You Can Dream. Stories of Moroccan Women Who Do.

A fellow RPCV produced an amazing video of six remarkable Moroccan women who have overcome all sorts of odds to succeed and to share their knowledge with other women. One of the women profiled is my counterpart, Amina Yabis, President of the the Cherry Buttons Cooperative. Her story and that of all the other women are truly inspiring. They exemplify grassroots development at its very core. Please share with friends and family and spread the word that women's empowerment, as Amartya Sen would likely say, is one of the many if not the most effective tool for alleviating poverty for women and their children, reducing infant mortality, reducing the number of births, improving the health of women and their children, and creating more accountable and representative governments around the world.


You Can Dream. Stories of Moroccan Women Who Do from cortney healy on Vimeo.

For more stories on Women in the Muslim World, please visit: http://womensvoicesnow.org/

Camp GLOW Morocco 2010 Debrief

Camp GLOW Morocco is one of the few projects in Peace Corps Morocco that is still ongoing.  I was fortunate to be involved in the project, and I learned a great deal from it.  Based on the feedback from the PCVs that were at the camp and hearing from Amina, there were certainly some highlights and areas that could be improved.  The camp organizers overcame a huge financial obstacle to put the camp together borrowing from friends and family until the funds from the embassy, our primary funder, finally arrived.  Also, with the main organizer away on travel up until a week prior to the event, a lot of key decisions were put off until she arrived, but fortunately Ms. Yabis's perseverance made the idea of the camp a reality for many young women.

I sat down with Amina to discuss fund-raising options for future camps.  She will likely pursue funding from the embassy once again, but I'm hoping that she will also pursue opportunities with the Global Fund for Women, African Women's Development Fund, MEPI Small Grant Assistance, and USAID's Projet SANAD.  She has personal experience with Projet SANAD and has been briefed on others.

Ms. Yabis and I filled out the Projet SANAD grant last year.  We did not win financial assistance, but she received an invitation to participate in their capacity building workshops.  Unfortunately, those workshops all took place via webcast making it nearly impossible for a lot of semi-urban or rural associations that have unreliable internet or not enough bandwidth or who are not the most tech literate to participate.  I'm sure the webcasts were great and I'm sure a lot of people benefited from them, but whoever thought of the idea did not have rural people and their technical challenges in mind.

We knew going in that it would be tough to win given that Amina's association organizes only one large-scale event per year compared to other associations who have year-round programs.  We still gave it a shot.  I thought that simply going through the process and drafting the Camp GLOW goals and successes in Standard Arabic was a huge step.  She said that this was the first grant she completed on her own and applied to directly.  All others have been filled out by PCVs and with assistance from artisana delegation folks.  I'm hoping that she will apply again this year and draft a more sound budget with a series of camps and other training sessions that will hopefully get some consideration.

The association needs to apply for other funding outside of embassy funds so that the facilitators and other association personnel can get paid for some of the work they do.  All of the last four camps have been volunteer-organized and executed.  While it's great that these host country nationals have given of their time free-of-charge, expecting people to volunteer year-in and year-out is simply not sustainable.  There needs to be a core group of individuals who can organize and plan.  In the past, volunteers have filled this role, but given Peace Corps's two-year rotations and constant change in leadership and priorities, it's not certain that the Peace Corps will be there in the future and it really shouldn't be expected to be there indefinitely.  Sources like Global Fund for Women and I believe African Women's Development Fund permit the recipient to allocate a portion of the grant towards labor unlike a lot of other sources that forbid it.  Amina has never budgeted for labor so it'll be something new for her, but I think it will be something she and the current facilitators will gladly welcome.  Fortunately, the Global Fund for Women provides their grant applications in Arabic and French.  A couple of weeks ago when we met, she said she would look over the forms.  I'm hoping she does and applies.  Even if she doesn't win, she and her association will learn a great deal from the process.

All in all, I'm happy that the camp took place despite the financial hurdles.  Amina heard my feedback as well as that of PCV Marian and Rachel who were present at the camp on enhancing the structure of the camp.  The young women learned a great deal and made lasting friendships.  I do hope that the next wave of volunteers will participate in future camps and that Amina and the Golden Buttons Association will continue to learn from each event.

Once again, thank you to all who donated and for telling everyone and anyone about this great event. 
  

In Matters of Faith: Minding My Own

In Morocco, faith and religious practice is intertwined with everyday life.  The call to prayer is loud and clear five times a day and especially noticeable at five in the morning.  Every action, it seems, is preceded or followed by what are commonly referred to as God phrases.  If a Moroccan happens to notice that you took a shower, got a haircut, got new clothes, got done exercising, or finished a meal, he or she instinctively blurts out a bssHa (To your health) to which one must respond with a llah y3tik sHa (May God give you health) .  If you are about to start cooking a meal, eating a meal, about to walk out the door, jump in a car, or go anywhere in particular uttering a bismillah (In the Name of God) is necessary to bless the start of the journey or activity.  If you're grateful about anything, you should throw in a hamdullah (thanks be to God).  When you're about to walk out the door or leaving your circle of friends, you could say bslama, which according to our Peace Corps Darija (Moroccan Arabic) textbook is your equivalent of a goodbye, but a lot of Moroccans combine that with a llah y3wnk or llah yfdk (God help you or God protect you).  Lastly, if one is to mention anything that is likely to happen in the near or distant future, one should expect to be interrupted with a customary inshallah (God willing).

I've gotten so accustomed to using these phrases that now I insert preemptive inshallahs before I start any future tense verb.  Some of my Moroccan friends think that I'm being really considerate of God's will by inserting inshallahs at the start, middle, and end of my future tense sentences, but truth is that I don't really like to be interrupted when I'm speaking :). Who does?

To a foreigner adding all these God phrases can seem quite burdensome and odd if unaccustomed to invoking God in their native language.  There are so many different phrases and using one out of place can get you some chuckles or stares and is a tell-tale sign that you haven't been in the country for very long.  For Moroccans, uttering them is second nature.  They add these phrases effortlessly into their conversation.  The more you use them, the more respectful or pious you come across.  The utterance of Allah (God) is intrinsically tied to their everyday sayings regardless if you're speaking in Darija, Tamazight, Tashelheit, or Tarifit.

During Ramadan, it seems as if people are a bit more devoted to the practice of their faith than is commonly seen throughout the year.  They attend the mosque with more frequency, read the Qur'an, and wear what some consider to be more reverent attire.  More men put on their skull-caps and dust off their ankle-length white tunics.  People turn even more nocturnal than usual as circadian rhythms and blood-sugar levels are thrown out of whack by the sunrise to sunset fast and the late night meals.  The other day as I walked around Rabat just before the break of fast, I was taken aback by how people sat in front of a hot, delicious serving of Morocco's famous harira, fat, juicy dates, sugary fried dough delicacies, and a glass of juice or milk without taking a bite or a sip at least until the imam called out the end of the fast.  It was remarkable to witness this degree of self-control.

