proper synergy strategy.
My discourse could seem to some of you too simplistic, or perhaps too theoretical. I say that you are wrong because big concepts and strategies have to be simplified and popularize in order to gain success. Altogether, the best way is to implement this approach to our national companies, and to apply it as faithfully as possible. Finally, just forget about the boss, who is required to follow all the steps done by his or her employees, it’s a medieval strategy. Get started without wasting your time!

Hind El Gaidi

Promoting Contraception

Manal is an eighteen-year-old girl. Last month, she had a painful experience that made her rethink about her acts. Manal was having sexual intercourses with her boyfriend who is two years older than her. Their relationship was funny at the beginning, but it turned to a nightmare when she learned that she was pregnant. Her boyfriend broke up with her, her girlfriends let her down, because she was trapped with a baby. The only solution that solved her problem was abortion. In fact, she risked her life and took responsibilities by herself because of a moment of enjoyment. Therefore, is there any solution that could be done in order to avoid such dangers? And how could she react if she knew about the drawbacks of what she was doing?
Manal is not the only teenager having experienced such an awful episode in her life. Everyday, a great amount of girls and boys face problems with their sexuality. In Morocco, the problem is greater because it is not only a matter of teenagers' problems, but also a problem of society. The actual Moroccan society suffers from paradoxes that confuse teenagers who are just about discovering the real world. Every single moment, they are catching different messages concerning their sexual lives: ones are encouraging them to 'go ahead' in what they are doing, and others are keeping them far from any temptation. Therefore, the question raised is closely related to the finding of the most suitable behavior that those lost teenagers might follow. Is it the right way the abstinence from all appealing signals of society? Or a total openness to the society and its temptations? I do believe that the promotion of contraception among teenagers is the best way to overcome problems resulting from extra-marital sexual intercourses.
Conservative families might be concerned that starting from the point that Morocco is a Muslim country; thus, we are not expected to debate the promotion of contraception. The Muslim religion that we are all required to follow has been clear about extra-marital sexual intercourses. “Let no man guilty of adultery or fornication marry and but a woman similarly guilty, or an Unbeliever: nor let any but such a man or an Unbeliever marry such a woman: to the Believers such a thing is forbidden.” Sura 24: 3.This surah clearly states the position of Islamic religion towards immoral relationships, and explains the punishment that should be inflicted to disobedient people. I can understand their concerns about the sacrality of girls’ honor, purity and virginity within a Muslim country. Yet, I want to highlight the actual situation in Morocco, especially concerning teenagers’ sexuality. Inside our Muslim country, the majority of young people are not convinced about Islam. Hence, they are labeled as Muslims at their birth, but they do not have the necessary faith to practice it honestly. In fact, the fake label “Muslim” is a way of hiding the reality and building a hypocritical society. Teenagers are encouraged to do what they want as far as nobody knows about it. Consequently, instead of imposing abstinence without convincing teenagers about its advantages, it is wiser to promote contraception among them to avoid potential risks of bigger scandals and dishonor.
Some scholars might argue that promoting contraception among youngsters would influence them negatively. They strongly believe that even with clear instructions, theory is far away from practice. For that reason, sex education classes are a platonic way to solve the problem, or worse, it creates other problems related to sexual practices. I agree, in part, with those people who consider that teenagers would be affected. Still, teenage hood is a critical stage of life where people are between childhood and adulthood. They want to experience adult customs, but they still have child fears. Indeed, they are vulnerable and must be guided throughout this period. If we do not act in that way, they certainly would have their own experience without taking any measure of precaution. The goal behind sex education classes is to make adolescents aware of all eventual risks and damages that they might encounter, then to encourage them to have safer sex.
