Technical:

Unlike the other training groups ours was rather unique. Most groups performed the technical aspect of their training in their community which they lived. As most inhabitants of Zaouiat are farmers and our program managers did not know of any artisans here we were assigned to an already organized co-op in a city roughly 30 minutes away. The majority of products created by these women consist of woven carpets, each done on a hand loom. Here is their link if you would like more information. http://www.freewebs.com/azrouartisana/amalweavingcooperative.htm

Our task was to work with these women and develop an action plan to help them in the course of our training which is roughly a month in a half. On our first day at the association we asked a series of questions about what a typical day was like for the women and how things generally work there. The next meeting we had was with the executives of the Co-op in which we had them create a community map. We provided markers and a large piece of blank paper and asked them to draw their city, locating important landmarks and places that they go to frequently.

It is interesting the way in which they decided to complete the map. The women were very timid at first and originally wanted us to draw the map as they claimed to have no drawing skills. After some encouragement one of the women took hold of the marker and with the direction of the other ladies drew a large circle in the middle to mark the co-op. Lines were drawn out of the co-op, marking the distance each women was from the co-op and who was close to who. When asked where certain landmarks were in the city they had difficultly being able to place them in relationship to themselves. Although this map did not provide an actual representation of their city it did provide insight to the lives of the women and their way of thinking. Women in the co-op general go straight from home to work and vice versa, not really being able to walk around their own city. Their life is structured around the co-op and the lines drawn appear to be a representation of their relationship to their community.

When asked where they do not like to go in the city the response from one lady was public parks as she doesn’t like people to watch her.

After our third trip we discovered that continuing our work at the artisana there was going to be more difficult than we imagined. One of our first concerns was that we were learning a different language than the artisans speak. They speak Darija and we were learning Tamazight. We had a difficult time asking questions and conducting interviews and understanding their responses. The travel was also proving to be an issue as it was far away and took away time from our language lessons and, the schedules of the women were not that flexible that they could receive us when we came for our brief hour sessions twice a week.

Fortunately, after talking with the women in Zaouiat we were extremely excited to find that yes there are artisans here but most just do not think of theselves as such. Almost every woman in Zaouiat is a carpet weaver and has a loom in her house. The products range from traditional carpets, pillows, jellabas, buttons, purses, needlepoint, embroidery, knit sweaters, and pants. Weavers use materials from different sources. Sometimes they recycle wool from old sweaters to make their rugs. Women who own sheep will often prepare wool on their own. The women also use commercially processed yarn purchased most often at the s-suq in Azrou.

The artisans of Zaouiat are not uniform. Many use traditional Berber patterns but we also found examples of individual creativity in the textiles of Zaouiat. One woman sells embroidered cloth to a shop in Fez. Another has found a market in France for her carpets. Yet another woman sells knitted garments to friends and family throughout Zaouiat. Several women participate in Ifrane’s craft fair in the spring. Although all are talented, some artisans are more skilled in commerce.

We walked around and saw many carpets made here and were extremely impressed in their quality and design. The women in Zaouiat however are not yet formally organized and only create carpets and blankets for their families. We have heard that there was an attempt a few years ago to form an association and the paperwork was near completion but due to the expenses of traveling to Meknes to process the paperwork and the cost of making photocopies the project was dropped.

The more information we found out about the weavers in Zaouiat the more we decided we had to convince our program manager to let us do our technical in Zaouiat. We had many opportunities to integrate with the people of Zaouiat. We adopted Tamazight names, which were assigned by our friends in the village. I will forever be referred to as Karima in Morocco, which I have heard is a good name meaning generosity.

We have witnessed many situations in Zaouiat, both religious and cultural. During the first week, we were walking around and stumbled into the ceremonial recognition of a new soccer field where we met many local and regional officials. Unfortunately, we also experienced a death in our town. Our cook’s mother passed away and we went to her house to pay our respects. We witnessed the grieving at her house and then saw the ceremony at the cemetery the following day. In addition, we celebrated L-Eid in Zaouiat, which we spent with our families. As a group, we united and went around the village greeting people and enjoying a cup of tea at each house. The women in our group also had traditional henna painted on their hands for the celebration. One of the more entertaining moments was when the group was dressed in traditional clothing and paraded around for our families. We learned that the best way to integrate into the community was to make time for tea and conversation with the families.

Not only were we already integrated into our community but the women showed a willingness to work with us. Thankfully after a meeting with the program manager we were allowed to stay in Zaouiat and perform our technical training in Zaouiat. We only had two weeks left in training and we had to make use of the time as effectively as possible. Our first step was to find a time in which of the women in town could get together and sit down with us for a little question and answering. We walked around house to house inviting women we knew weaved and invited them to attend. The local authorities, the Qaid, Moqadem, and Sheikh, played an integral role in inviting women to attend the meeting.