Religious traditions also play a role in the family's finances.  For every new child that is born, the father must sacrifice a sheep during its naming ceremony.  For the grand feast of L3id Kbir/Al-Adha, the family takes out the savings to purchase one to two sheep depending on the size of the family.  Every sheep can cost anywhere from 1,000 to 1,500DH or $120 to $180.  This may not sound like a lot in dollar terms, but when the average salary for a day laborer is 50DH or $6.25 p/day; just imagine the effort families have to make to have the money for this must-do religious rite.  Not too long ago, one of my Moroccan friends told me that his wife was  expecting twins.  He was elated, but also somewhat concerned because within a few months he would have to purchase two sheep for the naming ceremony.  I asked him why couldn't just one sheep suffice, but the thought of that was something he'd rather not even contemplate.  He felt a sense of obligation.  

Another ritual that all Muslims should do, according to what is regarded as the five pillars of Islam, within their lifetime is the Hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca, which can run between 50-60,000DH per person for an all-inclusive travel package.  For many Moroccans especially here in the rural and semi-urban towns, having that much cash available is something of a pipe dream; however, that doesn't mean that they don't think about it.  If the economic circumstances would permit it, they would most certainly follow through with it without any hesitation.

Sometimes people's religious fervor can also be in-your-face, literally.  During our pre-service training, we were warned that many people would approach us to speak to us about Islam with the goal of converting us.  According to our cross-cultural facilitators during our PC training, he stated that the Qur'an speaks of a reward in paradise for those that bring someone into Islam.  Most people have been cordial when speaking about Islam while some, perhaps by nature are belligerent and judgmental, speak about their faith in a forceful and absolutist way.  Others are really sly and attempt to convert you by having you repeat the shahada, the declaration of faith, without explaining to you what you're about to say--I think most volunteers have probably unintentionally converted, but supposedly according to Muslim scholars, if one does not say the shahada knowing fully what one is saying and in earnest, then it doesn’t count. Most everyone asks if I fast and how many times I pray. When I tell them that in my old church we were not required to fast and that we did pray during church services and before meals, some have said that they like the prayer before meals idea, but found it odd that we were not asked to fast.


Any response about my former religious practices were met with comparisons. If I said that some Catholics fast for Lent for a week or up to a month, I was reminded about how much Muslims fasted. If I said that my family used to pray before meals, traveling, and before going to bed, I was reminded about how most Muslims pray five times a day. If I told them that I would go to church service twice per week, I was then told that most Muslims go to the mosque at least five times per day. Every answer was met with a response showing how much more devoted Muslims were in terms of all the things that they did.


What was absent from most of our conversations was the question of what I believed. In the U.S., there are so many denominations branching out from Christianity that often what one believes is central to one's religious or spiritual identity, but in Morocco, only a handful of people asked me what exactly did I believe. When I read Seyyed Hossein Nasr'sHeart of Islam, I began to understand the questions or the absence of some questions from my Moroccan friends and colleagues. He said that Muslims are not concerned with orthodoxy, but rather orthopraxy. It's not about what you believe, but what you do. Hence, what they say throughout the day, what they wear, the number of times they pray, the slaughtering of the sacrificial lamb, complying with Shari'a law, fasting, making the pilgrimage to Mecca, and zakat (almsgiving) are a daily demonstration of their devotion and submission to God.

Having worked with previous volunteers, my tutor knew that I would be confronted about my Christian faith.  He gave me some phrases that would help to diffuse the tension and would call to question the actions of the often self-righteous and presumptuous proselytizer.  Basically, he told me to do the following: first, one shouldn't be speaking about Islam with complete strangers so one can call out people for being impertinent; second, once the person has apologized and invited you and your friends over for lunch or tea, but should they persist, one should tell them that should one decide to become a Muslim, one need not only to hear about the faith, but also to see living examples of the faith where the principles (mabadi), values (qiyam), and manners/behaviors (axlaq) are in full display; thirdly, if that doesn't prompt the proselytizer to reflect on their own lives and conduct, one can appeal to them to respect (Htrm) one's faith or call them out for being judgmental, which according to the Qur'an should only be God’s prerogative. 

With religion being ever-present, it is hard not to think about one’s beliefs.  Seeking to understand where people around me were coming from, I read a number of books that gave me some insight into my neighbors’ faith and how that faith shaped their values.  I went through Karen Armstrong’s History of God, which chronicled the evolution of Abrahamic faiths.  Ms. Armstrong’s detailed account of the birth, expansion, inner struggles, outside influences, and future challenges of each of the three Abrahamic faiths helped me understand the context in which the divine scriptures were written and how over the centuries different people in different regions with different influences read or heard the scriptures, which helped them determine a course of action for their lives and the lives of others.  Several years before coming to Morocco and before I even applied to the Peace Corps, a dear mentor of mine recommended Ms. Armstrong’s Holy War: The Crusades and Their Impact on Today’s World, which documented the interaction between East and West and Christianity and Islam crusade by crusade.  These two books gave me a lot of great insight and also gave me more of an impetus to continue learning.  

I followed Armstrong's books with Nasr’s Heart of Islam.  This book was written shortly after 9/11 in the hopes of creating an interfaith dialogue and to counter the media’s negative portrayals of his faith.  It’s a contrast to Armstrong who as a religious historian attempts to remain objective in her narrative.  Nasr makes no excuses about what he believes and has little regard for the work of Enlightenment scholars who first attempted to describe his faith.  In fact, in his preface he goes on to say that the Age of Enlightenment was “an age of the darkening of the soul and eclipse of the intellect”.  Like Armstrong, he compares and contrasts various passages in the Torah, Bible, and Qur’an to show how the scriptures resemble one another.  He counters the media critics who allege that Islam is a violent religion or that it supposedly endorses violence by pointing to other verses in the Qur’an that speak of tolerance, forgiveness, and peace.

Later on, I came across a copy of Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s Infidel, a book that supposedly is banned in Morocco and in many other Islamic countries because of what some consider to be a poor depiction of Islam, but probably most importantly because she is a Muslim turned atheist.  Ali’s struggles in war-torn Somalia, her brief stint in Saudi Arabia, living as a refugee in Ethiopia, her courageous escape to Europe, and her spiritual transformations make for a riveting read.  Even if one objects to the characterizations about Islam, her life story is a remarkable journey.  I found it insightful to read about how different people with distinctive cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds from the various countries she lived in, within and outside of the Abode of Islam, interpreted the scriptures and then applied them to their daily lives.  Throughout most of the book I believe she is intending to demonstrate how someone's culture can frame the faith, but then towards the end, she seems to forget that point and resorts to making similar generalizations about the role of the faith in various aspects of Muslim society.  She picks and chooses verses to show that the Qur'an endorses oppression and calls out some Muslism for not being true Muslims because they don't adhere to a literal interpretation.  It's almost as if she turned into the very thing she despised.

The history and culture as Ali shows are key in the exercise of an individual, community, or a nation's faith, but I can't help but think about the socioeconomic factors at play that have put oppressive governments in power. Just recently, I read a blurb on a recent copy of The Economist magazine about the curse of oil.  According to the author, one of the reasons why the U.S. has made strides in gender equality is partly due to world events that prompted change.  World War I & II forced women to the workforce and in the process they gained skills and political clout in the dynamics of the family.  Also, in our market-driven economy, we are constantly seeking new and innovative ways to generate domestic demand; therefore, ignoring the needs, aspirations, and ideas of 50% of the population would be bad for business.  On the other hand, oil-rich countries, which also happen to make up a significant portion of the Islamic World, are export driven, mostly state-controlled, and have steady cashflows that makes it less of an imperative to diversify their economy.  Also, men in some of these countries earn enough to feed the family; thus, women, aside from consumption side of an economy, are nearly absent in other areas.