The society accepts as true that promoting contraception among young people will destroy the morality and the society structure. They claim that after conceding about morally wrong issues such as cigarettes and alcohol, they cannot allow teenagers to behave in such way. This is a misconception of the current issue because the society is already destroyed. Teenagers are behaving wildly with a high non-sense of responsibilities. For that reason, communication is the most effective way that could be used to achieve satisfying results. The principal aim of promoting contraception is the use of a powerful tool to help adolescents think and act by themselves. Teaching them critical thinking is a way of getting rid of all potential risks. Still, the encountered problem is the lack of time and the urgency to act. Therefore, as a first step, the sensitizing could be the most effective way of stopping this phenomenon. Afterward, it may be possible to inculcate critical thinking to youngsters. I estimate that the actual society is suffering from hidden harms because of hypocrisy and taboos. In fact, we are not allowed to dig our heads in the sand and continue in the ostrich-like way because it misleads teenagers who are just about to discover the real world.
Some men are strongly attached to their cultural conceptions and do not accept to marry girls who experienced sexuality with other men. Indeed, they maintain that abstinence is the sine qua non condition to preserve girls. These people display narrow-mind and selfishness. This category of men is totally for abstinence. They impose to girls to withdraw from life. In other words, they want girls to stay at home, do housework and be pious. The unexpected aspect is that those men do enjoy life and all its forms of entertainment. They also have extra-marital sexual intercourses, refuse to use condoms, and take advantage from some liberal girls. Thereafter, they send them to the trash. The society is reined by a patriarchal system that encourages men to act as they want. On the other hand, women are supposed to be submissive and docile to men; otherwise, they will be punished. This mentality scandalizes me because I feel that the rules are made by and for men without giving any consideration to their women counterparts. Consequently, to the eyes of those men, abstinence is a warranty that a girl is “clean”, and it is still related to male chauvinism. I advocate the necessity to keep equality between men and women, and convince macho men that abstinence is not the right way.
Moreover, encouraging abstinence is an unrealistic goal that we have to forget about. Each day, youngsters are encountering heavy pressures from media and society. As a teenager, I do not understand the controversy of the situation because everywhere I look –on television, on billboards, in movies-; I see something that pertains to sex. Just because condoms would be handed out in school, this would not possibly promote sex anymore than it already is. Hence, we cannot stop the human instinct that is appealing those young people. Besides, we have to afford necessary circumstances for them in order to keep it as a good experience, without any result that could influence their future life.
Altogether, the necessity to promote contraception is an imminent duty to take before the spread of other harms. Advocates are always stressing abstinence. Abstinence is certainly the best form of birth control, and the best way to avoid sexually-transmitted diseases, but it is not very realistic to teens in today's world. Our modern life is evolving; accordingly, we have to adopt appropriate lifestyles and adapt them to our needs. Having safe sex is better than being exposed to sexually-transmitted diseases or unwanted pregnancies. Finally, abstinence is an against-nature situation that may take anti-human dimensions.

