Virtual Magazine of Morocco on the Web
Morocco Week in Review 
September 15, 2008

Newton woman going to Morocco.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Jennifer Jae Boyd, 23, of Newton has been accepted into the Peace Corps. Boyd departed for Morocco on Monday to begin pre-service training as a small business development Peace Corps Volunteer. Upon graduation from Volunteer training in December, Boyd will be assisting Moroccans in rural areas to better their business practices, economic standing, and living standards.

Boyd is the daughter of William and Sandra Boyd and a graduate of Newton Senior High School. She then attended Central College in Pella where she earned a bachelor of arts degree in international management and French, graduating in 2007.

“I want to make a difference in the world,” said Boyd about her decision to join the Peace Corps. “I want to travel, live in another country, and learn another language while gaining valuable experience assisting another culture.” During the first three months of her service, Boyd will live with a host family in Morocco to become fully immersed in the country’s language and culture. After acquiring the language and cultural skills necessary to assist her community, Boyd will serve for two years in Morocco, living in a manner similar to people in her host country.

Boyd joins the 102 Iowa residents currently serving in the Peace Corps. More than 2,006 Iowa residents have served in the Peace Corps since 1961.

Currently, there are 234 Peace Corps Volunteers serving in Morocco, making it the second largest Peace Corps program. The Peace Corps is celebrating a 47-year legacy of service at home and abroad. Currently, there are 8,000 volunteers abroad, a 37-year high for volunteers in the field. Since 1961, more than 190,000 volunteers have helped promote a better understanding between Americans and the people of the 139 countries where volunteers have served.
http://www.newtondailynews.com/articles/2008/09/09/news/local4.txt
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Morocco receives UN help to defeat livestock disease.
By Imane Belhaj  2008-09-11

The Moroccan government is working with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation to combat an outbreak of the livestock disease PPR, which has been reported in nearly 4,000 animals across the country. With livestock trading expected to increase throughout North Africa during the month of Ramadan, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is warning against the regional spread of peste des petits ruminants (PPR), a contagious viral disease which threatens to kill millions of sheep and goats. FAO said on its website that the current outbreak has largely affected sheep, with 133 outbreaks reported in 29 Moroccan provinces.

Between Ramadan and Eid al-Adha celebrations in December, trading in livestock will increase in the region. The FAO warns that without proper control mechanisms, the movement and turnover of animals could accelerate the spread of the virus. Responding to a request for assistance by Moroccan authorities, the FAO Crisis Management Centre – Animal Health (CMC-AH) conducted a rapid response mission from August 12th-21st. The team assisted with the establishment of urgent measures to control and limit the spread of the disease.

The Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture confirmed that it had enlisted the aid of the FAO and that it was closely monitoring the spread of PPR on the national level. The ministry said in a recent communiqué that in addition to the quarantine and isolation of sick sheep and goats, it has carried out a vaccination campaign for healthy animals and emphasised early detection of PPR to halt its spread to other areas.

In spite of these precautions, farmers told Magharebia they are still afraid. Hasan B, a sheep herder, said he did not know how to benefit from the vaccination in order to protect his herd. He blamed officials for not taking the necessary measures in due time, and for not providing all the vaccines in a timely manner. Moustapha G, a farmer and cattle breeder, said he lost his only source of income because the government did not care about what happened to him. He added that officials were keeping silent on the available preventive measures and were not advising those who needed to know.

The Moroccan outbreak is the first occurrence of the disease in the country, which indicates that PPR has crossed the natural barrier of the Sahara and poses a risk to North Africa. Morocco's sheep population is estimated at 17 million and its goat population at 5 million. These animals play an important role in supporting the livelihoods of millions of families. According to the agriculture ministry, 3,926 of sheep and goats have been inflicted with the disease, leading to 1,836 animal deaths.

PPR is a highly contagious viral disease affecting domestic goats and sheep and small wild ruminants. It is transmitted through close contact between animals. In its acute form it is characterised by high fever, discharges from the eyes and nose, sores in the mouth, lesions of the mucous membranes, laboured breathing, and diarrhoea. Mortality rates can reach 80% in acute cases. In "super acute" cases the mortality rate is 100%, with affected animals dying in the first week after infection. http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2008/09/11/feature-01
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Goat plague: Morocco launched livestock vaccination operation .
Rabat, Sept. 10

Morocco has started vaccinating its livestock following the appearance, last July, of the "peste des petits ruminants" (PPR), or goat plague, the Ministry of Agriculture said on Wednesday. The operation targets sheep and goats in an attempt to contain the disease ahead of "Id Al-Adha" (the sacrifice feast) due in December.

The Ministry said some 400,000 sheep and goats were vaccinated, adding that the vaccination will be generalized in different regions of the country, mainly in high-risk areas. Other measures were taken, including restricting animals movements, quarantining affected farms and animals, and raising awareness of farmers.

A follow-up commission was set up to monitor the evolution of this disease, which is, the ministry said, "slow, under control, and with no economic impact on national livestock." According to the Ministry 178 farms were involved with 4,462 animals affected. The PPR virus causes fever, sores and lesions, labored breathing and diarrhea in infected animals. It poses no threat to human health. http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/economy/goat_plague__morocco3940/view
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Morocco to fight youth illiteracy with EU grant.
2008-09-09

Morocco will receive 17m euros from the European Union to reduce illiteracy by 3% a year and improve the quality and efficiency of the government's literacy programs, particularly those targeting people aged 16-35, MAP reported on Monday (September 8th). According to official figures the illiteracy rate stands at 43%, but press reports and unofficial statistics say it exceeds 60%.

In related news Monday, the Rabat-based Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO) called on the Islamic world to take "bold steps" to overcome the "alarming" illiteracy rate in Muslim countries. The appeal was launched to mark World Literacy Day on September 8th.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2008/09/09/newsbrief-06
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Morocco seals $23.8 million for education.
8 September afrol News

Morocco has secured US $23.8 million funding from European Union today to support the country's literacy programme, Morocco's state MAP news agency reported. Morocco has among the lowest adult literacy rate in North Africa at 52.3 percent. With these unflattering literacy statistics, government of Morocco has set a target to reduce adult illiteracy by half by 2010.

