Virtual Magazine of Morocco on the Web
Morocco Week in Review 
January 23, 2016

Dos de Femme, Dos de Mulet by Hicham Houdaïfa review – beer, sex, abuse: the life of women on Morocco's margins
Saturday 23 January 2016 09.00 GMTLast modified on Saturday 23 January 2016 09.02 GMT

Houdaïfa peels back the ostensibly enlightened veneer of Moroccan society to expose a world of underage marriage, sexual exploitation and daily struggle

Look around certain areas of Morocco, and you could be forgiven for thinking the country’s women have their feet planted firmly in the 21st century. In upmarket cafe-bars in Rabat, young women wearing jeans and boots sit chatting and swiping smartphones. In the cosmopolitan Morocco Mall in Casablanca, Spanish and French fashion is displayed in dazzling shop windows. It all seems a portrait of the progressive.

Hicham Houdaïfa explores the realities facing women in Morocco
Hicham Houdaïfa’s fascinating book Dos de Femme, Dos de Mulet (A Woman’s Back is Like a Mule’s) reminds us with a jolt that another reality entirely exists outside these enclaves, whether in the quartiers populaires of Casablanca, or in the isolated corners of the High Atlas mountain range, where snow and poor roads often leave villages cut off for weeks during winter and few girls go to secondary school.

We hear eight unique stories. There are teenage girls pressed into underage marriages by their families, often without official paperwork; women who rise at 4am daily in the hope they might occasionally get a back-breaking day’s work picking fruit; women who have never been able to grieve for fathers and husbands who disappeared in the backlash against a rebellion in 1973.http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/feb/03/sign-up-to-our-bookmarks-email

In each story, Houdaïfa paints a detailed and evocative picture of these little-known places. We visit seedy drinking holes in downtown Casablanca, where the barmaids fear losing their jobs if they are unwilling to sleep with clients at the end of the night.“These smoky places, where the lights are low, the music so loud you can barely hear yourself think and the price of beer sky high, attract a very particular clientele; men who come just to drink beer and be served by a woman. These men are all of a certain age, fairly well-off, frustrated by life; they come for the barmaids and the hostesses,” Houdaïfa writes.

We hear direct testimonies from the women themselves – in this case, the barmaids are often teenage girls who became pregnant outside marriage and, fearing their parents’ anger, fled the countryside in shame. Penniless and alone, they arrive at Casablanca’s Oulad Ziane bus station, where networks of men encourage them to become sex workers or beggars, or to sell their young babies to childless couples.

The plight of Houda is typical: “My father and brothers would have killed me if they’d known I was pregnant. I left home that night, I took the first bus I saw to Casablanca. I only get paid for the nights I work and only if a client drinks. The boss gives me five dirhams for every empty bottle – for example one Heineken for my client and one for me. I try not to count how many beers I’ve drunk, but it’s usually more than 20 a night. The money I earn goes towards the girl who looks after my son, his nappies, his milk, the rent.”

Honest and straightforward in its approach, Houdaïfa’s book aims to illumine the complexities of Moroccan society. There is little judgment to be found, either of the women or those who may have played a part in the situations in which they find themselves. For example, in the section entitled Women on Loan from Kalaat Sraghna, Houdaïfa describes a bizarre phenomenon whereby underage girls are “lent out” by their families to a young man with the intention that they will get married as soon as they are old enough. For some of these girls, the “contract marriages” eventually lead to a secure marriage; others find themselves pregnant at the age of 15, rejected, and with no legal status for their babies. Houdaïfa confesses to having been deeply moved by these experiences, but says he has tried to stick to the facts. “These girls have no rights at all,” says the author. “But I have to stay calm and try to write in a dispassionate way, that’s how I’ve always done my journalism.”

In Morocco, where much of the mainstream media debate focuses on an urban-centric interest in business and economic stories, Dos de Femme is a welcome addition to the relatively small collection of books dealing with social and community issues. The text is at times a little dry, and the tales have a tendency to jump around, but the book nevertheless helps to bring the stories to new audiences. “Many people here in the city just dismiss what goes on in these marginal areas,” says Houdaïfa. “Women do everything in our society and many of them really suffer, but it’s a story that doesn’t get told in the mainstream media.”
•Dos de Femme, Dos de Mulet was published by the independent Moroccan publishing house En Toutes Lettres (In Full) in 2015.
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/jan/23/dos-de-femme-dos-de-mulet-hicham-houdaifa-review-beer-sex-abuse-morocco
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Morocco conference to focus on non-Muslim rights
Sat Jan 23, 2016

Morocco is to host a first conference in Islamic history championing the rights of religious minorities living within Muslim-majority territories. The World Conference on Religious Minorities is scheduled to take place in the Moroccan capital, Rabat, from January 25 to 27, according to the Morocco World News website.

The event is expected to attract around 300 Muslim personalities from Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, and the host country itself; religious authorities from Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, and other non-Muslim religious communities will also be present. Iranian Shia cleric and scholar Ayatollah Seyyed Mostafa Mohaghegh Damad will be participating at the conference.