I think that logic rings somewhat true in Morocco.  Because they lack the oil deposits, they have a much more diversified economy where women play a much bigger role in government and business.  The dynamics in a family where the wife is an income contributor is remarkably different.  When our CBT group asked a cooperative about gender expectations relating to work within Islam, they reminded us that the Prophet's wife, Khadija, was the head of a large caravan trade business.  The women of the cooperative did not feel at odds with their faith for pursuing a profitable trade or career.  Like Ali showed the environment in which Islam is practiced will differ and in turn so will the laws, gender roles, and expectations.  Socioeconomic policy can certainly influence the societal structural.  I'm not saying that petrodollars are the sole cause for why for instance women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to drive, but they can certainly prop a ruling class that may have a very rigid interpretation different from those of the women's coop I worked with and from that of other Muslim countries.

After reading the Heart of Islam and Infidel, I felt I needed to formulate my own opinion about the Qur’an so I started reading it.  As of November 5, I am only about a quarter of the way through it.  It’s a tough book to read with a lot of complicated passages that I believe are lost in translation.  Other passages are quite clear especially when speaking of the Five Pillars of Islam and I can see why many Moroccans feel comfortable telling me that I’m going to hell because I decided not to fast, but then again from what I have read, Surah 5 v. 47 of the Qur’an also states, “Let the People of the Gospel judge by that which Allah hath revealed therein.”  Mid-way through verse 48 it adds, “Had Allah willed he could have made you one community.  But that He may try you by that which He hath given you.  So vie one another in good works.  Unto Allah ye will all return, and He will then inform you of that wherein ye differ.”  The first sentence of Surah 2 v. 256 says, “There is no compulsion in religion.” These passages I’m sure could be interpreted in a number of ways and should be read with as much historical context and commentary.  For me, given my background, limited knowledge, and my limited capacity to understand religious scriptures, they mean that Allah has revealed Himself in different ways, He alone is the judge, and people should stop forcing others to do something in the name of religion. But don't take it from me.  Read it for yourself!

Be mindful that even after reading through several Surahs, these were the verses and passages that stood out to me.  Why did they stand out? Because these were the verses that my innately biased mind searched for.  Back in college, we had a name for this bias.  It was called selective attention.  We all practice it, but few acknowledge it.  My selective attention derives from growing up in an all-women household in Latin America under tough economic conditions in a conservative Christian environment.  I also moved around quite a bit, and every time we moved, I heard from a different pastor who quite often focused on different passages of the Bible or interpreted various verses in his own peculiar way.  Different people with different backgrounds read the Qur'an and other scriptures, and it speaks to them in different ways.  Others pick out various religious scriptures that give them meaning or justifies their behavior and sometimes overlook or place less emphasis on other passages that may run contradictory to their absolutist or legalistic ideology.  Some people are aware of their biases, but others are not.  In an ideal world, I would have any would-be interpreter of religious scriptures add a disclaimer, similar to the pharmaceutical commercials, about their cultural and socioeconomic background and even the natural environment he/she grew up in before he/she utters one word of interpretation or offers a selection of verses.  This would provide much-needed context to the individual's deliberate and unconscious biases when reading religious texts.        

Like I said, I’m only a quarter of the way through the Qur'an.  I’m still making up my mind about what has been said.  At the same time, I don’t think I will ever get to the point where I’ll have a clear understanding of anything written in any of the Divine Scriptures.  Armstrong tells stories of scholars of the Abrahamic faiths who gave up trying to make sense of the Scriptures and just began to recite and sing them believing that their meaning was beyond human comprehension.  I would agree with her. 

Unfortunately, many are not humble enough to accept that.  My prayer is that those who are aware of their inability to fully understand the Divine Scriptures will have the fortitude to stand up to those that claim to know it all or purport to carry out God’s will.  As for now, when it comes to matters of faith, I'll continue to mind my own.

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Here's a recent speech by Karen Armstrong on TED on her Charter for Compasssion:

Bridging the Rural and Urban Divide

I've been lucky to have the chance to host a number of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) that have served elsewhere over the last couple of years.  We have had some very enlightening conversations.  One topic that we always bring up is our respective tours of service.  I am always curious to find out what other Peace Corps countries are doing and to hear about any successes and challenges they have had.

All of the Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) I've hosted have come from Sub-Saharan Africa.  Most of these PCVs have had a much more challenging experience from the viewpoint of having to do more with less.  The last RPCV that came through remarked about how impressive Morocco's transportation infrastructure was in comparison to her host country, which allowed her to travel with relative ease throughout the entire country  east to west and from one of the southernmost cities on edge of the Sahara in Zagora to the northernmost city in the country Tangiers sitting right on Mediterranean coast .  She was also astounded by the great diversity of food that Morocco was blessed with.  She had mentioned that for the majority of her service she had eaten maize (corn) almost everyday because that was the main staple that was available.  Other vegetables and fruit showed up at the market only on an occasional basis.  She said that it was tough at first, but then she got used  to just eating to subsist.  It's refreshing to hear these sorts of accounts because it is very easy to focus on the negative or the things that frustrate me about my host country and I forgets how lucky I really am.  It puts things in context.

Some RPCVs after having traveled through Morocco question why volunteers are here in the first place.  Compared to their countries of service, Morocco is the developed world.  When I arrived here, I and all my Small Business and Youth Development stagemates stayed at a very fancy star-rated hotel in the heart of the capital.  We had hot showers, internet, buffet-style meals, comfortable beds to sleep on, and a nice balcony to ponder about what lay ahead in the mysterious land of the far west.  When I took a stroll around the capital walking down the famous Mohammed V Avenue, I was impressed by the landscaping, the cleanliness, the well-kept French-style administration buildings, and even just how the roads were marked and curbs were painted.  My initial impression was that it appeared that Morocco seem to be in better order than my native Venezuela.  If I was to simply visit Rabat, Casablanca, and other major Moroccan cities, I would come to the conclusion that Morocco is developed and doing quite well for itself.  It makes sense for many RPCVs to question Peace Corps' role in such a country, not to mention that Peace Corps Morocco is the second largest program in the world with over 200 volunteers year-round.  When I hear their stories and their comparisons, it makes me question my role.

I live in what is considered a semi-urban site.  The population ranges from 50-70K.  The city is blessed with a river that runs through it, which irrigates the many farms that surround the city, and heavy winter rains and an occasional snow that keep the city looking remarkably green.  I have internet in my home, running water, and reliable electricity.  When I signed up, I thought that I would be hauling my water, lighting candles at night, perhaps performing rain dances with the locals, and then coming up with some development scheme, with input from the community of course, that would aid my community in some noticeable way.  When it comes to governance, I would have to say that the Fes-Bouleman Province may be an exception to the norm.    In just two years, they widened and repaved the main roads of the city, refurbished the old city, installed brand new street lighting and Christmas-like lights all over town, and built a few new administrative centers for various delegations.  Also, right now the road to Fes is being widened into a four-lane highway, which will make the 30 kilometers to Fes a breeze.  The municipality and provincial government are producing results.  A few of my fellow PCVs that have visited have said that I am indeed not in Peace Corps, but Posh Corps. At the start of service, I did feel as if my experience was not the true, genuine Peace Corps experience.

