Villa de Skala - Essaouira (Summer, 2005) 

Rabat re-visited...

From time to time us Peace Corps volunteers have to go to Rabat in order to visit the Peace Corps Morocco Headquarters. So, I took alittle time to do the tourist thing, and stepping onto the other side of the camera for a change. This is in front of the King Hassan Tomb.

This is within the King Hassan Tomb, where in a marble casing lays the body of the King. In the corner there, you have a holyman praying over the body.

This is really cool! They have Royal Guards on horses that stand at the gate. The horses are in sand, as to not damage their legs from standing so long, which were very well tamed.

From the King Hassan Tomb, this is a shot of the Hassan Mosque.

What does a Moroccan look like?

...and what shade of skin color defines you as a Moroccan?

To be completely honest with you, a person's shade of skin color does and does not play a role here in Moroccan society. I say that it "does play a role here", because it's my experience that Moroccans immediate catagorize you by skin color. Not separate you in a way of "isolation and bigitry", but just sort of know that you're not one of them. And if you're of pale or white or red skin tones, than you're almost immediately from "France". If that doesn't seem to fit, than you're almost certainly "German". And if that doesn't compute, and you're speaking english, than you must be "British". The last thing Moroccans believe you are is "American". And they're always shocked when you give them this information.

Now it's a given that this country is "Arab". And being "Arab", there's an immediate image that comes into my mind if you're trying to picture what an "Arab" might look like. And even to this day, my ignorance continues when it comes to deciphering the many Asian "looks". But, because we are in "Morocco", there's still a very rich Berber influence. And because of this, the color of a "Moroccan" can vary. Berbers have many shades amoungst them, and I have even seen blue-eyed and blond haired Berbers. Now, as most Americans can agree, we are a melting pot of skin colors. So, I think we tend to pick out the non-Americans by notice of their speach, and secondly by their choice of dress. If we as Americans were just to pick out someone by skin tone alone, than we'd be in trouble.

As for me here in Morocco, I arrive to Morocco with a very average skin tone. I have my own personal issues to deal with here as an American of "color", and I won't go into the fine details of this just yet. I can just say, that my experience(s) as an American of "color", has been both bad as well as good. But, this whole topic of "skin" color was certainly recognizable at the TIMITAR Festival in Agadir...

During the TIMITAR Festival, it was the first time since swearing in on December 3rd that I had a chance to see my fellow (light skin toned) SBD Peace Corps volunteers speaking and interacting with the Moroccans. I can't tell you how cool it was to just sit back and watch these Peace Corps volunteers speak to the Moroccans (primarily Berbers) and just watch their mouths drop when they spoke to them in their native tough! I personally don't get this "mouth dropping" when I speak, due to the fact the Moroccans here just assume I'm Moroccan too. So, during the festival, I would just sit back and watch. Regardless of their skin color, their language bonded them together, and the "Americans" were not singled out as time went on. It makes me proud to see my fellow SBD Peace Corps volunteers speaking a language that is idenifiably not their own. And at the same time, it's good not to be a French person who just comes to Morocco and speaks their own native tough that the Moroccans adapted to since 1912 during the French Protectorate.

So, as I move quickly away from these philosophic and social topics, I'll just share with you some pictures with my fellow SBD Peace Corps volunteers interacting with the Moroccans...

Laura (a.k.a. "Lo" & "Hashak") - Region of Tafrout

Brian - Region of Kelaat M’gouna

Victoria - Region of Imichil 

Andy... (a.k.a. "Georgia") - Region of Tinjdad 

Cybele - Region of Marrakech

TIMITAR (Berber) Festival - Agadir

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)

Unforutnately, there weren't as many Holiday makers as we would have liked, but we did manage to pull in some (French, German, British). Here we have a woman from Germany surveying the art goods from the Imichil region.

This was a British couple here on Holiday, purchasing a rug from the Imichil region.

Taking a break to enjoy the Festival...

...doing alittle traditional Berber dance line...

...sharing with us the "free spirited" dancing of the Berber women from Imichil.

Samples of our TIMITAR goods...

Here's a good example of the various Moroccan products that we showcased at the TIMITAR Festival...

...they use different wax colors, shapes, and cologne smells, to create a these mosaic candles.

Candles

There's a handicap associate in Tinghir (up north where I lived during the few months of being here in Morocco) and they create candles. The man on the left is one of the principals of the associate, and on the right is one of the handicap producers.