CMA student spent 3 weeks in Morocco learning about leadership, service and breaking down misconceptions

Tom Coyne

Sep 22 2025

Gabriel Gary painting with youth at public school in Mohammedia, Morocco (Photo by Zaineb Sahim)

Culver Military Academy third classman Gabriel Gary spent three weeks this summer in the north African country of Morocco as part of a leadership and service program where he mentored underprivileged youth at a community center, helped tutor English in after-school programs and sought to breakdown misperceptions Americans and Moroccans have about each other.

He said the trip changed his perspective on service.

“Because I think the way the Western world sees service is like a ‘saving mentality.’ Going in and trying to fix whatever problem there is. You have the ability to do that. But they have a very strong focus on being able to sustain the change that you make. So when you have to eventually leave, because of course my trip is only three weeks, this organization can sustain the service.”

Gary said he and other students in the program did a variety of projects, including gardening and working on refurbishing a school.

“But I think one of the main components was talking with the kids and breaking down that barriers they have about Americans and other English speakers, and us learning from them and changing our perspective,” he said. “It can also be just sitting down and talking so someone. Because in a way, talking with my host siblings or my host mom in Morocco was a service because I was helping them practice their English and they were doing a service to me by breaking down barriers and the stereotypes I had about Muslims.”

Gary, who has a podcast called “Gen Z on Leadership,” went to Mohammedia, Morocco, and worked in a program run by the Council of International Education Exchange that he said allowed him to see the country not as a tourist, but as a 16-year-old living there.

“I got to work with kids a lot,” he said.

Gabriel Gary playing with students at Alternative Academy. (Photo by Zaineb Sahim)

He said he had traveled to Canada before, which is similar to the United States, and to Peru, a Catholic culture somewhat similar to what he grew up in. He wanted to go to Morocco so he could observe a totally different culture.

“I’ve grown up Catholic, so I really wanted to experience something that was different from my upbringing and the environment I’ve been surrounded in. I wanted to break down preconceived notions that I had. I was a little bit nervous, not too nervous,” he said. “When I was in Morocco the language barrier was there, the religion was different, the culture was different.”

In Morocco, a Muslim country, they speak Darija, a dialect of Arabic, which also mixes in French and Spanish. He also was surprised to learn teenagers in Morocco start their own businesses to help their families. Despite all the differences, Gary said he had no trouble fitting in.

“What was surprising was how easy it was for me to adjust. Because I had a host family there of host mom, host dad and two host siblings, one, Rita was 7, and then Ghadi was 12 years old. Although they were Muslim and they were a different faith than I was, they made me feel welcome,” he said.

He also got to meet other 16-year-old Moroccans.

“I was impressed by how welcoming and peaceful they are. During Ramadan, for example, where they are fasting during the day, you can go to a mosque and even a homeless person eats. There’s a saying in Islam: ‘If your neighbor is hungry you can’t go to sleep. So you have to feed your neighbor.’ I think that hospitable culture is a lot different than I experience here. They call it collectivism there.”

Gabriela Gary touring the Ourika valley village just outside of Marrakech (Photo by Madiha Chafik)

He said it’s a lot different from America, where the focus is on individual rights. He said in some ways, he thinks the way they do it in Morocco is better because there is more emotional support.

“The market owner or the bodega will know your family and know your kids by name and make sure you are doing well,” he said.

Part of the program also was to learn from his trip and to propose a solution for a problem in his hometown of Valparaiso, Indiana. He saw in Morocco the importance of living within walking distance of a market.

“In Morocco, wherever I was, I was like a three- to five-minute walk from a corner store. In my hometown, I have to walk 50 minutes. So, I wanted to tackle that issue,” he said.

He made a slideshow about how he would work to install store locations closer to residential areas. He said it also would help to decrease carbon emissions from cars. He also proposed creating a petition and get at least 3,500 signatures, or 10 percent of Valparaiso’s population, to sign it so it would be a stronger presentation to City Council.

He said he came away from the trip inspired.

“Because most of the 16-year-olds there speak four-plus languages and are able to run a business and are self-sufficient. Because part of my podcast is trying to empower young people to get into leadership, it was mind-blowing to me because the teens in Morocco who come from lower class areas partner with the Alternative Academy to pick up skills on marketing and business and just went right into it and make money for their families. It is very inspiring.”