So it appeared that my community had a lot going for it.  They had easy access to one of the biggest tourist markets in Fes, reliable communication services, decent roads, public and private schools, and a delegation that seemed to be improving their lot.  I was also the fifth consecutive volunteer in this site.  I thought, "After so many cycles of volunteers, shouldn't these artisans be at a point where they don't need our assistance?  Was PC just scrambling for sites? Am I not going to be competing with what appeared to be a city with plenty of university educated young people who also happen to be unemployed?" With so many resources, I asked myself the existential question, "Why am I here?"  

It wasn't until my language began to pick up that I began to understand my role.  Once I got to talking with people about their life, their challenges, their history, and the work of previous volunteers, a need began to take shape.  I took a couple of trips to Fes to check out the artisana markets to see how well my artisans fared against what seemed, at first glance, like a saturated market.  The quality of their products was just as good if not better than most, but they weren't selling a whole lot.  The coops that I spoke to had no problems producing a large number of items on demand so production and quality were not the problem.  Despite being 30k south of Fes, our city did not see a steady flow of tourist.  Those that do come don't always stop at the artisana so location is an issue, but I thought, "Why not sell in Fe?"

When I asked, several artisans in my artisana complex unanimously chimed in that doing so would undercut their gains significantly.  They explained how Fassi, Rabati, or Cassawi bazzarists have a practice of lowering their purchasing price with every buying trip and then they turn around and sell the product supposedly at five to ten times the wholesale price to tourist.  Some of the weaving cooperatives in the region were formed for the specific purpose of selling at a higher price collectively.

Furthermore, they were also worried that some of the big-city bazzarist could potentially steal their product ideas and have some other coop or artisan produce the item at a lower price.  When asked about any trusted retailers, most said that they preferred to sell directly to a customer and not a middleman.  It was startling to hear these accounts.  There was so much distrust in their fellow Moroccans who were just 30k away.

If they weren't planning to sell to Fassi medina shops, who were they hoping to target?  Each coop I spoke to hoped to target the foreign market and wealthy Moroccans who in some cases are émigrés living or working abroad.  They say that foreigners are usually the ones that value their handmade work and pay the prices they feel the product warrants.  They told me stories about different artisans or coops getting linked with clients in Europe and how much money they had made.  These opportunities also led to trips to various expos abroad.  I looked up some Moroccan artisana retailers in the U.S. and told them that it was possible to link them with the Moroccan owners, but upon suggesting this option, one of my artisans told me that he did not want to work with Moroccans abroad.  He feared that they would exploit his goods just as the middlemen in Morocco.  I was reminded once again that I needed to bypass the middlemen and find direct selling options.  Now, I was confused.  It's not just big-city bazzarists from Morocco that they were afraid of, but Moroccan bazzarists in general or maybe just other Moroccans in general? Hmm.

Well, feeling the need to get going on something I endeavored to improve the marketing of a few individual artisans and one coop.  Some friends with some fine cameras passed through my town and were gracious enough to take hundreds of product shots that I then cropped and modified for a catalog, website, and other marketing materials.  A previous volunteer had done a similar project compiling products from all artisans at the artisana and of other PCV sites.  The catalog ended up being a whopping 25MB in size even after compression.  I wasn’t even going to attempt something of that scale; instead, I decided to focus on one particular cooperative.  

I began work on an English-language website for the Cherry Buttons Cooperative.  We first set up a number of services like Box.net, a few Picasa Web Albums, Google Docs, Skype, and opened a Wordpress account.  I walked my counterpart through most of the services.  She began to use Skype immediately alerting her son in Belgium to do the same.  He installed it and from then on he became a fixture of our daily casse-croûte (evening snack).  My counterpart would call just as they were about to start.  They watched each other pour their tea, expressed how much they missed one another, and then spoke about their respective days.  It was cool to see how this technology brought the family closer.  For the Wordpress site, I interviewed Amina a couple of times and then spoke to past volunteers to get some content.  We then launched it just before her departure in late June to the 2009 Santa Fe International Folk Art Market.  I was happy to be busy, but the nagging question of sustainability was in the back of my mind the entire time.

I knew that a PCV or an English-speaking person would need to be responsible for the English version of the site, but I was hoping that with a French site I could begin to train someone on how to update, maintain, and respond to the inquiries that the site was generating.  With the help of Fouzia Chkar, a very intelligent and talented interpreter, we translated the English text to French and then we launched a French language version, Boutons de Cerises, of the same site in December 2009.  Fast-forwarding to September 2010, both the English and French sites were generating inquiries, but Amina had no one to respond to them.  I sat down with her from time to time to go through the emails, which ranged from questions about prices, availability, production, shipping, the djellaba button-learning class we advertised, and about the coop's community outreach programs and trainings, but we often respond late because of schedule conflicts or lack of an internet connection or a working computer in her home.  From the moment I began the project, I asked Amina to recruit someone that would have the time to be trained on everything I had done, but for a number of reasons, she was unable to.  The website has the potential to do as requested, to reduce the dependence on a middleman, but without the administrative organizational structure, it's very hard to see it progressing.

For all the bad talk the artisana middlemen get, they play a vital role in the Moroccan economy.  My artisan community only point to the large gains made by the bazzarist, but fails to understand the underlying reason.  Most middlemen have as their lifeblood a network of producers, retailers, wholesalers, and direct buyers.  They recognize the value of building a clientele, whereas most of my artisans are only concerned about making the present day sale.  The smart Fassi middlemen creates a welcoming environment in his shop and invites you to tea to find out if your friends, family, or colleagues could be potential clients as well.  They have control of at least 3-4 languages.  They can speak Tamazight to their producers, Darija to their Moroccan colleagues, French, Spanish, or English to the tourists that pass by, and correspond in French or Fusha with international clients.  In addition to being fluent in 3-4 languages, some are also tech literate.  In contrast, within the artisan community, the illiteracy figure has to be above 60% (Here's an article on a recent move by the Moroccan government to eradicate illiteracy, "New literacy agency will target Moroccan women, rural dwellers").   If it wasn't for the bazzarist, artisanal products wouldn't move in Morocco.

When President Kennedy issued the call to establish the Peace Corps, it was with the intention of sending men and women to countries seeking technical and development assistance.  In Morocco, I don't think this really applies.  I don't think Morocco lacks in technical expertise; it's just that the majority have left or are leaving the rural areas for the big cities.  There is certainly a need in my town for assistance, but it is partly due to the flight of young people or brain drain to Fes and other big cities.  One of the reasons why my counterpart is unable to find a recruit is because that individual is likely to find a better paying or more prestigious job in the big city.  Some of the young men nearing marrying age in my town have said to me that they have little time to do unpaid NGO activities.  They're thinking about landing a secure job and accumulating some capital to build a nice nest for their future family.  In my opinion, the technical expertise--although I think it could be fine-tuned a bit--is already here; it's just not in many of our sites.