The conference aims to release its first declaration, laying emphasis on the rights of non-Muslims inside Muslim lands since the Constitution of Medina.
Also known as the Charter of Medina, the document was drafted by the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) in 622 CE and is hailed as the world’s first written constitution as well as the first Muslim constitution.

The charter stipulates that non-Muslim members of the community should be entitled to the same political and cultural rights as those of Muslims.
“The Prophet was religiously persecuted, so he knew first-hand what it was to experience religious persecution,” Sheikh Hamza Yousuf, the co-founder of Zaytuna College, the first Muslim liberal arts college in the United States, who is to attend the conference, was quoted by The Washington Post as saying.
The conference wants to counter “the idea that Muslims and non-Muslims can’t live together,” he added. “This is not who we are or who we want to be.”
The Moroccan Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs will host the conference together with the UAE-based think tank Forum for the Promotion of Peace in Muslim societies.
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/01/23/446949/Morocco-World-Conference-on-Religious-Minorities/
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American Jews and Moroccan Professionals Talk Russian over Sushi in New York
Friday 22 January 2016  By Irina Tsukerman New York

What happens when you take ten young Jewish and Moroccan professionals and bring them together for dinner in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York. First they bond over the shortcomings of the overpriced real estate in this part of the world. Then they further their budding relationship by practicing their hipster-dodging skills together while searching for a meal.

Finally, they realize that neither an overcrowded Moroccan place nor a restaurant called “Traif” will do, and settle for what New Yorkers of all backgrounds share with gusto – some great sushi at a delicious unpretentious little place called Mizu. And after finally settling down and having a good laugh, they proceed to get down to business – food, more laughter, and fun. Thanks to the efforts of the Moroccan event planner Simo Elaissaoui and his Jewish counterparts, these young professionals from Morocco and assorted Jewish organizations came together for the first evening of what promises to be an exciting and enjoyable series of monthly social get-togethers. What’s the catch, you may ask? There is none. There is no hidden political agenda. No chaperones. No rules. No barriers. This is how friendships are built.

This new vision of relationship-building will hopefully prove an effective counterweight to the stagnant model of intercultural and interfaith dialogues that have become so popular within the NGO world. These exercises in futility have spread like a plague across Western institutions and have succeeded at one thing – taking all the joy out of interactions among people from different backgrounds. Where “should” comes in, fun ends. Instead of agonizing over which potentially sensitive subjects to avoid, this crowd chose to speak freely about whatever came to mind, tease each other, discuss both the serious and the trivial with equal elation, while chowing down on dish after dish of delicious raw fish and steaks and doing the most New Yorkish thing possible – complaining about the inevitability of death by starvation should the food continue to take its time in being served.

The growing interest in each other, stimulated by exploring a variety of topics, is coming at an opportune time in the strengthening of relations between Morocco and the Jewish communities in other parts of the world. Morocco plays a unique role in offering an unprecedented level of protection for its Jewish community, and in essence, including its Jewish citizens specifically in its constitution, a fact that is being rediscovered both by Moroccans of all backgrounds inside the country and Moroccan and non-Moroccan Jews in the West.

That, however, is to be expected because Morocco has a long-standing tradition not just of tolerance, but also of successful integration of its citizens of all cultural backgrounds in a uniquely diverse society. What is more surprising is that when some of the Jews, some of the Moroccans start speaking Russian.
Discovering that you speak a common language is always beautiful. Finding that you have more than one and in which you can happily gossip about everyone else and share jokes no one else will understand is priceless. And then the bill comes in… actually it doesn’t. The whole crew waits and waits and waits, and continues talking, growing increasingly merry over wine and good food… only to realize than one of their new Moroccan friends has, with incredible grace and modesty, covered the entire bill. The group shuts down the restaurant, leaving happy, stuffed to the gills, and eagerly planning the next outing. The goal is to eat our way through New York – Moroccan, Greek, Russian, and more. Fun tends to have a domino effect. This gathering is already conspiring to start a snowball of friends-raising through future adventures in cultural experiences, both relaxed, and thrilling, well-planned and completely spontaneous. And that’s a kind of avalanche we can all get behind.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/01/177945/american-jews-and-moroccan-professionals-talk-russian-over-sushi-in-new-york/
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Bloomberg Names Morocco Among 50 Most Innovative Economies in the World
/EINPresswire.com/ -- WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwired - January 22, 2016)

Morocco was named among the 50 most innovative economies in the world and one of just two such economies in Africa by the 2016 Bloomberg Innovation Index released this week. The Index scores economies using seven "factors including research and development spending and concentration of high-tech public companies" as well as patent activity and manufacturing value-added, and evaluated over 200 world economies before trimming the list to 84 with data on at least six of the seven factors.