Launched today to mark World Literacy Day, the programme which would cover four years is aimed at reducing by three percent the illiteracy rate and targets the illiterate people aged between 16 and 35 years.

The grant will be used to reinforce orientation and follow-up capacities of north African kingdom in the field, and to support NGOs by improving their intervention capacity and quality of training. The funds will also serve to improve quality of life of Moroccans and economic participation of the target population, namely illiterate people aged between 16-35. For 2007-2008 period, programme is expected to reach some 651,263 beneficiaries in Morocco against less than 300,000 for 2002-2003.

In Morocco, literacy learners have a large scale of opportunities in terms of infrastructure, including the mosques particularly in the rural community. Noting that illiteracy undermines civic responsibility and the fight against poverty, illness and exclusion, EU representative in Morocco, Bruno Dethomas said EU strongly supports civil society, especially NGO endeavor, to fight against illiteracy. Though government figures set the illiteracy rate at 43 percent, press reports and unofficial statistics say the rate is more than 60 percent. In 2002, the government launched a broad literacy programme through which it hopes to bring illiteracy under 20 percent by 2012.
http://www.afrol.com/articles/30701
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Heat and chronic diseases burden people in Ramadan.
By Jamel Arfaoui / 10/09/08

During the holy month of Ramadan, Tunisians are accustomed to fasting in the daytime heat and overeating after iftar, but for people with chronic diseases, dehydration and lack of nutrition pose unique problems. It is the second week of Ramadan and people with chronic diseases--especially those with diabetes, heart problems and blood pressure irregularity--are already starting to feel the toll on their health.

The weather doesn’t seem to help. This year, the holy month came in the middle of a hot fall, where temperatures averaged 46 Celsius across Tunisia. And although the government announced that work days in Ramadan would start at 9 a.m. instead of 8 a.m., people said it is not enough to help cope.

Emergency rooms have reported admitting an increased number of patients since the start of Ramadan. In some hospitals, the numbers of urgent cases have doubled. Most patients admitted are elderly or people suffering from diabetes, heart or stomach diseases. To help patients who opt to fast, awareness-raising campaigns kicked off across the country several days before the holy month started. Offering advise on the diets people with health problems should follow while fasting, the campaigns were organised by associations, mosque imams and private labs.

Dr. Khamis Nekati, a nutrition specialist, said that diabetic people, for instance, who are fasting can face serious problems if they fail to pay attention to their diet. Abstaining from eating during the day, he said, leads to a dangerous decrease in blood sugar levels. Eating huge quantities of food during iftar brings the sugar levels up again, sometimes dangerously high. Al Sabah cited Ministry of Public Health sources as saying that during the first days of Ramadan, medical emergency centres admitted a number of people suffering from chronic diseases directly after iftar.

Medications and organising one's daily life, Nekati said, can help patients fast safely."They could have avoided such a condition if they had consulted with me before the start of Ramadan," Ben Ali said in an interview. "Unfortunately, most Tunisians still don't believe in prevention."

Dr. Sami Ben Ali said he has seen double the usual number of patients in his clinic so far."They could have avoided such a condition if they had consulted with me before the start of Ramadan," Ben Ali said in an interview. "Unfortunately, most of the people in Tunisia still don't believe in prevention."

The blazing sun and hot weather "made matters worse," he said, "especially for the elderly, as many of them experience conditions of dehydration. This happens in ordinary days when the weather is hot, and it becomes even worse during Ramadan when they don't drink for 15 straight hours."

Ben Ali said he is not one to issue a fatwa about who should fast and who should not."It is medically and religiously clear. People who suffer from diabetes and high blood pressure shouldn't fast; otherwise they will wind up dying, and Islam rejects such a thing, because the sick are under no obligation to fast."
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2008/09/10/feature-03
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Women doctors refusing to report to their workplace.
By Sarah Touahri 2008-09-11

Some 100 married women trained in university hospitals in Rabat and Casablanca are refusing to serve in remote locations, following a government decision designed to ensure the provision of care in the regions. A group of 100 new women doctors held a sit-in outside the health ministry on Tuesday (September 9th) to protest remote workplace assignments. Their refusal to honour their contracts has sparked a major debate in Morocco. Trained as specialists in the university hospitals of Rabat and Casablanca, these women are married, and most of them have children.

A rule allowing graduates to be deployed within a 100-km radius of their marital homes has been replaced this year with a drawing system in order to put an end to shortages in the south and east. The women, however, are demanding to have the old rule applied, with priority given to those who are married, rather than putting them on an equal footing with single people. The health ministry maintains that appointments should be made according to regional needs without taking anything else into consideration.

Doctor Abou El Ouafa Manal told Magharebia that the drawing was carried out in the absence of those concerned."While waiting for a dialogue to be opened up with the ministry, we were suddenly surprised to find that we were being deployed to regions far away, with no consideration for our family circumstances," she said. "We have children, and some are on the point of having babies."

The health ministry disagrees."Being a married woman is no reason for exemption from the new rule," the ministry's communications department said. "These women belong to a group of 327 newly-qualified doctors, 210 of whom have already reported to their workplace."

Without the new appointment system, the ministry says, there would be no hope of equal care provision across the whole of Morocco. The women in question have been given two years’ seniority bonus to give them a boost in their next appointment. The ministry added the women protesting the new move will have to wait their turn, because other married women have been serving in remote locations such as Laâyoune for two or three years, and their relocations will be finalized before the new graduates' demands can be considered.

"They have signed an eight-year contract to work for the ministry, and not necessarily near where they live," said the health ministry’s director of personnel affairs, Mohamed Kably. "They can ask to be moved after a year," he added, saying that it is not possible to continue sending women only to the area between Casablanca and Rabat when needs exist in other regions.

