The Facts

Country: Morocco, Casablanca
Launched: 2006
Partners: Nike, L’Heure Joyeuse
Objectives: Develop the artistic and physical skills of youth (especially girls) living in poor areas of Casablanca
Program Highlights:

• Transmitting useful values such as commitment, discipline, fair play and team spirit
• Helping 28 young talented girls develop their skills under the instruction of professional dancers

The power of sport to educate is nothing new to Nike. So when the Moroccan L’Heure Joyeuse organization approached Nike seeking a way to reach socially excluded children, the answer was obvious; through dance.

L’Heure Joyeuse is a social organization who tackles children’s problems such as education, health and poverty. They wanted to set up a fun program for children that also dealt with health care, vaccination and education. Given the great success of the Moroccan Hip Hop culture, together with Nike it was decided dance would be the best way to reach these children.

The result was the Dancing Shanty Towns program (DST). Through artistic expression and sporting activities this program offered children the opportunity to express themselves, exchange ideas with peers and enjoy themselves, while simultaneously receiving education.

The program provides regular dance lessons to socially excluded groups of children. The children are not only taught dance but also learn about discipline, respect and punctuality. Educational sessions are regularly organized to teach the children about hygiene, health and behaviour. Within the framework of the dance classes medical professionals make visits to spot diseases.

The children love attending the classes. They enjoy being creative, social, active and expressing themselves through dance.

Throughout the year the children learn and build up to performing a show, teaching them to strive for and achieve goals.

But the program doesn’t come without its fair share of challenges. Rokaya El Boudrari, L’Heure Joyeuse Project Chief, says great disparities still exist between girls and boys, “In Morocco, being a traditional Muslim country, girls are still often deprived of many things. They are less free than their brothers and they don’t have many opportunities to have fun.

“We also noticed that some of the girls were wearing the veil. At first we thought they wouldn’t be interested in dancing lessons but we quickly realized that under the veil they are still little girls who want to play, run and dance and for them the veil isn’t an obstacle to their will.”

To see the video, learn more about this program, and to vote for Morocco – Dancing Shanty Town as a grant recipient, visit www.nikewomen.com.

To learn more about the L’Heure Joyeuse, visit the site here.