THE POETRY OF TOGETHERNESS – THE POWER OF AN OPEN HOME: by Driss Alaoui Mdaghri, Morocco

Home for Humanity’s Living Curriculum:

“My home is in me, inside me. And it is open to whoever wants to come and visit.”

“Everywhere I lived, my home was open.” For Driss Alaoui Mdaghri, Morocco’s polymath, former cabinet minister, leading educator, painter and poet, life is poetry – the poetry  of togetherness.  In his home in Casablanca, he hosts the “Come to my Home” Festival that he initiated – a festival that brings together local and global artists and cultural innovators to co-create the future. Indeed, his life’s mantra is co-creation: doing things together, for the benefit of all. For Alaoui Mdaghri, who also served as president of Morocco’s most prestigious business school, education holds a vital key: “When you are in the business of education, you need to make sure, that students learn that the most important is to do things for others… One should be moved by the desire to share.” Home, for him, has a unique potential for activating togetherness and for societal transformation. “I believe it is our duty to have open houses and open homes. One of the reasons is that we need to create a more peaceful and friendly world, and that is one of the ways you can do it.” Driss Alaoui Mdaghri’s message to  a world in crisis: “Please get more connected. Do things together. Make peace and find ways to enhance humanity’s capacity to better things and to go to the stars…”. Turning to young people, he adds: “Read. Read a lot. Travel. Travel a lot. And receive people. Invite them to come to your home!”

Biography: Driss Alaoui Mdaghri is a former cabinet minister in several Moroccan government departments and now a civil society leader. His previous positions included secretary of state for foreign affairs, energy and mines, youth and sport, as well as communication in the Moroccan government. He has taught at a number of universities and business schools in Morocco, France, Italy, and elsewhere. Now a retired professor, he has initiated the “Come to my Home” festival and is also the founder of the foundation “World Cultures” aiming to invite numerous cultures, nationalities and backgrounds to connect together and experience diversity through art. Besides his passion as an author, artist and poet, he is also a renowned speaker on the subject of “managing change in a changing world” and has been invited to speak on this topic in several places around the world. He is a father to six children, a dear supporter to Home for Humanity and an inspiration for many people not only in Morocco but all around the world.  

drissalaouimdaghri.com 

drissalaouimdaghri.ma  

Special thanks to the musicians Zineb Benghziel, Hanane Ech Chouay, Achraf Khaiar, Yassine Rabbaï, Soufiane Laasri.

About the Living Curriculum: The conversation with Driss Alaoui M’Daghri was conducted by Sophie Sozzi and Stefanie Kriech, Members of the Home for Humanity Team 2021. The team worked on the creation of a Home for Humanity Living Curriculum – a task that was embedded in the 2020 “Reshaping International Development” Course at the University of St. Gallen, directed by the co-founders of Home for Humanity. This Living Curriculum is part of the HumanivEARTHsity Programme in Transformative Education of Home for Humanity.