Mohammed Ben Youssef, a member of the national health federation and of the General Union of Moroccan Workers (UGTM) told Magharebia that the unions cannot defend the position taken by the protesting doctors because other women doctors have been working for years in distant areas, far from their marital homes. To defend their cause, the women have organised themselves into a collective. In what they say is the only definitive solution to the issue, they plan to press for the establishment of faculties of medicine and university hospitals across the various regions of the country.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2008/09/11/feature-02
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Morocco organises its first Memory of the World workshop.
11-09-2008

UNESCO's programme aiming at preservation and dissemination of valuable archive holdings and library collections worldwide organises a workshop on 12 September 2008 in Rabat, Morocco. The Moroccan National Commission for Education, Science and the Culture and the UNESCO Office in Rabat organise the first Memory of the World workshop in Morocco. The event will be held on 12 September 2008 at the National Centre for Scientific and Technical Research (Rabat), which is also a partner institution.

The main objective of the workshop is to constitute a National Memory of the World Committee for Morocco, to outline its mandate and to propose a national conservation strategy. Furthermore, the workshop will examine general guidelines for submitting proposals to the Memory the World Register and will finally look at the different issues related to the conservation of documentary heritage. At the end of the meeting, recommendations will be formulated in order to advance the conservation and the accessibility of archive and library collections in Morocco.

UNESCO established its Memory of the World Programme in 1992 to preserve and disseminate valuable archive holdings and library collections worldwide. The Memory of the World Register currently lists 158 items from 67 countries, which include films, sound recording, photographs, ancient manuscripts, newspaper collections, etc. Regional and national Memory of the World committees are crucial parts of the Programme structure. UNESCO encourages the creation of such committees in every country where it is practicable.
http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=27505&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
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Morocco calls for joining efforts to fight child's sale and abuse.
11 September 2008

Morocco's representative in the Geneva-based UN offices, Mohamed Loulichki called on Wednesday for pooling the efforts of all parties to fight against the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. Everybody has to join in this venture, starting from the family, the school, and the parents' associations, "which seem to require a particular attention from us," Loulichki said at the ninth session of the Human Rights Council.

He deemed that the participation of all, including governments and the civil society, can contribute to reducing the risk of abusing children, "especially in developing countries where children usually comprise a third of the population." He insisted that the persistence of this phenomenon is due to the involvement of international organized crime networks. Loulichki deemed that a particular attention must be given to the phenomenon of using new information technologies as a means to breach child rights.

He joined his view to that of special rapporteur, Najat M’jid Maala, for a global, constructive and integration approach for the management of the issue of child abuse, which he said, would allow for engaging concrete and realistic actions. Morocco, the diplomat stressed, has always upheld that addressing this issue should be done while taking stock of the sub-regional, regional and international dimensions.
http://www.morocconewsline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=294&Itemid=27
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New fund to boost investments.
12/09/2008

A new investment fund with a Mediterranean vocation is born: Invest in Med. It is a programme designed to develop direct the foreign investment and the commecial flows in the Mediterranean, to build lasting business partnerships between the two shores and to promote co-development. Co-financed by the European Comission in the framework of the IEVP programme of cooperation between the European Union (EU) and the neighbouring countries, Invest in Med will be spread out over a period of three years.

In fact, about 200 operations will be organised between 2008 and 2011, 140 of them in the benefitting countries (sub-Mediterranean partners of the European Union). They will consist of relationship events (business meetings, workshops, conferences, etc.), assistance operations (support missions and staff detachments), training (workshops), documentary supports (guides, economic information, studies, etc.).

One more investment fund, one might be tempted to say. But for Hamid Kessal, vice-chairman of the CGEM and its representative on the board of directors of BusinessMed which manages Invest in Med, this new programme differs from the others in three ways: "First of all, it's a programme which affects a larger business spectrum, as opposed to the other funds which are specific to regions or countries. Its mission is to allow businesses to establish B2B winner-winner relations. And it's a programme which brings additional competences because it allows the development of know-how between the economic operators who are members of the zone".

The new programme will function as an economic development agency centred on investment and business partnerships. It will be coordinated by Anima Investment Network, leader of a consortium which brings together BusinessMed, Eurochambres, Ascame and their special partners: Onudi (United Nations organisation for industrial development), GTZ (German technical cooperation) and the Euro-Mediterranean EPA.

Looking for efficiency, Invest in Med will choose a certain number of sectoral niches with a strong potential, or transversal fields such as the role of young businessmen and of women, micro-businesses, franchise development, public-private partnerships and the financing of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

A first calendar of the planned operations, as well as the sectors and niches for priority activities has already been defined. Invest in Med benefits nine Mediterranean EU partner countries: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Syria and Tunisia.
By CMC
http://www.moroccobusinessnews.com/Content/Article.asp?idr=18&id=392
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Morocco calls for preserving food crops through strict regulations for biofuels production.
Geneva, Sept. 11

Morocco called, here Wednesday, for the adoption of strict regulations and conditions to govern biofuels production in such a way as to preserve food crops. The call was made by Morocco's representative to the Geneva-based UN office, Mohamed Loulichki, who underlined that though this type of fuel contributes to diversifying energy resources, it is necessary to develop strict regulations to preserve staple crops and devote arid and semi-arid land to this type of energy-generating crops.

Loulichki, who was addressing the special session of the Human Rights Council on world food crisis, noted that the production of biofuels as an alternative, due to rising energy prices, has markedly reduced lands used for basic food staples. "We are the first to recognize the states' major duty to take necessary measures to tackle the food crisis,” he said, noting that Morocco has sketched out strategies in the field of agriculture with special focus on supporting smallholders and vulnerable classes.

He pointed out that this effort, whatever its importance, remains insufficient without an intensified international cooperation and a fair international trade system that takes into consideration developing countries’ needs. The diplomat noted, in this respect, that Morocco, aware of these challenges, has adopted a “Green Plan” as a new national strategy designed to implement an ambitious agricultural development policy. It is, he added, a pragmatic program meant to achieve a sustained development of Moroccan agriculture as well as an annual GDP which reflects the country’s potential.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/economy/morocco_calls_for_pr/view
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The salesman at the edge of the Sahara .
By TOM OPDYKE. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Sunday, September 07, 2008 Zagora, Morocco

The rich blues in Yusef’s turban and attire suggest he is Berber. His sheet of brown paper torn from a bag and the nubby pencil are irrefutable evidence. Yusef is a Berber ready to bargain. He is a salesman on the edge of the Sahara, in a crossroads emporium called Boutique Du Troq, where the rooms are rich with artifacts and trinkets.

