Saturday, 25 August 2007
Today is one of those days that make all the trials and tribulations of travelling worthwhile (and, no, my luggage still hasn’t arrived). Bouziane, one of the professors at Al Akhawayn University took me with him to visit a traditional Berber village where he does work on several UNESCO projects. The village, Dayet Ifrah, was only about twenty minutes outside of Ifrane, but it might as well have been several decades if not several centuries removed from the modern world. Something like nine hundred souls lived around a small lake in a number of rock structures. There were some amenities – there was electricity, but no indoor plumbing or water. All the drinking water has to be drawn from one main outdoor well and a series of cisterns. There are other wells but they are for agricultural water. The UNESCO project deals with providing safe drinking water. The goal is to train one of the local teachers to test the local water to prevent the spread of water-born disease. The wells are increasingly important – and increasingly deep – because the lake continues to shrink. This is one of those places where you can clearly see the impact of global warming. They showed me where the water level used to be and it has dramatically shrunk over the years.
Apparently everybody there knows Bouziane and he has done a lot for the village. He took me to see the new women’s center they’ve built, although they haven’t quite figured out what to do with it. Bouziane talked about providing a place for the local women to produce crafts and then organize selling them for the greatest profit. I told him that the American Center for Oriental Research, where I always stay in Amman, had a deal with local women and sold their goods at the center – I suggested that the women from Dayet Ifrah could sell their goods at Al Akhawayn, which is I think where he was heading with his plan anyway. Right now he’s trying to talk them into considering growing lavender as a cash crop. They started growing potatoes around ten years ago but now the fear is that within a few years globalization will bring in a lot cheaper potatoes from Chile and elsewhere and the market will collapse for them. The problem is that it’s tough for them to consider lavender because it’s not a food crop and it will take a couple years for them to make money so it’s a scary proposition.
At one point the local sheikh came down the hill to talk. He, like everyone else, knew Bouziane and greeted him with the traditional kiss on both cheeks. During the discussion he asked if we’d do him the honor of having tea at this house. We waited until after prayers and drove him back to his house. They unlocked the formal greeting room and waited for the tea to be prepared. Bouziane acted as translator and we chatted back and forth about the changing fortunes of the village and the sheikh’s plans. Bouziane was right in that the sheikh really seemed to have the village’s best interests at heart and was interested in change – for example, he’s very interested in the lavender proposal and also has started planting apple trees on his own land as an example of diversifying their crops. His son and grandsons brought the meal – hot sweet tea, olives and bread along with fresh butter, honey and olive oil – and the sheikh kept shoveling more and more bread my way. The picture up top is of the sheikh, his son and me. They loved the picture – and then I told them that it was of three very handsome men, which, after Bouziane’s translation, was a big hit. They then asked us to stay for dinner. I told them that I thought we had just had dinner, which they thought was very funny. The sheikh wanted to go out back and slaughter a sheep and prepare a big meal, but we talked him out of it. When they finally became convinced that we couldn’t possibly eat any more bread they then passed the plate on to the grandsons and some neighbors – there was definitely a pecking order.
Overall it was an amazing time, even down to the little thing. When we were looking at the well I had a chance to talk to some of the kids. They were pretty cute. There was an adorable black cat up by the sheikh’s house that was walking around and trying to rub up against a rooster which was having none of it. As we were eating the cat crept up and starting mewing and the sheikh dipped a piece of bread in olive oil and threw it to the cat, which jumped on it and started eating. You suddenly saw a very different picture of the sheikh.
It was one of those afternoons that reminds you of what an amazing world it is, and how great it is to get away from the middle of the road. I will never forget this day.
Today is one of those days that make all the trials and tribulations of travelling worthwhile (and, no, my luggage still hasn’t arrived). Bouziane, one of the professors at Al Akhawayn University took me with him to visit a traditional Berber village where he does work on several UNESCO projects. The village, Dayet Ifrah, was only about twenty minutes outside of Ifrane, but it might as well have been several decades if not several centuries removed from the modern world. Something like nine hundred souls lived around a small lake in a number of rock structures. There were some amenities – there was electricity, but no indoor plumbing or water. All the drinking water has to be drawn from one main outdoor well and a series of cisterns. There are other wells but they are for agricultural water. The UNESCO project deals with providing safe drinking water. The goal is to train one of the local teachers to test the local water to prevent the spread of water-born disease. The wells are increasingly important – and increasingly deep – because the lake continues to shrink. This is one of those places where you can clearly see the impact of global warming. They showed me where the water level used to be and it has dramatically shrunk over the years.
Apparently everybody there knows Bouziane and he has done a lot for the village. He took me to see the new women’s center they’ve built, although they haven’t quite figured out what to do with it. Bouziane talked about providing a place for the local women to produce crafts and then organize selling them for the greatest profit. I told him that the American Center for Oriental Research, where I always stay in Amman, had a deal with local women and sold their goods at the center – I suggested that the women from Dayet Ifrah could sell their goods at Al Akhawayn, which is I think where he was heading with his plan anyway. Right now he’s trying to talk them into considering growing lavender as a cash crop. They started growing potatoes around ten years ago but now the fear is that within a few years globalization will bring in a lot cheaper potatoes from Chile and elsewhere and the market will collapse for them. The problem is that it’s tough for them to consider lavender because it’s not a food crop and it will take a couple years for them to make money so it’s a scary proposition.
At one point the local sheikh came down the hill to talk. He, like everyone else, knew Bouziane and greeted him with the traditional kiss on both cheeks. During the discussion he asked if we’d do him the honor of having tea at this house. We waited until after prayers and drove him back to his house. They unlocked the formal greeting room and waited for the tea to be prepared. Bouziane acted as translator and we chatted back and forth about the changing fortunes of the village and the sheikh’s plans. Bouziane was right in that the sheikh really seemed to have the village’s best interests at heart and was interested in change – for example, he’s very interested in the lavender proposal and also has started planting apple trees on his own land as an example of diversifying their crops. His son and grandsons brought the meal – hot sweet tea, olives and bread along with fresh butter, honey and olive oil – and the sheikh kept shoveling more and more bread my way. The picture up top is of the sheikh, his son and me. They loved the picture – and then I told them that it was of three very handsome men, which, after Bouziane’s translation, was a big hit. They then asked us to stay for dinner. I told them that I thought we had just had dinner, which they thought was very funny. The sheikh wanted to go out back and slaughter a sheep and prepare a big meal, but we talked him out of it. When they finally became convinced that we couldn’t possibly eat any more bread they then passed the plate on to the grandsons and some neighbors – there was definitely a pecking order.
Overall it was an amazing time, even down to the little thing. When we were looking at the well I had a chance to talk to some of the kids. They were pretty cute. There was an adorable black cat up by the sheikh’s house that was walking around and trying to rub up against a rooster which was having none of it. As we were eating the cat crept up and starting mewing and the sheikh dipped a piece of bread in olive oil and threw it to the cat, which jumped on it and started eating. You suddenly saw a very different picture of the sheikh.
It was one of those afternoons that reminds you of what an amazing world it is, and how great it is to get away from the middle of the road. I will never forget this day.
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