Mohamad of Tangier, Morocco

In Tangier the Missionaries of Chairity live and work in an age-old Catholic Church. The edifice is simply massive. One finds the church along a narrow walkway in the Medina halfway between a park and the beach. The entrance is through huge double doors made of wood and ornate rod iron and once inside one finds themselves at the entrance to a large and spacious chapel where hundreds of Spainish Catholics once worshipped. Alongside the chapel one notices an atrium area and multiple stair cases moving visitors as high as four stories where many rooms can be found that have been converted into sleeping quarters.

Today, the Missionaries of Charity use the church to house mothers who are homeless and are soon to have a baby, or who have already given birth. During my stay in Tangier there were 17 mothers and another 13 of their children staying in the church. It was a busy place. Mothers making food, washing clothes and socializing with one another. For the children staying with mom, the massive church with spiral staircases was an amazing place to explore and play.

One of the many children living in the church

One of the mothers who had recently given birth to a baby also had three other young children with her. Her boy, named Mohamad, was the oldest sibling and did his best to help mom with the children and daily chores. For several consecutive days the mother asked me if I wouldn’t mind taking Mohamad during the afternoons to have a father figure in his life. I was happy she trusted me with him.

Mohamad and I spent three or four afternoons playing on the swings in the nearby park, kicking a soccer ball around, and wandering the Medina exploring its many shops. Each day after wearing ourselves out we visited a particular pizza restaurant that serves some of the best ice cream. We would each have four scoops of ice cream with hot melted chocolate, whipped cream and nuts on top. We were in heaven.

The pizza parlor also had big tvs upstairs where Mohamad and I ate our ice cream. I’m not sure Mohamad has spent much time in front of a tv during his life. He was hooked and couldn’t take his eyes off the tv, even while we ate ice cream and tried to communicate (he had pretty limited English). Of course, I too, couldn’t resist the tv as the World Cup was being played and the games provided a lot of intense entertainment.

In the end, I’m not sure I provided a more important work in Tangier than taking time to be with Mohamad. He is a friendly boy that is street smart. I worry about his future. His other siblings are all from different men and his mother is among the “poorest of the poor”. My fear is that they end up continuing to live in the street, and that mom sends Mohamad out to beg for money to help sustain the family…or that the mom asks him to stay home from school to watch his siblings while she enters the workplace and is paid just enough for them to sustain life.