As we enter the store’s carpet room — a 30-foot square stacked nearly to the ceiling with exotic examples of Moroccan tribal craft — Yusef takes the stage. He is narrator, historian and above all, salesman. In Marrakech, we had bargained for leather, for dinners and for jewelry boxes of camel bone colored with henna. None of it had prepared us for Yusef.

With choreographed swirls of fabric and nimble movements, Yusef and his assistant danced the ballet of the sale as they unfolded carpet after carpet. “Perhaps it is that you find something that is interesting to you and the price is very interesting to you. And we bargain — it is the tradition; it is the sham of the business. If not, then we keep smiling,” he said. Leave before this guy sells you a Yugo, I thought.

The history and the traditions were too alluring, and Yusef wasn’t selling, he was telling — about the work of Berbers, Bedouins, Saharans and Draa. “Every family has their technique of work, their material and their pattern. It is not about color that tells us if it is Berber or Drawi; it is about the pattern that tells us what tribe it is,” Yusef said.

The stories on the carpets are written in camel or goat hair, with silk or lambs’ wool embroidery and dyes. Yusef’s manner was always subdued, but I kept expecting TV pitchman Billy Mays’ “But Wait There’s More” sweetener. It finally came, playing on Morocco’s favored nation trade status with the United States and with America’s favorite method of transaction. “If you find something that interests you, we can ship it and you don’t have to pay any customs. And you can pay with any kind of money. Plastic is fantastic.”
http://www.ajc.com/travel/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2008/09/07/morocco_salesman.html
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A camelback adventure in Morocco. Scenic gateway to the vast Sahara is exotic but delightfully friendly.
By TOM OPDYKE. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Sunday, September 07, 2008 Marrakech, Morocco

We gingerly approached the kneeling camels, grateful to be at the end of an eight-hour SUV trip to the outskirts of Zagora and anticipating our three-day desert excursion. The six dromedaries — children and adolescents by the standards of a breed that can live 80 years — waited stoically. Hassan, our guide, pointed toward them. “Ja-MEL” he said, continuing the Arabic and Berber language lessons that began with our 6 a.m. departure from Marrakech.

Beyond the camels lay the Sahara, an area almost as large as the continental United States, running east-west from Morocco to the Red Sea. “Timbuktu, 52 days,” Hassan said, pointing south with one hand and rubbing his buttocks with the other, to mimic being saddle-sore.

We’d be content with three days as our first experience in a week of tourism off the grid. Visits to the kasbahs of the Draa Valley, a supermarket of antiquity in Zagora and a village market, and a lung-testing climb to one of the highest and oldest Berber villages were on our itinerary. Along the way, we would meet a gregarious salesman, a rent-a-gecko handler — nothing is free in Morocco — and a quietly reverent group of guides who never missed Islam’s five daily calls to prayer.

Although it had been only a year since 24 Islamists were charged with planning to bomb key Moroccan cities, including Marrakech, none of us felt threatened or insecure as we traveled. Whether sitting in a cloud of brazier smoke from the evening meals in the Djemaa al F’na Square in Marrakech’s medina or in a home in the shadow of Mount Toubkal, we found a welcoming people eager to share their stories.

Camels, into the sunset
If you have seen “Charlie Wilson’s War,” you have seen the Marrakech square — shot from a restaurant balcony that charges visitors a $1 cover — and the High Atlas Mountains, both portrayed as being in Afghanistan. As we mounted our camels, the afternoon sun began its color show, splashing the ochre sands in pinks and oranges and inviting us to follow the sunset through the date palms and desert scrub into the dunes.

Our first day was a short ride of about 90 minutes to the campsite, time enough to learn how to handle our mounts and figure out how to sit. Measured to the hump, the camels were about 7 feet high, about 1.5 feet higher than a standardbred horse. The animals are not substantially broader than a standardbred, but the traditional saddle, which covers the hump and makes it unnoticeable to the rider, is wide and bulky and splayed our legs. There are no stirrups.

Shortly after we set out, Hassan shifted to sidesaddle, and as we slalomed through the dunes, most of us switched, immediately grateful for the change. Proving he knows the tolerance level of novices, Hassan timed the overnight stop appropriately.

At camp, a warm welcome
Our camp was a semi-permanent structure built in a U-shape with Berber fabric threaded over metal poles and a center area lain with carpet and open to the sky. There were four two-person rooms, and across the back, a large lounge for eating and socializing. We settled in, and Hassan and two of his riders offered sweet mint tea, the traditional Moroccan beverage. As in most Islamic countries, residents do not use alcohol. “Berber whiskey,” Hassan said.

We learned to appreciate the tea as a friendship gesture so indigenous it is served as a casual welcome or during business negotiations. After a tagine meal of couscous, sweet potatoes, squash and beef, we gathered around an open campfire for an evening of conversation and songs. Our guides, using an empty 10-gallon water jug for percussion, far outdid us in this performance, but we left them puzzled by doo-wop. Whether it was the name of the genre or how we sang, “In the Still of the Night” was unclear. Soon we were looking at stars not seen in most parts of the United States, and so many of them.“That’s why they call it the Milky Way,” said our friend, James, marveling at the slash of stars so dense it looked like a celestial path. No question everyone would sleep soundly.

Miles and miles of sand
By 9 a.m., we were on our camels, after a breakfast of fruit and a bread spread with a young goat cheese. The Berbers bake the bread, slightly denser than ciabatta, in ovens molded from desert sand. We rode about three hours to a dune eight stories high. Still drunk on the elixir of adventure, we dismounted and charged up the leeward side in the deep, loose sand — for about 15 yards before our heavy legs slowed us to a slog for the rest of the climb.

Sitting atop the dune, our turban tails wrapped across our faces as we looked north into the wind, we saw miles of sand and scrub, camel trains and camps, the life of the desert moving around us. At the foot of the dune, we found more Berber hospitality in a small camp with comfortable cushions, good conversation and, of course, mint tea. It was like that convenience store just outside every U.S. national park, only we didn’t have to buy the trinkets to be welcomed. After another night of good food, conversation and songs — and a videotaped review of our language lessons from Hassan — we headed back to Marrakech and prepared for a visit to a weekly market and a Berber village.