The Index's results echo the findings of many industry reports of recent years. In 2014, the Wall Street Journal's Frontiers/FSG Frontier Markets Sentiment Index reported that Morocco is among the top ten frontier markets -- and the only one in the Maghreb-most favored by foreign corporations. KPMG International and Oxford Economics' 2015 Change Readiness Index (CRI) ranked Morocco as the most "change-ready" country in the Maghreb, with particularly positive results in the category of "enterprise capability." The World Bank's Doing Business 2016 report ranked Morocco first out of 20 MENA countries in terms of "ease of starting a business" and placed it sixth overall in the region for "ease of doing business."

In 2014, CNN named Casablanca a "finance hub of the future," and media reports have recognized the small waterfront town of Taghazout in Morocco as a "start-up haven" for entrepreneurs the world over, rated by Virgin "alongside Seattle and London as one of the world's best start-up hubs." This weekend, Casablanca will host the inaugural "StartUp Maroc" conference, bringing together entrepreneurs, investors, and other key players for three days of networking and mentoring.

The trend among investors and entrepreneurs can be attributed in part to Morocco's geographic location, political stability, and modern infrastructure, as well as reforms undertaken by the government to attract businesses and develop new markets. In 2013, Morocco became the second biggest destination for foreign direct investment in Africa, and is itself the second largest African investor on the continent.

"Morocco has made amazing progress in little more than a decade to become such a destination for global investors and business people, including start-ups and entrepreneurs," said former US Ambassador to Morocco Edward M. Gabriel. "Not too long ago, the country's economy relied largely on phosphates, tourism, and textiles. Now, Morocco boasts a strong automotive sector, aeronautics sector, and its overall economy is being more diversified and industrialized."

The Moroccan American Center for Policy (MACP) is a non-profit organization whose principal mission is to inform opinion makers, government officials, and interested publics in the United States about political and social developments in Morocco and the role being played by the Kingdom of Morocco in broader strategic developments in North Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East.

This material is distributed by the Moroccan American Center for Policy on behalf of the Government of Morocco. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC.
Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/1/22/11G079779/Images/Mbarka_Bouaida_at_women_s_entrepreneurship_day-d9a6eb77ae309a65a6bda1da3750d7c1.jpg
CONTACT:Jordana Merran 202.470.2049
jmerran@moroccanamericancenter.com
http://www.einnews.com/pr_news/307728309/bloomberg-names-morocco-among-50-most-innovative-economies-in-the-world
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Morocco Among Safest Countries in the World for Christians.
Monday 18 January 2016 - New York

A new ranking released by the non-profit organization “Portes Ouvertes,” (Open Doors) ranked Morocco among the safest countries in the world for Christians.
The new ranking establishes a list of the 50 countries where Christians are persecuted or prevented from freely practicing their religion. According to the ranking, Morocco and Mauritania are the only countries in the Africa and the Middle East region (MENA) where Christians are not exposed to persecution.
Morocco keeps its status as “tolerant” country with regards to Christians. In the 2015 report, the North African country was ranked with Bahrain as the only countries in the MENA region where Christian do not face persecution.

“Open Doors” describes persecution as “any hostility experienced from the world as a result of one’s identification as a Christian.
This include beatings, physical torture, confinement, isolation, rape, severe punishment, imprisonment, slavery, discrimination in education and employment, and even death.

North Korea topped the list of “intolerant countries” for the 14th consecutive year. According to the same source, the top ten countries where Christians are not welcome are North Korea, Iraq, Eritrea, Afghanistan, Syria, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Iran and Libya. Tunisia ranks 32, while Algeria ranks 73.

According to the US State Department’s Religious Freedom Report for 2014, there are between 4,000 and 8,000 Christians living in Morocco, mostly ethnic Amazigh. Most Moroccan Christians live in the south. According to the same source, there are between 5,000 and 25,000 foreign Christians living in Morocco, especially in Rabat, Tangier and Casablanca.

“The predominantly Roman Catholic and Protestant foreign resident Christian community consists of approximately 5,000 members, although some clergy estimate the number to be as high as 25,000. Most foreign resident Christians live in the Casablanca, Tangier, and Rabat urban areas,” the 2014 report said
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/01/177657/morocco-among-safest-countries-in-the-world-for-christians/
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Maryam Montague's Moroccan Oasis: See how one writer created a luxurious retreat in the desert outside Marrakech.
By Lonny Teamon January 19, 2016

Five years ago, Maryam Montague, an American human-rights specialist with a hard-won expertise in negotiating the world’s least stable governments, was searching for a place for her family to call home. Because her career often involves traveling throughout Africa and the Middle East, she and her husband, architect Chris Redecke, chose Marrakech for its central location, beauty, and cosmopolitanism. Preferring the city’s outlying deserts to its bustling medina, the couple formed the notion of taking up residence in an olive grove. "We knew it would be a wonderful life for our two children," says Montague. "It took a while, though, to find the right place. You might be surprised to learn just how few olive groves come up for sale in Morocco each year." When they discovered the eight-and-a-half acres on which they’ve since built Peacock Pavilions, however, they knew they’d found their home…………..
See the rest here:http://www.lonny.com/Home+Tour/articles/CeJ_BxXfmya/Maryam+Montague+Moroccan+Oasis
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Morocco: Soft Power At Work - Moroccan Entrepreneur Looks Back At Her Us Year
Jean R. Abinader, MaticMoroccan American Center for Policy (Washington, DC)

