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A lot of migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa heading for Europe remain stuck in Morocco.
There, they are often faced with stereotypes, rejection and sometimes even violence.
Our challenge was how to get youth, both Moroccan and migrant, to value differences....
to have them adopt and help spread more constructive and respectful messages regarding intercultural issues.
This project is an illustration of how Search For Common Ground, an international organization working on conflict resolution...
...can use social and multimedia as tools to break down stereotypes.
In total, a 100 young Moroccans and migrants participated in training cycles
where they used handheld cameras to discover each other and work as a team.
Their exchanges regarding their identities and stereotypes were used as a basis to create over 130 short movies.
These movies covered topics ranging from a dialogue in a boat crossing to Spain,
a refugee relying on the help of strangers,
a football coach of a team of Sub-Saharan migrants,
or how single mothers deal with the schooling issues of their children,
but also showed them simply having fun.
These youth had a lot to share, but how to get their messages across?
They organized screenings on football fields and in universities,
but what proved most effective were the social media, especially Facebook and Youtube.
Social media are very popular in Morocco and using the SFCG Facebook page reached 13,500 fans with every update, while the videos on Youtube got over 10,000 views.
Our participants, often less at ease with writing, can share their videos on forums they are familiar with,
reaching their friends and family, who witness them interact positively, having fun, being creative together.
Through the efficient and people to people use of social media, this modest project reached over 15,000 people and counting,
as the videos will remain online, and as some of the participants received the equipment, we can hope to see them continue sharing their messages, through social media.