My counterpart is not alone in this pursuit for talent.  Even the government has problems keeping rural schools staffed.  Part of the reason why rural schools are understaffed stems from the misguided attempt to import help from the cities rather than to develop it locally.  Also, it could very well be that those students from the country, after getting a taste of the big city, vow never to return.  The Maghrebia article goes on to speak about the hardships the families endure being separated.  It also should note that another reason why teachers leave is due to the shoddy infrastructure in many rural sites.  Taking someone from a cosmopolitan city like Rabat or Casablanca and then placing them somewhere where running water and electricity are a luxury can be a shock for many.  These city-slickers can feel just as isolated from the community as a foreigner.  Ironically, I've heard of some cases where the PCV who has been living in the community for some time is one of the individuals that helps the urbanite integrate and in some instances serves as a translator for the university-educated Moroccan who's been exposed to French and English, but never to a Berber dialect like Tamazight.  Many Moroccans who take rural posts are doing so knowing that their appointment is temporary and much like volunteers begin to count the days till the end of their service when they may be relocated closer to family or to a more urban location.  I believe that as long as infrastructure developments lag in the rural parts of the country, the cities will only continue to sprawl, the youth will continue to migrate to the cities, and the human capital will continue to go where it can yield the highest return.

This urban and rural divide is not unique to Morocco; it seems that many developing countries face the same dilemma, but why is this the case?  Not long ago, I read an interesting account of how development funds from the World Bank, IMF, and other large loan-making organizations were issued to developing countries.  John Perkins, a fellow RPCV, in his Confessions of An Economic Hitman shares hist personal story as that of a self-described ‘Economic Hitman’ who traversed the world selling massive development projects to Third World countries for the purpose of putting these countries in debt holes they would never be able to climb out of.  He spoke of projects that were often constructed without a proper environmental assessment or without any consideration for those who would be displaced.  He also said that it was quite often the countries’ urban business elite or foreign companies that benefited the most from the projects reaping windfall profits from the expansion of the industries they already controlled.  From his insider’s account, it appears that the development schemes are also in the hands of middlemen/women.  Some of these middlemen/women proposed development schemes that would increase the energy supply of the cities so that the urban factories could expand production at the expense of building a dam that destroyed the fishing and agriculture of the people living downstream.  If infrastructure is largely a government initiative, could it be that the development monies whether through foreign loans or tax revenues are also being hijacked by urban middlemen/women who are widening the divide?

Morocco is making great progress on meeting many of their Millennium Development Goals, which in its case mainly involves projects to reduce the urban versus rural infrastructure disparity.  Since gaining its independence, the country has expanded the electricity grid and potable water availability considerably.  On education, there are also positive marks on improving access by building more schools and dormitories for those kids living too far from the nearest school.  On the flipside, I see signs of middlemen/women hijacking funds when I hear of water-usage showdowns between the farmers and the tourism lobby who wishes to divert more water from the low-yielding agriculture industry to the more lucrative golf courses, pools, and for the use of luxury hotels in Marrakech (USA Today "Drought, tourism endanger Marrakech palm grove").  The trade group argues that the use of water in the tourism sector yields more revenues than using it in agriculture and that may very well be, but the diversion would likely displace the farmers who will have no option but to move to the nearest city for employment.  I also find it interesting to hear of the construction of a TGV like train line on the Atlantic coast when much of the Middle Atlas is connected by a skinny, pot-hole lined two-lane road.  My hope is that the country's recent efforts to decentralize governance will help to bring parity between the urban and rural interests. 

Diverting resources is not the only way to hijack development funds.  Middlemen/women can also siphon funds through legal and illegal means.  Corruption is a muskil kbir (big problem) in Morocco.  In a country where the illiteracy rate is well above 50% in the countryside, it’s likely that only a few people understand where the money is going and how it’s been applied; the majority is completely clueless.  Abdelrrahim El Ouali shares similar views in his article for Inter Press Services titled "Morocco on a slow march to literacy".  The illiteracy rate is even higher for women so it’s likely that a female’s point of view is missing.  When it comes to development dollars, it is quite easy to overstate expenses to a grant-making NGO that is on another hemisphere and that likely does not have enough on-the-ground experience to scrutinize the accounting or the delivery of the goods or project.  Mr. Perkins is skeptical of the development schemes that are drawn up in boardrooms of the big grant and loan-making organizations for the very reason that quite often those development dollars or loans do raise GNP and per capita income, but in some cases do more to exacerbate poverty and, I would add, to displace people leading to the creation of large urban ghettos, favelas, and barrios.          

So where do some volunteers fit in the large scheme of things?  During our Pre-Service Training, we were handed a big, thick yellow manual titled Roles of Volunteers in Development along with our Participatory Analysis for Community Action (PACA) tool book that attempted to clarify the Peace Corps mission.  Our program staff provided us with some insight of the artisana sector and previous volunteers shared their successes and challenges.  One thing that we were told repeatedly was that our role was not that of someone that should be doing the work for the community, but rather enabling the community to carry out the work.  We were told that we should view our role as a facilitator, someone that brings people and resources together.

Amina and Kawtar of Réseau d'Initiative des Femmes Marocaines

After a few months in site and after conducting some preliminary community assessments, a large number of volunteers realized how much power the middlemen/women had and decided to do something to balance the gains.  Our method to diminish the power and control was to empower our artisans with information, trainings, financial resources, and if need be, to serve as a middleman/woman ourselves.

My counterpart has benefited from these trainings and financial resources.  She said that the first volunteer, a fluent French speaker, helped her improve her conversational French tremendously, which opened other doors of opportunity.  When volunteers approached her about working on Camp GLOW, she was smart to know that one thing could lead to another.  This willingness to help led to meetings with prominent women business owners, gestures of goodwill from politicians seeking the support of her members, and an overall expansion of her business network.  She's been to the U.S. twice to participate in the 2009 and 2010 Santa Fe International Folk Art Market.  Through her masterful networking skills and because of her eagerness to learn, she has been able to cut out the middlemen from her business.  She doesn't rely on others for invites to various expos; she gets invited personally.  Had we not been there to provide the assistance (free-of-charge to her, but at the U.S. Treasury’s expense), I doubt she would have had this much success in such a short period time.  Her coop still faces many challenges as any typical business does.  Nonetheless, she's a great example of how grassroots development can take root in a community.

Volunteers across different sectors in health, environment, and youth development serve as facilitators as well.  Many have organized health screenings and AIDS awareness campaigns and testings, have brought resources to improve irrigation or plant trees, or to support a local short-film festival, or have invited people versed in women’s rights to educate women on the recent changes to the family code (Moudawana).  This year’s Camp GLOW was another good example of facilitators at work.  I and a few other volunteers worked to secure funding for the organizing association.  Once I linked the primary sponsor with the association, I stepped aside.  The accounting and the logistics were in the hands of the association.  The event had some successes and pitfalls.  Despite going over budget, by managing the bookkeeping this time around they also learned how to price future camps more accurately and the association is now more aware of funding opportunities for future camps.  I believe these efforts by various volunteers however big or small are making a difference.       