Impressed with Volunteerism, Commitment to Family, Joy of Celebrations
Safa Hajjaj is on her way home to Morocco, having come to the US in September 2014 as an Atlas Corps fellow at the Meridian International Center in Washington, DC. Dedicated to addressing critical social issues, Atlas Corps, according to its website, "develops leaders, strengthens organizations and promotes innovation through an overseas fellowship of skilled professionals." Since its inception in 2006, it has brought more than 250 young professionals to the US to work in partner organizations, largely in the NGO community, to acquire and share "best practices" that benefit both the fellow and the host.

Safa is a great example of how the program works. At Meridian, she served as Curriculum Developer in the GlobalConnect Division, working on exchange programs related to entrepreneurship and social action. She came well equipped for her placement. After completing her studies at the Ecole Nationale de Commerce et Gestion in Settat, a leading Moroccan business school, she went to work for Nielsen Company managing regional projects in the Maghreb. Always interested in international travel and social entrepreneurism, she then moved to Istanbul, Turkey, as a coordinator for Citizenship and Public Affairs for Microsoft. In that capacity, she worked with local and regional teams promoting entrepreneurship and community empowerment.

When she returned to Morocco, Safa started her own company supporting local artisans and encouraging access to international markets for local cooperatives. She received a number of fellowships while building her social entrepreneurship portfolio and is part of the growing alumna network of women entrepreneurs in the country. Before coming to the US, Safa was president of the Junior Chamber International (JCI) chapter in Marrakech, and became involved in broader community affairs, including human development issues.

What works about America?
We spoke with her last week as she was preparing to return to Morocco. Safa goes home strongly believing in the benefits of international exchanges. Since she dealt with delegations coming to the US from abroad, she had the opportunity to hear from participants about their experiences. She said that she, like many of those with whom she worked, had their "assumptions" about America challenged and changed while they were here. Among the leading positive impressions are the attachment to family, extensive volunteerism, and celebration of holidays and events, from Thanksgiving and Christmas to the Super Bowl and March Madness.

Experiencing the "you can do it" spirit that permeates American culture was an enriching experience personally and professionally, she said, that helps build self-confidence,. Safa is impressed by how much energy in the US is directed towards empowering individuals, especially youth. While in Washington, she had the opportunity to attend many conferences hosted by NGOs, think tanks, and multilateral organizations, gaining exposure to many perspectives and programs.
Safa was particularly struck by the scope of the volunteer culture in the US. She noted that at the JCI in Marrakech, there were small numbers of people involved. In the US, "Lots of people participated, naturally, professionally, in a sustainable and efficient manner." This is one of the strongest impressions she will take home with her.

The other is the importance of exchanges. They are "so powerful in breaking down stereotypes and assumptions when you see the host culture through your own eyes." If she had not spent so much time observing how Americans interact and going to homes, she would have missed a lot, she said.
Professionally, she focused on benchmarking how the US works and what might be useful in Morocco. One example that particularly impressed her is ADA compliance -- how the US provides access to transportation and other services for the handicapped, whereas in Morocco, the notion of helping the handicapped as a matter of policy doesn't exist. "Someone from outside then asks why in the US... the answers change perspectives and lead us to see how the general public will is so key to making changes, like in volunteering."

Safa will miss the multicultural environment in Washington, where she met many people who actually knew about her country and had been there. She reflected on a group of Moroccan men and women religious leaders who had come for a program at Meridian and who loved their time here and were greatly affected by how open and gracious they found the American people. Still, at times, Safa felt like a geography teacher or a tour leader explaining "her part of the world"; and she herself learned a lot about US assumptions about Morocco from the questions that were asked.

Headed home, she has lots of thoughts about what to do, how to develop her strategic vision, and the projects she hopes to launch. For this coming year, she will take her time, build partnerships, recruit proactive people, and launch herself into a world where she will work hard to define herself as a committed woman entrepreneur. To enjoy the full experience that is Safa Hajjaj and her time in the US, take a look at her blogs at    http://www.atlascorps.org/blog/?author=213.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201601201096.html
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Protests start to weigh on Moroccan economic reforms.
By Reuters  21 January 2016 By Aziz El Yaakoubi RABAT, Jan 21 (Reuters)

Moroccan trainee teacher Lamia Zguiti took part in protests this month hoping to put a stop to planned cuts to education jobs. Instead, she got three broken bones in clashes with police. Lamia, 24, joined a protest in the southern city of Inezgane against new plans to limit hiring in public education sector, just one of a raft of reforms that the Moroccan government hopes will revive public finances.

