Another indication of the unprecedented impact of MLP on Moroccan students


Kaoutar Lakhr :  Rooted Everyday MedStory Winner ( Group 14 – 18 )

Another indication of the unprecedented impact of MLP on Moroccan students


Kaoutar and her father happily receiving the first prize 

1. Talents Need Support


                I’ve been teaching English in Moroccan high schools since 2007. 12 years of day-to-day instruction and interaction with different types of students from different parts of Morocco and my close everyday observation has confirmed to me more than ever before that our Moroccan students are bestowed with true talent and exceptional intelligence . My guests and visitors from both England and the US have also genuinely stated the same thing when they visited some of my classes. However, unluckily these smart poor students are not given the slightest opportunities to further improve their skills, enhance their creativity and broaden their imagination. The proof is whenever they are appropriately supported, inspired and guided, they always show surprising results with very little effort being invested.  I truly believe that if ample time, enough money and efficient efforts are invested on their education, their dreams and the ones of the whole nation will certainly come true.

2. Rooted Everyday Writing Contest

            One of those students is called Kaoutar Lakhr. She is a 14-year-old freshman student. This is her first year studying English as a foreign language .  She successfully managed to write a wonderful story in English within the framework of MedStory Writing Contest organized by Rooted Everyday https://www.rootedeveryday.org/  and therefore deserved to win the first place. Many thanks go to Rooted Everyday Foundation for their support and initiative.


3. Morocco Library Project


             Kaoutar Lakhr was also one of my students who actively took part in Morocco Library Project https://www.moroccolibraries.org/ Center' activities at my school, Ibn Sina high school. She has proudly read a great number of books mainly novels and biographies. She also got involved in Literature Circles and group discussionsheld by English club. Immeasurable, heartfelt thanks should go to MLP and Mrs. Barb for her ongoing support with high-quality books.




4. Reap What you Sow.


         I would like to share with everyone Kaoutar's piece of creative writing. I hope that more opportunities will be given to our students so as they can show their talents and and unleash the lion within their hearts and minds.  

Garbage Monster


It was a sunny Sunday, Sara and Chloe were getting bored. They had finished their homework and watched enough of television and finished their house work, too. Just then Chloe remembered about his remote control she bought years ago. She quickly ran to the storage room searching for it. As she was looking, Sara found a dusty and rusty old thing which resembled the remote of Chloe.
o   « Chloe, look what I found! »
o   « Doesn’t this look like my remote control? But wait, this looks so strange, why are these tiny buttons here? »
o   « Wait Chloe! Don’t do anything! Let’s take it to dad and show it to him »
o   « I wonder what will happen if I press this... »
o   « Don’t....... !!!!! » Shouted Sara.
They both felt dizzy! The only thing they could see is black, green, black bubbles ...Their heads swirled, and they fainted instantly. Rubbing their eyes, they were very surprised to look at their surroundings. Machines are everywhere, and impossible to count them. But the worst was that the sea was full of oil, tins, paper, and all kinds of rubbish. It was a terrible scene.
“Hmmmm..... what place is this Chloe” Sara looked around curiously
“I have no idea” said Chloe
Then, they saw a big giant strange machine coming out. The two of them stood in front of the massive door. The door opened to a vast deserted land. The place was so empty. No sign of people. It was all deserted”.
“How horrible!” Chloe said to Sara.
When Sara turned her head, she saw a huge shadow cast over them.
“Monsteeeeeeer!!” screamed Sara, both girls saw that huge monster and then started to run.
The monster chased them in whatever direction they ran. Soon both of them were so tired that they could not  move any more. Breathing heavily, they stood in front of the monster; helpless and hopeless. They closely looked at it and saw that it was made of junk, electronic waste, and all kind of garbage... and it stunk!
“HA..HA...HA” the monster loudly laughed, “I’m the Garbage monster! And I was created by you, the humans, You dumped all your trash on earth, polluted its beauty, threw electronic waste. And here I am, as the result of your reckless, childish behavior.”
o   “Please don’t hurt us” begged Chloe.
o   “Please leave us and let us alone!” said Sara.
o   “That is not enough; how can I believe you selfish humans!” roared the monster.
o   “Please believe us, we won’t exploit our nature anymore, we have seen the effect of our actions. We have seen the state of the earth in future if we continue to exploit earth” begged Chloe.
As both of them were speaking to the monster, a strong air blew and pulled both of them back to their room. Rubbing their eyes, Chloe and Sara realized that they had actually travelled ahead in time. What they had witnessed was the state of earth if humans did nothing to protect the environment from pollution.
The two girls went to the house, and told their dad what happened, and that inspired him to write a story.
That night, Chloe’s brother was playing football video games
o   “It’s time for bed now, Malcolm,” his father sternly said.
o   “Pleeease?” Malcolm smiled the warmest smile possible, a smile he knew his father could not resist.
o   “Well, all right then. Any preferences tonight?” Malcolm thought and thought, then said.
o   “Tell me about Earth, Dad.”
His father’s expression became gloomy, and then he sat straight.
o   “All right then. I think it is about time you got to know a bit more about it, you’re old enough now.
Almost 12 years ago I embarked the spaceship, the one that you’ve seen in Town Square. On that spaceship, there were 214 people. As you know, that was the only ship that made it to our home,to Mars.
I inhabited Earth for 32 years. I was born in 2018, the same year as your mother. I had a relatively quiet and carefree youth. Your grandfather was one of the wealthiest men in the world you know.”
o   “What does ‘wealthiest’ mean, Dad?” Malcolm interrupted his father,
o   “Being wealthy means you have a lot of money. In my dad’s case, more than we could ever spend. But you never have to worry about money. It doesn’t exist anymore. You know when Mom visits people and isses laws with her colleagues? In return, we get potatoes from someone, other vegetables, or a knitted sweater. I repair people’s electricity or computers and we always get something back in return. Or, we lend our stuff to each other. It’s called bartering. It’s really easy, and carefree.”
Malcolm had not really thought about it. To him it was natural.
His dad continued. “We could buy stuff with my dad’s money, everything we wanted. We were a family of privilege – that means we had many advantages in comparison to other people – and your grandfather was a man of high status. He was well respected throughout the world – as we called Earth when we spoke of the entire community of diverse people and species living on it.
Dad was an innovator…”
Malcolm looked puzzled.
“That means he was always one of the first to come up with something new, something people didn’t even know they wanted or needed. Your grandfather developed and built the spaceship in Town Square, the ship that brought us here.
My father’s company, FLife, developed great products. It started out with producing satellites, which were more efficient and sustainable than the ones that were already circling the orbit. The company made a fortune with the satellites, allowing my dad to pursue his more audacious dreams to build a better and more ecological world.
On every continent he had a large plant built, producing solar panels and renewable batteries for cars, trucks, airplanes or boats. Besides, he had built a device people could integrate into their houses, making energy cheaper and more durable.
He cared for our planet and he was a strong advocate for a greener planet, reducing vehicles running on gasoline, promoting vegetarianism, altering the meat industry. He was a compassionate man. Unfortunately for him and the rest of humanity, his efforts alone couldn’t stop earth’s deterioration. He knew that.
So, secretly, my Pops installed a facility in the desert where we were working on a plan to leave Earth. We were building spaceships, gathering materials, research and the like. And your mother and I were part of that team.”
Malcolm’s eyes became bigger, showing a hint of pride. Then Malcolm wondered about something else. “What did you do when you were my age, Dad? What was playing on Earth like?”
o   “That’s another story” said the father
o   “Good night son” said the dad while kissing his son’s forehead
o   “Good night dad” said Malcom
End

By Kaoutar Lakhr

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