Hereafter are a few words on what I've been doing over this summer. As well, as what I will be doing in the upcoming future...
During the "Nomadic Caravan" to Agadir, hosted by ATA, I was able to survey the various challenges and rewards that artisans face while selling their work at these craft fairs. As a Peace Corps volunteer, without an artist, it was my role to assist wherever possible, and to learn all that I can about these Nomadic Caravans and how they could benefit my group of artisans.
During the TIMITAR Festival in Agadir, I had the opportunity to cooperate with the local artisans from the many remote villages that Peace Corps volunteers are placed in. I had the opportunity to see the various crafts that are presented throughout Morocco, but are unseen in my site of Amizmiz. This provided me the opportunity to see what is selling in the marketplace, and allow me to understand the requirements needed for my artisans to sell at these types of venues.
As an added bonus, ATA offered me training with regard to costing & pricing, booth display, sales techniques, product development, trends, and consumers relations. This was the first time I had participated in the production of a craft fair, so the training and experience gained was unmeasurable. This experience was truly helpful in allowing me to comprehend what it will take for my artisans in Amizmiz to compete in this very attainable marketplace. Unfortunately, at the moment, my artisans in Amizmiz are subjected to many obstacles that might prevent them from entering this rich marketplace. It is will my hope that I can bridge this gap, and help them realize these prosperous opportunities found at the various craft fairs held throughout Morocco.
My next steps are to find an artisan(s) in my village of Amizmiz, that has the capabilities and motivation to participate as a member of these Nomadic Caravans. My goal is to bring an Amizmiz artisan to one of these future craft fairs (Imichil Festival on August 23rd), and thus provide the same type of training and experience to them as the other Peace Corps volunteers had for their respective artisans.
TIMITAR Festival in Agadir...
So, coming off a very successful Kelaat M’gouna Rose festival, we packed up our belongings and set off for our next destination on the Nomadic Caravan. After much consideration, the ATA staff decided that the second stop of the Nomadic Caravan would be that of Agadir, a southern touristy city in Morocco. As it was, the Berber Moroccan community was also organizing their second annual Festival in Agadir, which is entitled TIMITAR. This year’s festival was held from July 2nd to July 9th, 2005.
In despite of the expected low income tourists visiting the city and the low income population of the city, we found that the marketplace really offers the best classroom. Agadir's crowd offered no "pity sales." i.e. the people that bought products bought them because they were interested in the product, rather than in the idea of helping artisans. We found this to be a very valuable reality check for the artisans. The cheaper crowd and harder sales, gave us an opening to go over costing and pricing and product development in a very tangible way.
At the opening ceremony, the festival aficionados sampled an exceptional menu as the African, Arab and Tamazight cultures met in a unique moment of cultures symbiosis. The Amazigh, or free men, were the inhabitants of most of North Africa before the Arab era.In a distinctive fusion of M'balax, folk and blues, the Senegalese singer Isma‘l spoke racism, poverty and famine and chanted peace and tolerance.The emotion-filled voice of "The African Bob Dylan" charmed the local and foreign music lovers who converged on the Al-Amal Square.Rhythms ascended as "Oudaden" band went on the scene to feature some of their repertoire.
We began with a 25 square meter space and were able to augment it to 75 total square meters by the end of the show. With some negotiation, we were able to take over two other tents halfway through the festival.
We represented a total of twenty-one different artisans/artisan groups. Three of those groups were handicapped (both mentally and physically) and nine were composed solely of women. Only two of the groups were unable to contribute in some way to the costs of transport, food and lodging in some way. Twelve of the groups were totally self funded. Total sales for the festival were 66,354 dh, which is approximately $7,500.
We did one-on-one training with nearly all of the artisan groups. During the trainings we went over the business strengths and weaknesses, costing and pricing, targeting markets, product development, and business planning for the future. The training notes will be summarized and used as a building block for future conversations with the artisans. Thus, when we meet with them at future craft fairs we can follow-up on the Agadir conversations and measure progress.
ATA staff encouraged the artisans/artisan groups to go out into the city of Agadir in order to make other business contacts and sell their wares. This idea was met with enthusiasm. Many groups made contacts and three groups were able to conclude sizeable sales counting for 24 percent of our total sales figure.
Present for the trainings were nine Peace Corps volunteers (including myself) who were also able to benefit from our information sessions and take those trainings back to their sites and respective artisans. We also held a separate lunch meeting with the PCVs and two other mentors working with the handicapped artisans from Tinghir. During this meeting we spoke about how they can help us help the artisans.
The feedback from the craft fair was very positive, both on the part of ATA, the artisans, and the participating Peace Corps volunteers. Next stop on the Nomadi Caravan is the Imichil Festival on August 23rd. More about this particular festival can be found here... http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0501/feature4/index.html
Sponsoring the organization, participation, and funded of these "Nomadic Caravans" are such International Organizations as;
* Peace Corps (www.peacecorps.gov)
* US AID - U.S. Agency for International Development (www.usaid.gov)
* ATA - Aid to Artisans (www.aidtoartisans.org) 
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