More than its North African neighbours, Morocco has been praised by international lenders for progress in controlling the high public spending that has plagued the region for years, even before the Arab Spring uprisings. But touching public jobs, subsidies and other benefits that Moroccans have enjoyed for years is starting to create social tensions, triggering protests, sit-ins and strikes that will challenge the government's resolve.

Lamia is one of 10,000 young, middle-class Moroccans who passed the exam to begin training to be teachers in public schools. On Oct. 8, the government said another exam would be required at the end of the year to be hired. Only 7,000 would pass the final tests, according to government data.

Moroccan police broke up most of the teacher trainee demonstrations across the kingdom, but the protesters say they will keep on fighting to cancel the government decrees. Dozens have been injured, including three who needed medical cares. "I did not see it coming, I woke up in hospital, then I understood what happened to me," Lamia told Reuters in the capital Rabat.

The police repression of the teacher protest has provoked a wave of solidarity in Moroccan social and local media and prompted Moroccan Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane's government to order an inquiry into police violence."Maybe we will be the spark that will set Moroccan tinderbox on fire," said Hamid El-Outmani, another teacher from the southern city of Ouarzazate, while showing Lamia's medical reports.

IMF, WORLD BANK PRESSURE
Painful economic reforms to revive the economy and manage public finances are the toughest decisions facing Morocco's Islamist led-government since it came to power amid pro-democracy protest in 2011 as the "Arab Spring" rocked the region.

Thousands took to the streets in the northern city of Tangier two months ago to protest over high prices for water and electricity, in Morocco's largest demonstrations since those 2011 protests demanding political reforms."We cannot watch protesters closing the streets without doing anything ... the law must be respected," Abdelilah Benkirane told a parliamentary debate last week.

Morocco has been under pressure from international lenders, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, for structural reforms to ease the deficit since the country spent heavily to calm the 2011 protests. Analysts say Benkirane has been bold and has done more than most North African countries to make painful changes such as ending fuel subsidies and freezing public sector hiring.

His government has also started another sensitive reform by adopting a bill earlier this month outlining planned pension reforms that unions have vowed to block, saying it would damage workers' rights. Morocco's four largest labour unions have organised protests against the reform and said a general strike has been discussed. But so far they have not taken to the streets in massive numbers.

"This government has come to make the poor poorer and the rich richer," said Mohamed El-Wafi, one of the leaders of Morocco's biggest trade union UMT.
Helped by lower energy prices, Moroccan public finances have improved in the last two years with the budget deficit narrowing to 4.3 percent in 2015, down from 7.3 percent in 2012. However, the government may face even further pressure in 2016 as weak growth is expected with a drought looming ahead after an exceptional cereal harvest in 2015.

The government sees the country's gross domestic product (GDP) growing by only 3 percent in 2016, down from 5 percent last year, as agricultural output is expected to drop sharply. The central bank is forecasting only 2.6 percent this year.

But most analysts believe the Moroccan opposition remains relatively weak, disorganised and unable to take advantage of any social pressures in order to seek political change in the North African kingdom.

Even during the Arab Spring in 2011, Morocco's protesters were only calling for limited reforms to the constitution and not the overthrow of the kingdom.
King Mohammed approved a new constitution devolving some of his powers to parliament and the government in political reforms the opposition said were only cosmetic.

"Those protests are not likely to have any immediate impact on government or regime stability or to escalate, because they lack sufficient support outside of the constituencies directly affected," said Riccardo Fabiani, Middle East and North Africa analyst at Eurasia Group, a political risk agency.
"The biggest risks are in the medium to long term ... when the protest could become the catalyst for a broader-based movement for political and social change." (Editing by Patrick Markey and Tom Heneghan)

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/reuters/article-3409989/Protests-start-weigh-Moroccan-economic-reforms.html#ixzz3y5HpCdRI
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Morocco Among the World’s 50 Most Innovative Countries
Thursday 21 January 2016 - Karla Dieseldorff New York

Morocco was ranked 48th most innovative country in the world according to the Bloomberg Innovation Index published on Tuesday. The prestigious New York-based financial group, revealed the results of its annual ranking of how innovative countries are. With a score of 48.85, Morocco ranked 48 out of 80 countries in the 2016 index, having gained two spots in comparison to 2015 when it closed off the ‘top 50’ rankings.

According to the study, Bloomberg bases its methodology on seven criteria: Research & Development, Manufacturing value-added, Productivity, High-tech Density, Tertiary Efficiency, Researcher Concentration, and Patent Activity. Morocco’s best performance was in the ‘High-tech Density’ category, where it ranked 33 worldwide, thanks to its boom in aerospace, defense and renewable energy sectors.

The Kingdom’s ‘Manufacturing value-added’ and ‘Research & Development’ criteria ranked 41 and 42, respectively, out of the ‘top 50’ studied countries.
On the lower end, the North African country ranked 49 in ‘Productivity’, 48 in ‘Patent activity’ and 47 in ‘Researcher Concentration’ meaning the amount of doctorate students engaged in research.