A market like no other
No matter what you have seen in farmers markets, nothing compares to the scents and sounds of a Moroccan market. Braying donkeys tied to a roped-off corral (2 cents to park your ride for the day) serenaded us as we walked among stands of fresh produce, silver plate already turning green, kabobs of chicken and lamb, and raw meats hanging in the open air.

A turn around a corner that took us from brilliantly ripe mandarin oranges to the butchers’ stalls caused my wife, Eve, to walk eye to eye into a donkey’s head hanging from a post. She closed her eyes as I led her through the butchers’ market and back into the pretty vegetables. The Atlas were next on our agenda, starting in the town of Imlil, about 20 miles outside Marrakech. If you are comfortable with maps, you can drive to Imlil and pick up a guide. We turned again to Hassan, who arranged transportation to Imlil and mules for the mountain climb.

A mule to the mountains
Regardless of the shape you are in, use the mules instead of walking. They’re a bargain and you’ll be much fresher as you approach Mount Toubkal, the highest peak in northern Africa, at about 2.5 miles above sea level. You can’t quite get to the top, but you’ll cover more than 3 miles on a switchback path to some of the highest villages.

Armed, where we stopped for lunch, is a village of about 300. The air was cool and crisp and clear, unlike Marrakech, which has a bowl-effect smog because of its mountain borders. The village seems to have grown in a herky-jerky way of block and stone beside footpaths that meandered still higher. Homes had first-floor barns; cattle poked their heads through open windows; chickens ran freely on paths and in vegetable gardens.

On a slope that leaned toward a mountain wash, men worked among groves of apple and walnut trees.“My village,” Hassan said proudly. “Very old.” He pointed to the snowcapped peaks. “And very cold.” His village recently had added a second mosque, he said with pride. Returning to Imlil was easier, as we crossed the wash and walked down a wider switchback. Imlil, itself, is a picturesque commercial area. Visitors have a range of overnight choices, from the pricey to quarters that are spare but adequate. A second-floor room off the main street, with three single beds and en-suite bathroom, was $25 per person, including breakfast.

Most of the stores — selling the typical leather, brass, antiques and spices — were reasonably priced, but Eve, a keen-eyed artifact collector, challenged the shopkeeper, Ibrahim, about the clearly counterfeit trilobites. “For tourists,” Ibrahim said apologetically, fetching the real thing from his storeroom.

We left Morocco the next day, planning to spend a night in Madrid before catching our flight to Atlanta. With a few train changes, we got to the center of Madrid, walked up the steps to ground level at dusk and found ourselves surrounded by centuries-old buildings in Baroque, Gothic and Doric styles and throngs of evening commuters — and began planning our return to the tranquility of the Sahara and the High Atlas.
http://www.ajc.com/travel/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2008/09/07/morocco_0907TR.html
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Authentic Morocco.
By Jonathan Gregson Sep 06, 2008

If what you seek in Morocco is sunshine with all the usual international trimmings - designer interiors, capacious swimming pools, a choice of spa treatments and/or golf courses - all served up with just a twist of Old Araby, then follow the herd and head for Marrakech. Massive infusions of mainly Gulf money are transforming its surrounding palmeraie into a Palm Springs-style playground in the sun, while the old town is now studded with estate agents quoting prices in euros rather than dirhams.

If, however, you want to be transported into a completely different world, then go to Fez. It's not just that it is the oldest of Morocco's four imperial cities (the others being Meknes, Rabat and Marrakech) and is this year celebrating its 1,200th anniversary; nor even that the entire Medina has been awarded Unesco World Heritage status. Rather it is because when it comes to such intangibles as dignity, refinement and sheer authenticity, Fez wins hands down.

That may be because Fez el Bali (Old Fez) remains a fully functioning medieval city, a hive of industry whose products - be they filigree work or bridal thrones - are as much in demand among local buyers as foreigners. On weekends, its succession of souks (which on first acquaintance resemble a medieval department store) are crammed with Berber villagers and more sophisticated visitors from Casablanca or Rabat, all seeking wedding presents or hand-crafted furnishings for their own homes.

The pride that Fassis (the people of Fez) take in their craftmanship and industry - many of the skills came with refugees from Andalucia fleeing the Reconquistá - may account for a certain hauteur. It also makes this city feel quite distinct from most other picturesque relics of a bygone age, whose economic survival depends on tourism and whose residual population is there to "service" the visitor.

Some find such un-Disneyfied authenticity frightening. It certainly came as a shock on my first visit some 30 years back. I was no novice, having already been through Marrakech, the High Atlas and the southern oases; but nothing had prepared me for the unique combination of timelessness and big-city intensity I found in Fez. I felt like an Oklahoma boy just arrived in Manhattan, overwhelmed by the crush of humanity and their hurried big-city ways.

For crowded within the city's 13th-century walls are religious scholars and merchants, wool carders and dyers, tanners, silk weavers, slipper makers, woodcarvers, silversmiths and brass-workers, porters, barrow boys, muleteers and donkey-men. These last because the streets and alleyways of Fez el Bali are so steep and so narrow that no motor vehicle can enter.

Everything that is consumed or produced within the city must be carried by man or beast. "There are 10,000 donkeys," I was informed, "and that is if you count only the four-legged ones." So, while walking around the Medina, it is best to keep an ear open for the cries of " Balak! Balak!" that announce the arrival of a donkey-train just in time for pedestrians to take evasive action. Also, to follow the Fassi custom of skirting the sides of thoroughfares (like British motorists, they keep to the left) so as to avoid being bumped by the passing animal's load - which could be anything from a new refrigerator to uncured hides.

While there are a few main arteries through the Old City, such as the Grand Tala ("our own Champs Elysées"), most of the alleyways twist and turn so much that you are certain to get lost sooner or later unless you have a guide. Not that I find this an altogether unpleasant sensation. By wandering aimlessly I discovered a traditional apothecary whose glass cabinets contained all manner of marvellous cures, from powdered herbs and minerals to desiccated lizard. On my last visit I turned down a covered alley to find myself following what seemed to be an endless silken thread, as though on Ariadne's trail. At the end of it was a moustachioed weaver, juggling with two spools, who had seen fit to use this public byway as his workshop.