In Morocco, PCVs are going against the tide.  When a lot of young people are looking to move to the big city for university studies and work, volunteers are going the other way.  When a lot of young people are looking to improve their French, Spanish, English, or Fusha to enter into a prestigious school or improve their employment opportunities, volunteers are learning the colloquial Arabic or Tamazight dialects.  When a lot of Moroccan youth aspire to go to Europe or the U.S. to study, for employment, or better living conditions, a lot of us go to some of the most remote sites to endure the bitter cold, sweltering heat, blackout prone electricity, polluted water, stinky Turkish toilets, parasites, leaky roofs, and a host of other inconveniences that are normally not part of the climate-controlled and sanitized European and U.S. American lifestyle. 

Most business meetings are preceded or followed
 by a food-coma inducing meal

My mother shares many of the same sentiments that many Moroccans articulate.  They ask, “Why would you leave the comforts of the U.S. to live in a sub-developed country and why would you leave your salaried job for an unpaid one?”  Before I arrived to Morocco, I used to tell everyone, not knowing exactly what I was getting into and in true Peace Corps idealism, that I was going there to do my part to help people in whatever corner of the world I was sent to.  Now with two years into my Moroccan small business development experience, I tell people that I’m doing my best to bridge the urban and rural divide.  When I explain to my Moroccan friends what I do, I say something like, “Ana bHal kantara bin nas mn medina kbira wlla mn l-xarij ou bin nas f l3arobia”, which in my choppy Darija literally translates to 'I like bridge (kantara can also mean harmony) between people from big city or from abroad and people from the country'.  To which they respond, “Oh, so like a middleman, right?”  Right, but an unpaid one.  Upon hearing this, they say meskin (poor thing) and then they offer me some lunch.  I may not make money by linking people with resources, but I have had my share of couscous bribes.  Fortunately, until the infrastructure rolls in, I and other PCVs will continue to be the beneficiaries of this lopsided ordeal.  All I can say to all that are lucky to be chosen for this post is to enjoy it while you can.   

Camp GLOW Morocco 2010 Update

Camp GLOW is ON in full force once again for the 4th time since its inception in 2006 adding as we say in Spanish "leña al fuego", wood to the fire, and that fire is the motivation and desire that many young women across Morocco have to gain some economic independence and have more control over their future.

I don't think I mentioned in my previous entries about Camp GLOW about my personal motivation to see the camp succeed.  Part of my impetus comes from personal experience growing up among some very strong and powerful women who happen to be in my immediate family and happened to be living in the developing world.  Shortly after I was born, my father at the young age of 23 with a recently acquired university degree in electrical engineering passed away unexpectedly leaving my mother with me and my three-year-old sister in a foreign country with a foreign language and culture.  My mother suddenly had to provide somehow.  The situation thrusted her out into what was uncharted territory for her.  With the help of church friends, she went on to get her GED and to get a vocational certification in secretarial administration.  With my mother's visa about to expire, we had no choice but to move back to Venezuela where the going got even tougher, but thankfully family was there to offer support. In the machismo-permeated work environment characteristic of many Latin American countries, my mother had to fight even more for work and for the respect of her male bosses.  Another powerful woman was my Aunt Sara who worked extremely hard to get her degree in elementary education, to secure a public school position, and to save money to purchase a home that we all shared.  Both my aunt and my mother owe their strength to my grandmother who taught herself how to read and took on whatever menial job was available to put food on the table for her daughters and for extended family.

In order to get the family through the rough patches, these women had to be entrepreneurial, bold, audacious, resourceful, and innovative.  Being witness to how much these women were able to accomplish in a machismo environment in a developing country, I know that if women can just get the information, the knowledge, the skills, and the support from mentors, they can create the life they wish to live for themselves and for their families.  Also, given life's unpredictability, I believe this knowledge, skills, resourcefulness, and entrepreneurial attitude is not something that these women should gain and develop as a hobby but as a vocation.

Camp GLOW 2010 took over 40 young women from rural villages and small cities from the Middle Atlas Mountains and tried to instill the entrepreneurial spirit and to provide the know-how.  The camp took place from July 25-31 at Mohammedia.  I went to visit on the third day of the camp to chat with Mrs. Amina Yabis, my counterpart and principal organizer, take some shots, and to check-in with the PCVs.  PCV Marian and Rachel were present at the camp serving as camp counselors.  Marian wrote a number of summaries on our Facebook Cause that I'd like to share with you:

Camp GLOW Morocco-Days 1 and 2

After a two-day training of facilitators for Camp GLOW, 45 young women arrived in Sefrou yesterday morning. They piled in the bus rented for the camp and we pulled out of the parking lot. Amina, the lead facilitator popped a CD of Berber music and the fun began. The girls sang along, clapped and soon were in the aisles belly-dancing and shaking it without reservations. Wow, what a great start, no need for an icebreaker! The exuberant singing and dancing held out the entire five-hours to Mohammedia. After arriving at our campsite, everyone had a good night sleep.

This morning began with group exercise on the beach, and after breakfast we began our first session. The campers were split up into four groups and assigned to a facilitator who lead a discussion on attitudes about personality, gender and cultural differences. When the time came for the young ladies to partake in the discussion, they seemed unrecognizable from the group on the bus the day before. It took awhile to get warmed up and encourage some of the more introverted females to participate in the activity. 

As the day went on, the campers began to acclimate to their new environment and roommates. Some of the young women from rural villages had spent their first night away from their family the night before and all were new to guided discussions in which they were invited to share their thoughts, ideas and opinions. After lunch everyone took advantage of the sunny weather and spent a few hours on the beach. The thrill of seeing the ocean (many for the first time ever!) and playing in the waves was a fantastic way to wear down the guardedness inhibiting some of the GLOW Campers; for the first time since the beginning of camp the separate villages began to intermingle. 

After an afternoon session, the evening willl be spent in the dining hall for a dance party that will hopefully rival yesterday's bus ride.

Camp GLOW: Day 3

Women's Empowerment: 5 Steps to Success

GLOW Camp Day 3 started off with a sleepy breakfast following a dancing soiree in the dining hall. The campers perked up when Amina, the lead facilitator lead an energetic discussion about her experience starting and building the Cherry Buttons Cooperative of Sefrou. Her success as an artisan entrepreneur has become known all over Morocco and her cooperative is very active in providing mentorship and training to young women from the region. Amina explained the process of developing an idea into a plan and the process of starting and completing a project, as well as some of the challenges and opportunities she encountered while developing the cooperative selling jellaba buttons.

As Amina concluded her talk, the next speaker arrived from Rabat. Ilham Zhiri, president of the Association of Entrepreneurship for Moroccan Women arrived and led a lively, informative and inspiring discussion. After describing her educational background, challenges and career path towards becoming the Association's president, she outlined the five components that she believed had been crucial components to her success. These steps to success Ilham described are:

1. Self-confidence

2. Self-reliance

3. Positive attitude

4. A solution-oriented mind

5. Self-improvement

As she identified each step she applied each of them to one of more of the challenges faced by women in Morocco. The young women identified some of their own personal challenges and were very curious about specific ways she was able to use these steps to persevere, little by little. Ilham also shared information about Association of Entrepreneurship for Moroccan Women's mentorship program for young women and shared the Association's local and regional contact information. 