South Korea topped the rankings with a score of 91.31, followed by Germany, Sweden, Japan and Switzerland. The United States and France made it to the top 10, while the United Kingdom and Spain ranked 17 and 27, respectively. In the MENA region, only Israel (11), Turkey (36), Tunisia (46) and Morocco (48) made it to the ‘top 50’. Rounding off Bloomberg’s innovation index were Argentina in 49 place with a score of 48.82, just below Morocco, and Kazakhstan (50) with a score of 48.48.

To compile the ranking, Bloomberg uses data from the International Monetary Fund, the World Intellectual Property Organization, the World Bank, the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, and UNESCO.

In recent years, Morocco has often performed well in terms of innovation in international rankings. A recent study on world competitiveness showed that innovation is one of the country’s top assets. In the 2015 Global Innovation Index GII, an annual study by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Morocco ranked 87 out of 141 countries, moving up six positions from the year before. Recently, Morocco made it to ‘top 50’ list for 2016. The North African country was ranked 35th best country in the world out of 60, according to the “2016 Best Countries” study by American magazine U.S. News & World Report.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/01/177820/morocco-among-the-worlds-50-most-innovative-countries/
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East Grinstead Dental Team Prepares to Bring Smiles to Morocco

A dental team from East Grinstead is preparing to travel out to Morocco to provide dental treatment for the Berber tribe. The team will be setting off at the end of February and travelling to the north of the country. Five members of the team from the High Street Dental Practice (three dental nurses and two dentists) will be making the trip as part of a project organised by Dental Mavericks. The charity was set up by well-known High Street dentist Jaspal Sandhu, who has been visiting Morocco to provide dental treatment for more than five years. The team will be staying in Kilea and the aim will be to treat as many people as possible.

Children will be the main focus but adult treatment will also be available. The team is hoping to treat around 500 people during the course of their time in the village. Mr Sandhu said that this will be the first time he has taken a team of his own staff out to Morocco and he is looking forward to them experiencing the challenge and getting to know the local people. Standards of dental health are poor in the region and children tend to have a high sugar diet, meaning that many suffer with tooth decay and severe pain. There are hardly any dentists in the area and most children will be seeing a dental professional for the first time when the team touches down at the end of next month. Depending on how the trip goes, Mr Sandhu has plans to make the team trip to Morocco an annual event.
- See more at: http://www.cosmeticdentistryguide.co.uk/news/east-grinstead-dental-team-prepares-to-bring-smiles-to-morocco-0362#sthash.KwPABUvl.dpuf
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A cultural alternative in Rabat, Morocco
Ashley Lane January 21, 2016

Why Rabat?
If you’re put off by constant harassment from street vendors or overcrowded streets typically associated with Marrakech, head north to the capital city of Rabat. You’ll find quiet, tree-lined boulevards, relaxing street cafes and enough historical sites to keep you going for days. What the city lacks in bustling nightlife, it makes up for in scenery and culture.

The business hub is making moves to boost its tourism. As part of the Vision 2020 programme, a government effort to make Morocco one of the top 20 tourists destinations in the world, Rabat has seen its fair share of modifications. From the impending launch of The Ritz-Carlton Rabat to the development of the Bouregreg Marina and construction on the minaret at the Hassan Tower, the city is changing. Flight options are expanding, too, with Etihad launching its first direct route from Abu Dhabi to Rabat last weekend.

A comfortable bed
The Sofitel Jardin des Roses (www.sofitel.com) sits on seven acres of well-groomed Andalusian gardens, and offers a mix of French design and Moroccan art. The hotel is near some of the city’s most popular sites. Rooms cost from 2,200 Moroccan dirhams (Dh815) per night, including taxes. If you’re in the market for something a bit more traditional, head to the Riad Dar El Kebira (www.darelkebira.com). Located in the medina, in the north part of the city, the guesthouse features Moorish architecture and 10 guest rooms. Rooms cost from €107 (Dh427) per night, including breakfast and taxes.

Find your feet
Many of the top sites are close to one another, making it easy to explore the city in a few days. The walled medina, in the centre, is a wonderful place to roam and shop, without being hassled by vendors. Make sure to pay a visit to the Grande Mosquée, built in the 14th century.

The Hassan Tower and Hassan Mosque sit high above the Bouregreg Marina, home to several construction projects, including La Marina, an Emirati collaboration. The site is considered the city’s most famous landmark. The mosque was destroyed by the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, leaving nothing but ruins. The minaret, which still stands, is 44 metres tall, though original plans were for it to be 60 metres.

Opposite the Hassan Mosque is the Mausoleum of Mohammed V. The building contains the tombs of the Moroccan king and his two sons, King Hassan II and Prince Abdallah. Though the mausoleum’s exterior, Alaouite architecture made mostly of white marble, is notable, the interior is truly astonishing. You’ll find wall-to- wall coloured mosaic tiling and a ceiling constructed from gold leaf and hand-carved cedar wood.