Violence Against Women

“I cannot bear anymore to be hit, insulted, and always harassed… I am afraid for my children and myself. This hell that I am living must stop… I need help” (magazine interview; Femmes du Maroc March 2004, 52). Malika is a young woman expressing her anger and rage against her husband who is threatening and beating her. In Morocco, there are numerous women who are in the same situation as Malika, and those women do not have even the courage to denounce their daily martyrdom. Taboos, education and religion are always the reasons to keep the violence that they have undergone secret. In fact, those women keep on bearing violence committed against them and encourage men to continue harassing them. Those women might be our mothers, sisters, friends, teachers, or employees, and they are encountering each day a difficult situation that they have to overcome without being affected. The 25th November of each year is the international day of violence against women, and Morocco also joins the international community to celebrate this great event and to break the barriers that still stop Moroccan women from pointing the finger at their pains. This day is also an occasion to sensitize people about the real meaning of violence, where it occurs and what they should do in a case of violence.
Violence is seen among people as the physical brutality against a person; however, violence includes verbal, non-verbal and physical aggressions. Each woman in Morocco is undergoing each day at least one of those three types of violence; this is why there is an urgency to treat this topic. People, especially women, have to be aware of the seriousness of this issue; the Moroccan family code in a case of violence and the help offered by organizations. Therefore, in this essay I will discuss different forms of violence against women, consequences on victims and efforts made to overcome this phenomenon.
The violence takes different forms; it could be verbal, non-verbal or physical. The verbal violence against women is the most common form of violence in Morocco. Women, young girls or even little girls are victims of men who cannot control themselves. Either on the street, or at home; those men are husbands, colleagues or strangers. They tell aggressive words out loud that hurt their female counterparts and make them feel uncomfortable. The remarks that strangers say against women on the street are often about their clothes, bodies or behavior. Those observations are all biased and low-monitored messages. In fact, women do not react, and prefer to keep silence, which encourages men to keep on harassing them. Besides, the oral violence that occurs at home between husbands and wives is generated because of conflictual relationships. Usually, when there is a lack of respect within the couple then the conflict degenerates to become a quarrel where the man takes the power and insults, or blames his wife. The second type of violence, which is the non-verbal violence, is usually combined with the verbal one. The man usually has aggressive gestures that enhance his violence and it is a form of harassment. The latest form of violence is physical violence. This type of violence is the worst, and brings about the most horrible consequences. A great deal of women is suffering daily from physical brutality either at their houses or offices, and sometimes even on the street. For instance, there are bosses who harass their female employees, and behave with them as if they were their servants. Therefore, the violence noticed among men against women is mainly due to psychological troubles, or jealousy.
Accordingly, violence that some women are undergoing has drastic consequences on the physical and moral health. Women who are physically brutalized have a shocking medical condition; they generally have serious injuries that they are hiding behind sunglasses or underneath their clothes. However, hiding those traces of violence is a way to save the face towards the society without solving the real problem that is set. Still, the physical suffering is softer than the psychological damages that may pursue the aggressed woman during her whole life. The violence that women undertake leads to a lack of both self-esteem and self-confidence. The woman feels that she is guilty for doing something, and that she deserves a punishment from her husband, brother or whoever he is. For that reason, she blames herself and bears all the sarcasms of her aggressor. Besides, she might have nightmares where she sees herself harassed or in the same situations that she endures during quarrels. Additionally, women who are undergoing physical violence may develop a kind of hate towards all men or have an extreme fear from them and be disgusted of their male counterparts. Consequently, harassed women, when they are educating their children, hand down the same fears and grudges to them. On the other hand, women who are verbally harassed do suffer from lack of self-confidence, and the only way to protect themselves is to keep quiet until they feel safer. Insults and words that men use to threaten women allude to their physical appearance or intelligence. This way, men feel that they control those pitiable victims and they reduce them to simple objects to be used. Therefore, physical and moral violence have extreme drawbacks on the psychological side of women that leads to the loss of a mental equilibrium.
In view of that, there are twenty two non-profit organizations trying to help harassed women to get out of the violence spiral (Femmes du Maroc, March 2004, 51). Those listening units have phone numbers where women can call and express themselves openly. Besides, in those centers there are many women who work to rescue harassed and threatened women by giving them psychological support. Militant women working in those units make the victims aware of their rights and show them the juridical procedure to follow if they want to denounce their aggressors. “Centre d’Ecoute de l’Hermitage” is the first center in Morocco that offered help to women victims of violence, and is lead by three militant women. Fatema is working in this center and witnesses each day women telling about their daily sufferance. She concludes “we do not alleviate all the sufferings which these women live, but we let us give them a glimmer of hope. It is usually hard, very hard!” (Femmes du Maroc, March 2004, 52). From this testimony, we can conclude that those women the necessary comfort in those talking units. Usually, the process of reconstructing their personalities takes a long period of time, and represents a hard task to achieve because they have been used to violence against them.
Overall, violence against women is a tough issue that requires comprehensive people who could deal with this concern. Violence inflicted to women could be verbal or non-verbal, and sometimes they undergo both forms of violence. In fact, this violence leads to severe consequences on women’s health; physical damages are the noticeable ones, but still there a deeper harms as the psychological troubles that overwhelm victims. Hence, non-governmental organizations (NGO) are setting programs to help women be aware of their human and constitutional rights. The reason behind all the efforts made against violence towards women is to give back their respect to threatened women because they are an inherent part of the Moroccan society. In the same way, the changes that have been made last year in the Moudawana code are seeking to protect women and give them their rights. The question raised then is to what extent the Moudawana will be applicable in the Moroccan context, but this could be another matter of topic.

Hind El Gaidi