One camper, Fatima lives in a very small Berber village called Immouzer Marmoucha with few, if any business opportunities for women. Like many rural women, she comes from a family of skilled weavers. Towards the conclusion of the presentation, Fatima slipped off to her room and returned with three beautifully hand-woven traditional Berber pillows. She presented them to Ilham and described her goal of selling them in the city nearest to her hometown. It was a truly inspirational moment for both the camp facilitators and the participants. 

The young women walked to lunch glowing with encouragement and inspiration. Three of the ladies from my own site asked me to help them with their projects once they had returned from camp- What a great day!!

For many of the camp participants, it was the first time they had met a highly successful Moroccan woman, and for others the first time they had been told that developing self-confidence is an important part of achieving one's goals. 

Girls Leading Our World! Thank you Ilham, Amina, the Association of Entrepreneurship for Moroccan Women and the Cherry Buttons Cooperative!

Camp GLOW: Day 4 

Well, here we are already halfway through Camp GLOW! What a wonderful three days it has been getting to know the forty-four young women who have been working hard this week. 

This morning Camp GLOW was all about business. As a follow-up to the session led by Amina yesterday about building and developing a business, the campers spent the morning brainstorming business ideas in small groups and writing a business plan. Towards the conclusion of the morning session, each group presented their business plan and answered questions from staff and participants about the specifics of their ideas. The presentations were quite impressive and thorough; even more impressive were the creative ideas of each group. The project ideas included: a milk cooperative, patisserie, beauty salon specializing in weddings, cultural guesthouse, and an olive cooperative. 

Following lunch and an hour of swimming, the participants re-grouped for a presentation by an advocate of the newly passed Mudawana or Family Law of Morocco. Passed in 2005 by King Mohammed VI, the law grants women more rights within marriage and takes steps towards abolishing the patriarchal family. Some of the important changes mandated by the law include:

- The legal obligation to obtain a divorce from a secular court (vs. a letter from a religious official) 

- The parent who keeps custody of the children also keeps the house. 

- The legal age of marriage is 18 instead of 15. 

- Sexual harassment is an offense punished by law. 

- Polygamy, while still allowed, became more difficult under the new Mudawana in 2003

The advocate fielded questions from the participants and provided information on the remaining challenges within Morocco's legal system that may inhibit the enforcement of the code. These challenges, she said, are especially present in rural regions. Despite Mudawana's limitations, the participants will be able to take their knowledge of the new Family Law back to their hometowns, perhaps further empowering the women with knowledge about their legal entitlements.

In all, the camp had five full days of activities.  A range of subjects were covered dealing with health and hygiene, women's rights, and environmental stewardship, but the main focus was on entrepreneurship.  With the help of the U.S. Embassy staff who provided the organizing NGO, the Golden Buttons Association, with a number of special speakers comprising of some remarkable women business owners and high-ranking public servants, the young girls heard personal accounts of the challenges those women overcame and their keys to success.  The brainstorming of business ideas was led by Mrs. Amina Yabis, my counterpart, who just three days prior to the camp beginning had arrived from the U.S. after attending for the second consecutive time the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market.  Although I was not at the event to see her speak, I am sure she spoke frankly as I've seen her do in many instances about the need for women to seek more than what has been planned for them, to continue to learn, to get the recognition for their work, and to give back to those in need.

Camp GLOW is due to continue on through the fall and spring.  Because of a large grant the association received from the U.S. Embassy to cover the main summer camp, all the individual donations sent to the High Atlas Foundation totaling close to $1,200 will be used to hold 2-3 follow-up events in the Middle Atlas region.  We are hoping that we can leverage those funds with funding from municipalities, Peace Corps funding opportunities, or from other NGOs to be able to invite a large number of women.  A number of young ladies dropped out at the last second or were not allowed to leave their villages for whatever reason so we hope that with the excess funds, we will be able to take Camp GLOW to them.

I want to thank everyone who read my blog and donated to Camp GLOW.  I only posted a few of the pictures.  My counterpart and the PCVs took a whole lot more and will likely post them soon.  I will update the web album posted on the Cherry Buttons Coop site as soon as they are made available.  More information regarding the follow-up events will be forthcoming.  Congrats to all! Way to go GLOW!

The Cherry Buttons Coop of Sefrou, Morocco, Is One of Ten Coops To Be Showcased at The Museum of International Folk Art

The Museum of International Folk Art just posted a news release listing the ten cooperatives that will be part of the upcoming exhibition titled Empowering Women: Artisan Cooperatives That Transform Communities. The Cherry Buttons Cooperative of Sefrou, Morocco, is honored to be part of a remarkable group of cooperatives that are making a difference in their respective communities. Amina Yabis, the cooperative's president, said that she is looking forward to sharing her story and learning from others.

Amina's desire to learn was one of the main reasons why I decided to work with her coop.  When other associations or cooperatives approached me for money or equipment, she asked me to help her improve the marketing of her coop.  She felt that new ideas and new connections would be worth more than any grant I could bring.  She is well aware of the Peace Corps goals, which are more about providing new ideas and technical training rather than hard dollars.

The first volunteer Amina worked with back in 2000 provided organizational development assistance that helped her association and cooperative take root.  Another volunteer came shortly thereafter and helped her streamline her production and diversify her product line.  Later, a group of volunteers from the region pitched an idea of a young girl's empowerment camp and Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) was born.

When I arrived nearly two years ago with my broken Arabic and unsure as to what I would do or who I would be working with, Amina welcomed me to her home, introduced me to her family, friends, coop members, and invited me to her home numerous times for some hearty home-cooked meals.   She made me feel at ease and her family made me feel as another member of the family.  Also, it did not matter that my attempts at Arabic sounded like gibberish.  If we needed to speak in a mishmash of French and Arabic, then that's what we would do.  Communication was the goal whether it was verbally or non-verbally.  That's the true essence of what we Peace Corps volunteers call a sympathetic interlocutor.

Over the last year, we set out to improve the marketing of her coop.  We set up a website/blog prior to her trip to the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market (SFIFAM) last year, http://cherrybuttonscoop.wordpress.com.  Some of my friends from the U.S. and Europe traveling through Morocco as well as other PCVs passing through Morocco´s shamal (north) came to take professional photographs of her products and her coop.  Fouzia Chkar, a superb translator by trade, worked with me to produce the French language version of the coop' website, http://boutonsdecerises.wordpress.com.  We engaged in a number of product development exchanges with U.S. textile vendors that have not panned out as of yet, but have taught us a great deal about what other markets are seeking and what we need to do before proceeding with any major exporting opportunity.  A product catalogue is in the works.  I will also begin training a few cooperative members on the basics of digital photography, Wordpress web development, customer service, and marketing.  Inchallah (God willing), before I take off late this year and hand over projects to the next volunteer, the cooperative will be able to launch their catalogue, maintain it and update it, post updates on the blog section of their site, and begin to generate domestic as well as international sales.