For photos and a chance to quietly take in Rabat’s sights and sounds, head to the Kasbah des Oudaias, perched high on a cliff, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and Oued Bou Regreg, in the oldest part of the city. While the views are reason enough to visit, it’s the winding alleyways, laden with whitewashed walls and striking blue doors, that impress. Amble down Rue Jamaa, which runs straight through the Kasbah, and visit the city’s oldest mosque, Mosque El-Atiqa, or duck into one of the small shops and art galleries on the way.

Head to the southern part of the city to visit Chellah. The area is the site of the old Roman city Sala Colonia, which was abandoned in AD 1154. It’s overrun with fruit trees and wildflowers, and peppered with must-see attractions, including the Arc de Triomphe, Pool of the Nymph and Islamic complex.

Meet the locals
Stroll along the corniche on the banks of the Oued Bou Regreg, or grab a coffee at Cafe Maure, and sit in the adjacent Andalusian Gardens, in the Kasbah des Oudayas. By 3pm on weekends, both are heaving with families, couples and teenagers enjoying the fresh air. If you find yourself in Agdal in the evening, head over to the unashamedly posh complex of Hay Riad, and join the locals for gelato and a walk down tree-lined streets.

Book a table
Join the swish set at Restaurant Dinarjat, set in a 17th-century, Andalusian-style house in the heart of the medina. The menu is filled with traditional tagines, couscous and brochettes (shish kebabs). The pastilla with chicken, almonds and cinnamon is a must. Round off the meal with a steaming cup of Moroccan tea. Mains cost from 160 dirhams (Dh59). For French food, try Le Georges (www.facebook.com/bistrotlegeorgesrabat) in Agdal. The menu features sumptuous options such as salmon with fresh herbs and mango tartare, and beef in parsley butter with shallots. Mains cost from 155 dirhams (Dh57).

Shopper’s paradise
For traditional wares, the city’s only souq, in the medina, is the place, selling everything from rugs and leather jackets to fridge magnets and spices. The majority of the stallholders expect customers to haggle.

Don’t miss
The National Archaeology Museum, though small, is well worth the visit. It features the most extensive collection of archaeological artefacts in Morocco. English-speaking tourists should take a guide, however, as most explanations are in Arabic and French.

What to avoid
While the majority of Rabat is safe during the day, pay close attention to your belongings. The streets are quiet later on, so avoid walking alone at night.
http://www.thenational.ae/arts-life/travel/a-cultural-alternative-in-rabat-morocco#full
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Morocco: The Crisis in the House of Education
Thursday 21 January 2016 – Abdellatif Zaki Rabat

The arm-wrestling party has lasted too long. The whole issue could – should – have been settled without as much ado, injury and pain. Bad language has been used, convictions too strong to be reversed have been expressed and feelings have been hurt. In the feud, the government of the Kingdom of Morocco is opposed to some nine thousand teacher trainees who are challenging two decisions which they have judged to be abusive. Those who have made them, however, claim they are constitutional, politically legitimate and strategically urgent.

For months now, neither party has shown any will to discuss with the other, let alone negotiate with it. Both stand fast. The head of the government has sworn that neither decision will be dropped or modified rejecting thus alternatives before they are formulated. From their side, the trainees have made it clear that they will not step back unless the government complied. Meanwhile, no intermediation or intercession was accepted by either party. The solution, however, avers impossible without the intervention of a third party.

The students have repeatedly made it clear that they had lost trust in the government and made allusions that the Monarch, alone, can rescue them from their predicament. Down the road, the issue has kept transforming itself from a legal debate to a political action. What had started as a case against the legal enforceability of two ministerial decrees and the retroactivity of the law developed to become an action against the political legitimacy and relevance of the provisions and objectives of the two decisions.

In fact, the trainees had first opposed the decrees on the basis that they had been enforced on them prior to their official publication and that they were not aware of them when they registered for the training program. When this argument fell as evidence was produced that the trainees had actually signed documents that referred to the decrees, they produced other arguments against what they claim are the underlying objectives of the decisions.

In the assessment of the trainees, these objectives are recommendations of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to promote the education private sector at the expense of the public educational system. Their argument is twofold. Firstly, the private sector should not benefit from the training programs funded by the budget of the State and that it must fund its own training programs and, secondly, education is the responsibility of the State and the people are entitled to a free universal education. Privatizing education would result in reinforcing socioeconomic discrepancies and in widening the already too dramatic divide between social categories and thus consecrate the rule of the privileged few over the masses. The two decrees are described as evidence of the corruption of decision makers and of the political institution as a whole. These arguments, whether one adheres to them or not, are purely political in nature. Whether or not it is up to the teacher trainees to oppose the decrees on such grounds and halt the training system while militating for social and economic justice is also a matter of political choice.

Furthermore, the turn which interventions of law enforcement that have been termed as disproportionate by many an independent observer took have led to confrontations in several training centers that poisoned the situation and drove to very thin chances for negotiation and compromise. It seems that the recent attempts of a group of members of civil society and labor unions which have led the government to make a symbolic move by accepting some demands of the trainees and deferring the decision about others to later were not convincing to the trainees who have rejected them wholly demanding that all their claims be met or their action will continue should it cost them their careers or the fall of the government.