Of course some things have changed. Hidden down alleys there are now cash machines and, seen from a rooftop, the Old City seems to have sprouted satellite dishes like so many mushrooms. Once, when I paused to savour the smell of fresh bread emanating from one of the city's many public bakeries, the queue of customers bringing their uncooked loaves was broken by a sales team of brisk young women, none of them wearing headscarves, going from door to door. They were signing up new broadband customers. Similarly, on my most recent visit I was shown around by Amina Zabbari, one of 15 qualified women tour guides in what used to be an exclusively male profession.

Also, whereas previously you had to stay in the French colonial New Town or hotels like the Palais Jamai on the very fringe of the Medina, now there are more than 60 riads within the Old City offering chambre d'hôte facilities. The first to open a decade back was the original Maison Bleue in the upper town, to which has recently been added a new riad-style hotel made up of four interconnecting town houses that offers spa treatments, a gym-with-a-view and - that rarity in Fez - a swimming pool.

But for old-style grandeur it's hard to beat the Dar El Ghalia down in the Andalucian quarter. It's owned by one of the Medina's old noble families who fled Spain in the 14th century, and around its lofty courtyard are parked old sedan chairs, a gramophone complete with horn, and a portrait of a grande dame who oversaw the education of family members, making it feel as if you're staying in a stately home.

The staff have that inimitable dignity of house-servants who have been part of the family for years, and the female chef (in Moroccan households it's generally the women who do the cooking) produced glorious renderings of such Fassi specialities as lamb M'Hammer - the sauce slightly sweet and sour with onions and blanched almonds - and pigeon K'dra, where the almonds are crisp-roasted. It's a subtle and refined cuisine, as befits this grand dowager of North African cities.
http://search.ft.com/ftArticle?id=080906000222&ct=0
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Morocco's swell.
Sunday September 7 2008

Taghazout was a hippie haven in the Sixties, but now its laid-back vibe and powerful Atlantic waves draw surfers from around the world, writes Duncan Jefferies. The surfboard gives it away. Stepping off the coach at Agadir, I'm immediately singled out by the lone taxi driver waiting inside the station. 'Taghazout?' he says, pointing to my board. I nod and he gestures towards his taxi, a small flatbed van. The sun is setting and my attempts at haggling are batted away with a friendly smile - 150 dirhams (£11) is a good price for late arrivals with cumbersome sports equipment.

During the drive, he describes the 1960 earthquake that destroyed Agadir, briefly taking his hands from the wheel to demonstrate the buildings collapsing. The city was rebuilt just over a mile south of the earthquake epicentre as a modern seaside resort, popular with package tour operators. Taghazout lies 11 miles to the north, nestled between the Anti-Atlas mountains and a long sweep of sandy coastline. A quiet Berber fishing village, little has changed here since the days when it was an essential stop on the Moroccan hippie trail.

Life for the 5,000 inhabitants still revolves around the ocean, with a small armada of fishing boats leaving the beach daily at dawn. Today the tie-dye may be less in evidence, but the town's laid-back vibe and powerful waves mean it draws surfers from around the world.

The taxi drops me at the Auberge Amouage, where Muhammad - receptionist, caretaker and thoroughly genial host - books me into a single room. It's basic but clean and pleasant, with shared hot showers next to the terrace. The window opens onto fantastic views across the beach. I prop my board against the wall and lay down on the bed exhausted. After a few minutes there's a knock at my door, it is Muhammad with a tray of mint tea, gratefully received after my sweltering coach trip from Marrakesh.

I'm woken the following morning by a chorus of outboard motors, and head out onto the strip of balcony running past my room to watch the fishing boats leaving, all painted the same bright blue as the shutters and doors of my hotel, the trim of the hulls picked out in white, yellow or red.

Walking through the village, board tucked under my arm, I receive several friendly greetings of 'Ça va?' as well as invitations to sample the local hashish. The nearest surf break to the village was allegedly named Hash Point due to its popularity with those too stoned to journey further along the coast in search of waves. Being neither stoned nor tired after a good night's sleep, I head out of the village and walk 15 minutes along the road to Anchor Point, a famed right-hander that peels off a needle of rocks, backdropped by the ruins of a large building. During the peak surfing season of October to April, this can be a 5m barrelling monster, though when I visit in summer, it's dropped to a little over a metre.

I pull on my wetsuit and paddle out toward the take-off zone. The sun may be hot, but the Atlantic is still bracingly cold this early in the day. The fishing boats I watched leaving earlier are dotted along the horizon now. I sit facing them and watch the sea for signs of the next set. I don't have long to wait. A wave begins to build, gathering speed and height as it approaches. I paddle forward slightly and let it pass under, lining myself up for the next, which starts to break just off my right shoulder. I turn and paddle toward the shore, and when I feel it lift the tail of my board I pull as hard as I can with my arms, churning the water, trying to match its speed. Then popping up onto my feet I drop down from the lip, turning to plane across the face before it closes over me.

There's plenty more for the rest of the week, too. Regulars recommend Killers, a consistent and powerful right-hand break named after the killer whales occasionally spotted in the area (beware the sharp rock bottom), and the Source, whose name comes from the natural spring water bubbling through the rock shelf beneath. Beginners should head for another break called 'mysteries', a sand bottomed right-hander that works best on a low- to mid-tide.

After a couple more hours in the water and some decent rides, I return to the hotel happy and exhausted. That evening I meet two Welsh surfers on the terrace who invite me to join them for dinner at Café Restaurant Tenerife, promising me the best fish in the village. As we walk there, they are greeted by almost everyone we pass.

'How long have you been here?' I ask. 'Oh, about a week,' they say. 'You'll be one of the locals before you know.' The main road is lined with general stores and restaurants, all serving Moroccan cuisine such as couscous, brochettes and tagines. We take an outside table at the restaurant and I enjoy a huge plate of fresh fish and vegetables, along with the obligatory pot of mint tea. At eight o'clock sharp the music is turned off as the call to prayer echoes across the village, a sound that quickly becomes familiar.