This invitation to the museum exhibition is a testament to the hard work of Amina Yabis and the ladies of the cooperative.  It all began with an idea to bring equity to the marketplace for the women of the Sefrou region.  The women were the primary producers of a fine handicraft, but middlemen rather than the women were the primary beneficiaries.  In just over ten years, it has opened many doors of opportunity for many women who have come to her cooperative to learn to weave on a variety of looms, to dye wool, and have benefited from the exchange of ideas in other Peace Corps and NGO-sponsored workshops.  With the skills and a renewed sense of confidence, Amina and several coop members have ventured out of the home and traveled hundreds of miles to major craft fairs in Marrakesh, Casablanca, and Fez.  Today, the coop is considered a model women's cooperative in Morocco and is showcased as such by the Regional Delegation of Artisana of Sefrou.

I want to thank the many volunteers, foundations, government and non-governmental organizations, individual donors, and the amazing staff of the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market and the Museum of International Folk Art that have given so much of their time and resources to create these amazing opportunities.  A big thanks to Dr. Suzanne Seriff for her patience in working with Amina and me and for her dedication to the project.  Thanks to all.

Please take a moment to read through the museum's latest release for more information on the extraordinary stories that will be told at the museum's exhibition opening.

Museum of International Folk Art

The ten women's cooperatives in the exhibition

EMPOWERING WOMEN: ARTISAN COOPERATIVES THAT TRANSFORM COMMUNITIES

(Santa Fe, NM, June 11, 2010)-Ten women's artisan cooperatives will be represented in the Museum of International Folk Art's Gallery of Conscience inaugural exhibition, Empowering Women. These co-ops are from Swaziland, South Africa, Nepal, Lao PDR, India, Peru, Bolivia, Morocco, Kenya, and Rwanda. You may read more about the exhibition here.

Swaziland: Phez'kwemkhono Bomake-Ncheka Cooperative

Today more than 50 local women work in the cooperative making baskets to earn money for their families and to provide support for the community's many AIDS orphans. Their earnings have transformed the lives of hundreds of AIDS orphans funding education, clothing, a soup kitchen, medicine, home-base care for the bedridden, and hospital services.

South Africa: Mapula Embroidery Project

With embroidery members of this collective call attention to the joys and hardships of their homeland. Scenes range from the nostalgic depicting animals and village life to current issues such as crime, AIDS, unemployment, to alcohol addiction. Maria Rengane, founder of the Mapula (Mother of Rain) Embroidery Project said; "I would like to spend all of the years of my life helping communities do things like this project for themselves. This is how you build a strong successful nation."

Nepal: Janakpur Women's Development Center

The women of the Mhathili culture were renowned for painting designs on the mud walls of their village homes for weddings, festivals, and other special occasions. When Claire Burkett, a New England college graduate arrived in the Nepalese lowlands in 1989, she thought if the women painted their beautiful, spontaneous images onto handmade paper, they could be sold to an outside market, and increase their socio-economic status. Today, more than forty women travel daily to the Janakpur Center, a huge step for women who were not allowed to leave their homes.

Lao PDR: OckPopTok

Ten years ago this coop was founded by a London fashion photographer and the daughter of a master weaver from the Mekong region of Lao Peoples Democratic Republic. OckPopTok means "East Meets West." OckPopTok has grown from a one-room weaving studio for local weavers to an internationally recognized heritage destination, gallery, retreat center and women's weaving collaborative for more than 200 artisans in three provinces and seven villages. This cooperative is as likely to sell wall hangings inspired by Mark Rothko as the traditional skirts woven with Laotian motifs.

India: Self-Employed Women's Association Trade Facilitation Center

SEWA includes more than 3,500 artisan shareholders in 80 villages in India's western state of Gujarat. The women - all skilled home-based embroidery and textile artisans - are the producers, managers, and owners of their collective livelihood. The women run every phase of the business and their success has translated into building a legacy of respect where previously they were known either by their father's or husband's name and are now known by their given name - part of the tradition these women want to pass on for their daughters.

Peru: Centro de Textiles Tradicionales del Cusco

Hand-woven textiles in the Peruvian Andes are an important social and ethnic marker and a significant part of the cultural heritage of the region. Nilda Callanaupa, granddaughter of a master weaver who herself was weaving by age seven, founded this coop in 2005 to preserve traditions that were dying out. Today the CTTC is in nine regions of Peru, each supporting its own cooperative structure and a state-of-the-art museum of Andean textiles and a weaving training center, the CTTC in Cusco has become a destination for tourists and community members alike.

Bolivia: Cheque Oitedie Cooperative

The 45 women in this cooperative plant and harvest the bromeliad and produce and market hand-woven and dyed fiber bags to an international market. The group's sales amount to more than 60% of the total community income and now they manage a collective bank account for the first time.

Morocco: Women's Button Cooperative of Sefrou

Amina Yabis, a typical Moroccan Muslim housewife and mother of four boys ran unsuccessfully for public office in 1997. This left her with a clear realization: women needed first to have access to the cash economy to be successful in public life. Over the next few years Amina organized more than 400 women from her province into a craft association called Golden Buttons. Economic success led to the formation in 2000 of the Women's Button Cooperative of Sefrou, a for-profit cooperative that was the first of its kind organized by women. The cooperative has ventured into other crafts and training programs to expand opportunities for Moroccan women for successful engagement in public life.

Kenya: Umoja Uaso Women's Group

The beginning of the Umoja Uaso Women's Group in Kenya was not about art. It was about survival. Rebecca Lolosoli and 16 other home-less women founded the village of Umoja Uaso in 1990 as a refuge fro Samburu women who ere victims of rape, beatings, forced marriage, genital cutting, and other violent domestic crimes. Umoja, which means "unity" is now a safe have for women and girls fleeing abuse. The women of Umoja sell their tribe's elaborately beaded jewelry and crafts, both traditional and contemporary, to provide for themselves and their children. They have established a sickness and disability fund, a community center, and a school for their children.

Rwanda: Gahaya Links Cooperative

In 100 days of explosive ethnic violence in 1994, Rwandan Hutus murdered some one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus, leving hundreds of thousands of widows and orphans. Ephigenia Mukantabana lost 65 family members but has forgiven her family's killer and now works side-by-side the imprisoned man's wife as fellow members of a basket-weaving cooperative. Beginning with 20 women the company has now grown to a network of more than 4,000 weavers across the country, organized into 52 cooperatives. Ephigenia credits teaching her art to both Hutus and Tutsis as the balm that restored her shattered life. She says; "Art heals the hopeless soul. Weaving is hope for tomorrow."

Media Contacts

Suzanne Seriff, Ph.D
Sr. Lecturer, Dept. of Anthropology,
University of Texas at Austin
Guest Curator, "Empowering Women: Artisan Cooperatives that Transform Communities"
seriff@aol.com
512 459-3990

Steve Cantrell, PR Manager

505-476-1144

505-310-3539 - cell

steve.cantrell@state.nm.us

steve.cantrell@state.nm.us

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The Museum of International Folk Art houses the world's largest collection of international folk art, with the ongoing exhibition Multiple Visions: A Common Bond in the Girard Wing. Changing and traveling exhibitions are offered in the Bartlett Wing and exhibitions highlighting textiles are featured the Neutrogena Wing.  Lloyd's Treasure Chestoffers visitors interactive displays about collections and how museums care for collections.