After dinner we head back to the hotel and chat on the roof terrace until the small hours. The local men spend the evenings playing cards or talking quietly in huddled groups around the main square which, along with the mosque, is the focal point of the village. During the day it comes alive; rug sellers spread their wares across one corner, and a range of stalls offer Moroccan gifts, though none as good as those in Ali's Artisan Shop, a treasure trove of handicrafts on the main road. On Wednesdays, the nearby Banana village plays host to a weekly souk, a pleasurably disorientating mish-mash of colours, scents and sounds that draws Berber villagers down from the surrounding mountains.

Later in the week hundreds of people gather outside my hotel for a beach football tournament. I sit watching on the sidelines as the village's sleepy demeanour is blown away by the fierce competition on the sand. The teams play all afternoon, ball skittering across pools left by the tide's retreat. Afterwards I watch the sun set over Anchor Point, silhouetting two palm trees against an orange sky. The hippies may be gone, but something of the '60s spirit still remains in Taghazout.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/sep/07/surfing.morocco
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The coast is clear in Asilah, Morocco.
Thursday, 11 September 2008

Drive south from Tangier along the Moroccan coast to the port town of Asilah and here's what you'll see on the 30-mile journey: fields of deep-purple and mustard-yellow wildflowers, wide stretches of pristine beach and cement trucks idling in front of the occasional makeshift construction site. It doesn't take a fortune teller to predict that, in a few years, this dramatic coastline will be the next French Riviera.

Behind the 15th-century walls that surround Asilah, children chase each other through the car-free alleyways, past homes decorated with murals by artists from Egypt, Italy, Japan and the U.S. This isn't a scene you'd expect to find in a town that was on the verge of collapse not too long ago.

Founded by the Phoenicians around 1500 B.C., Asilah was a prosperous trading post until a group of pirates ransacked the place, turning it into a hideout in the early 1900s. The town suffered decades of decline and had fallen into disrepair by the time Mohamed Benaïssa was elected mayor in 1983.

With some funding from Prince Bandar bin Sultan of Saudi Arabia and other investors -- it always helps to have wealthy friends -- Benaïssa cleaned up Asilah, restoring many of its historic buildings, including the Raissouni Palace (rue Ahmed el Mansour and rue Ben Marzouck, from $7), now a concert hall, and the Al-Kamra Tower citadel (place Abdellah Guennoun, free) in the medina.

He also built the Hassan II International Meeting Center (place Abdellah Guennoun, 011-212/39-417-065, free), a gallery and theater, and started the Asilah Arts & Culture Forum (011-212/39-418-729, c-assilah.com, from $7). The summer arts festival hosts more than 100,000 visitors -- some of whom are now buying or building second homes up and down Asilah's undeveloped coastline. The off-season in Asilah, between November and March, is much more laid-back. Each day begins like the last: Muezzins signal the call for prayer from the minarets of several mosques around town, while families gather for breakfast on rooftop terraces.

Hotels aren't allowed inside the rampart walls, so renting a private house is often the best option. There are more than 40 rentals available through Homelidays, such as Dar Malak, a three-bedroom waterfront house with stained-glass windows and an electric-blue terrace.

In the center of the medina, American expat Edward Brown's spacious three-bedroom house, Dar es Salam, is staffed by an English-speaking housekeeper who'll cook traditional meals for guests. "I've been all over Morocco, but I chose Asilah because the town has an innocence you won't find elsewhere," Brown says. "The people are kind and friendly, and there's an authentic cozy-village-by-the-sea ambience."

As in most towns in northern Africa, life revolves around the medina. Asilah's is a bit of a maze, but it's too small to really get lost in -- one street will eventually lead you to where you need to go. The shops sell everything from antique turquoise-and-coral jewelry to handwoven Berber rugs.

At Candela (rue Sidi M Barek), sparkly leather slippers for men and women are stacked precariously next to candles carved with Arabic phrases and letters. Near the northern end of the medina, Bazar Atlas (rue Tijara), owned by Bachir el Gaabouri for almost 15 years, stocks hand-painted ceramics, such as individual couscous serving bowls and tagines of all shapes and sizes.

When it comes to eating out, there aren't too many options in Asilah. Two excellent seafood restaurants are just outside the medina. People have been known to drive all the way from Tangier to Casa Garcia (rue Moulay Hassan Ben el Mehdi, 011-212/39-417-465, fish plate $18) for the mixed-fish platter, which includes whitefish, swordfish, crispy sardines, squid and king prawns.

At the two-story Restaurante Oceano Casa Pepe (place Zalaka, 011-212/39-417-395, from $11), with a terrace that overlooks the garden, the tapas-size fish dishes come with a stack of fresh tortillas. Both restaurants can get busy on the weekends, so you're smart to make reservations a couple of days in advance.

Part of the beauty of Asilah is that there really isn't all that much to do, which is just fine with the locals. People-watching at Cafe Al Madina (place Abdellah Guennoun), a coffeehouse with outdoor seating on the main square in the medina, is one popular way to while away an afternoon over café con leche. Another is to stroll along the endless beach, usually empty except for the occasional group of kids playing soccer on the sand. If you start walking early in the morning, you can make it all the way to Tangier.
Budget Travel http://www.morocconewsline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=292&Itemid=94
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Morocco's FOGARIM fund benefits aspiring homeowners.
By Imane Belhaj 09-04-2008

Four years after its inception, the FOGARIM fund has enabled more than 200,000 Moroccans with limited incomes to buy their dream houses. Morocco's housing-assistance fund FOGARIM recorded a 15% increase in the loans given since last year, the Ministry of Housing, Reconstruction and Urban Development said in statement issued last month. In just a few years, the programme has improved living standards for more than 200,000 Moroccans with limited incomes.

"The dynamics and enthusiasm of this fund are the fruit of efforts made by the Government for developing this financing program [along with] unprecedented efforts made by banks, which have taken an active role in that program," the ministry said. FOGARIM was founded in 2004 as one of the government's efforts to help citizens own better houses. Contractors can also benefit from the fund to build low-cost housing units and sell them for low prices. As of August, FOGARIM has provided more than 40,000 loans and guarantees to beneficiaries.

The loans benefited poor areas such as the shanty towns in the city of Témara. Residents there, usually families of 6 or more, lived in tint huts. Under FOGARIM, many were able to afford low-priced housing units. "Thanks to this fund, I was able to receive a loan to purchase a house and save face," said Mohammed E., a street merchant. Mohammed said that without the fund he couldn’t afford to buy a house. "I managed to provide my family with a decent house instead of living in a one-room house made of tin and without any means of convenience," he told Magharebia.

Hannia S., a vegetables seller and a widow, said that the "fund helped me make my dream in owning a comfortable house come true, away from chaos and garbage which we were living next to. I was able to obtain a bank loan with a low interest rate".

Banks like Credit Immobilier et Hotelier (CIH), Crédit Populaire du Maroc, Moroccan External Trade Bank (BMCE) and Wafa Real Estate have provided more than 97% of the loans that were given through the program. According to statistics, FOGARIM fund beneficiaries include traders (41%), street merchants (23%), traditional manufacturers (16%), taxi drivers (4.2%), housemaids (3.7%), and artisans (3.3%)

Hend J, who works in a bakery, and her fiancé, a driver, applied and got 160,000 dirhams "which is the amount we need to buy my dream house," she said. Now, she says, they don’t have to postpone the wedding anymore.

"FOGARIM provided solutions for many people who were not able to receive loans from banks," said Said E., a university student. "It also provided guarantees for banks that loan to people, which positively affected financing companies that build low-price housing." http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2008/09/10/feature-02
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What western feminists should do about the veil.
Monday, 08 September 2008

A few years ago, the Moroccan feminist writer Fatema Mernissi published Scheherezade Goes West, a book in which she drew comparisons between the treatment of women in the west and in the Arab and Muslim worlds. Men in both societies, she concluded, oppressed their women, but in different ways: the west by only allowing youthful women to express their sexuality, and only in certain ways; Islamic societies by allowing sexual expression, but limiting women's physical space.

Whatever one thinks of Mernissi's analysis, her book points to a significant cross-pollination of feminist thought. Like other equality movements, feminism crosses borders and feminists from the west and the Muslim worlds need each other and have a great deal to learn from each other. The question is, how can they best do that?

Feminism, as I wrote last week, is having a difficult time across the Arab and Muslim worlds in prising its narrative from political Islam. It could use some help. But for western feminists to speak meaningfully to their fellow travellers in the Islamic worlds, the former will have to tackle something deeply divisive: the veil.

The veil - whether you conceive of it as a scarf worn lightly over the hair or a cloth that covers the face (and most writers have not been clear about the distinctions) - has been a central theme in western feminists' interactions with the Arab world. Some have decried it as a dehumanising practice, others have argued for tolerance of the choice to wear it. Few have been able to ignore it. What, then, should western feminists do about the veil?

First, ask why there is such a fixation on one piece of cloth. Washington warmongers, feminists among them, invoked both the burqa and the Iraqi niqab as justifications for destroying entire societies, as if the veil made those countries modern Sodom and Gomorrahs. (A UK charity reported (pdf) this year how that has worked out: "Seven years after the fall of the misogynist Taliban regime, Afghanistan is still one of the most dangerous places to be a woman.")

One of the dilemmas feminists in the west face is the lack of an overarching narrative. With initial struggles for voting, education, equal pay and abortion rights largely won, feminists have grappled with less tangible issues such as family-friendly working hours, glass ceilings and societal expectations. Unable to agree on big themes, feminists have grasped at small issues. That would explain why nothing – absolutely nothing, not forced marriage, not losing their sons and daughters to bombs from the air, not being denied an education - nothing seems as important as the veil.

It is why feminists have struggled to work out a coherent response to coercion. The Taliban forcing Afghan women to hide under burqas is condemned; the Tunisians, Moroccans and Turks forcing them to uncover is not. But coercion is coercion. Worse, the veil seems to be a real blind spot for some people, even for western feminists, who appear to infantilise women who choose to wear the veil, even as they argue men have infantilised women in other areas. The idea that wearing a veil could be a free, rational choice appears to elude them. Instead they posit questions on the decision: Yes, but does she really like it? Is it really a choice? Is it really a religious requirement?

Naturally clothing is rarely a free choice in any society, but by focusing on what the veil conceals, feminists have lost sight of what it may reveal: those Muslim women who choose to wear it (and not all do) often claim they are reappropriating their own bodies from the public sphere. The veil is complex. At various times, it has been seen both as an instrument of male oppression and of female liberation. In that, it is not all that dissimilar to the bra, which started life as a liberator of women's bodies from Victorian corsets, but became, by the time of the Female Eunuch, a "domination of foam and wire". Both, for some women, are identity garments, a politicisation of the personal.

That is not to discount how the imposition of the veil has been used and abused across the Islamic worlds. There's no doubt the veil is used by some as a way of marginalising, controlling and dominating women. It is used to relegate women to second-class citizens, to deny their sexuality and even to threaten sexual violence. But the veil, a piece of cloth, does not have the power to do that. Only societies do. Focusing on the former does not reform the latter.

(Note, though, that what feminists say about the veil in the Islamic worlds may be quite different to what they do and say about it in the west. In Britain, the veil is not popular. For a variety of reasons the veil brings out strong emotions: people who hold tolerance as one of their highest values are driven to spit the most intolerant abuse over the veil. Thus those who confront policy questions - such as how to forge a common public space - have sometimes answered them by seeking clothing regulations in public institutions. We should not blind ourselves though: in legislating what some women can wear, we would be outlawing those women from participating in those public institutions. The veil is not a choice for those who choose to wear it. But those are not exclusively feminist questions.)

The veil, then, is literally veiling the ability for feminists in the west and the Middle East and wider Islamic worlds to communicate. Feminists are handicapped by history and culture: history because, as Katherine Viner has pointed out, feminism has often been used as a cloak for imperialism; culture because outsiders seeking to remove the veil elevate it to a symbol of resistance.

Time to get rid of it. This is not a question of compromising but of prioritising. Focusing on the veil detracts from other far more pressing issues such as education and legal reform, topics on which western feminists have much experience to impart. Feminists need to be careful they don't fight culture wars on the battleground of women's bodies. Voltaire had something to say about that - though he didn't really say it and he wasn't talking about clothes.
Faisal al Yafai - Guardian
http://www.morocconewsline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=285&Itemid=32
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