The issue is no longer the separation of training and recruitment nor the reduction by half of the scholarships which the two decrees are about but of revising the government’s educational policy and opposing the recommendations of the Breton Woods institutions. Some have seen in this a trial of the strength and coherence of the government. In fact, dissonant statements that may cost some ministers their seats in the government, are heard about responsibilities related to the decrees and to the use of force to meet the demonstrations. Others see in the events the remote controlled manipulation of a competing ideological trend of the Islamic movement and others risks jeopardizing the stability of the county taken by a group of politically immature young men and women emboldened by the increasing virtual support they find in social media but also by the solidarity they have in the street of sibling professions as well as diverse groups of the population unhappy for various reasons. Whatever the case, it is sure that the issue has become a case of passion and been so personalized that it is unsafe to leave it to the two feuding parties …

For the sake of national interest wisdom from both sides is called for … It will all depend on how each party will judge the priorities of the moment and on how various components of the social and political fabric of the country will assume urgent responsibilities.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/01/177844/the-crisis-in-the-house-of-education/
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Morocco: A place like no other
Aoibheann MacNamara

Marrakesh is like a familiar, kind, insanely aesthetic friend that I keep going back to. I have been visiting for 12 years. She gets me all excited again about life, food, travel and the beauty of the Arab culture. I especially love to go in winter when the nights are crisp and the day’s sun warms you deep inside.

Some people feel hassled by the city. I have never felt that. A week’s trip to Morocco is ideal, but I spend only two days in Marrakesh as it can be crazy – good crazy – but crazy nonetheless.

Balance the city with time in the country, in the Atlas mountain region and the Berber area of the Quirka valley, both a one-hour drive from the city. Speaking French and/or Arabic is not essential, but it does help the whole trip to flow.

When I am in Marrakesh I stay in Riad La Maison, deep in the heart of the Medina. Its contemporary Moroccan-European interiors are a wonder and its fresh, inventive cooking a revelation. Nicole, the owner, is a stylist and fashion buyer with huge attention to detail.

After a lengthy breakfast on the Riad roof of Moroccan pancakes with local honey and egg tagine with cumin, I take a ramble through the streets leading to the chaotic marketplace of Place Jemaa el-Fna. Then, with an assault on the senses, I enter the souks. They may seem illogical at first, but they follow a natural order: spice, metal, tannery markets, and so on. Don’t forget: if you get lost look up and there are signposts.

A meeting point and navigational centre is Cafe des Epices in the spice market. After hours spent in the souk, it is essential to warm up on the roof and feel the sun again. Try their spiced coffee, and date, orange and avocado shake and the traditional harira soup. It will get you all fired up for another few hours of bargaining.

For a satisfying lunch, go to the contemporary Moroccan Nomad, just off the spice market. It’s bright and fun, with lemon and grey tiling and an open-plan space. It has a vibrant Moroccan menu, a plugged-in manager and its ice creams of amlou (sesame, argan oil and honey) and saffron are a thrill. On the way home, pop into Riad el Fenn (House of Art) to have a drink, and to absorb the astounding symmetry of art and interiors, then retreat back to your riad for dinner. The peacefulness of the riad will revive you and the food in most riads is excellent traditional home cooking.

I tend to do one day in the old town and one in the new town – Gueliz. I love to head to the blueness of Yves Saint Laurent’s house and the Majorelle Gardens. The bookshop has the best collection in town and the Cafe Bousafsaf one of the most intelligent menus I have read in a while. There are some concept stores across from the gardens, including 33 Rue Majorelle.

While in this part of town, head to Cafe de la Poste for early drinks and take in the old-world charm and the zippy front of house. Then on to Al Fassia, the all-woman high-octane restaurant: order the Moroccan salad starter and be transported.

There are a lot of places to eat in Marrakesh and there are not, if you understand me. I tend to revisit the places I have grown familiar with. I would rather make my way through a good restaurant’s menu than through a series of mediocre ones.

After two days I am ready to leave this relentless intoxicating city and move to the country. An enduring favourite is Kasbah Beldi beside Lalla lake and nestled at the base of the snow-capped Atlas mountains. The French owners suggest it “is about simplicity, nature and the kindness of the staff” and this is true. There is no wifi thankfully; it is about disconnecting here, the new ultimate luxury. There is very little to do and that is liberating.

Lunch under the trees cooked by Asna, the female Moroccan chef, is simple garden salads, dinner is by the fireside with no menu, just the typical tagine and couscous. Everything is grown on site and is a lesson in simplicity and flavour. Mohamed, the manager, takes great care of you, as do all the local Berber people who work there. Berber kindness is immeasurable; as the old man at the gates walks us to our room holding a candle to light our way and kisses my son Oni goodnight, our hearts fill.

Reluctantly we leave Beldi to try something new. We are not sure it can be beaten but then, in a remarkable way, it is. We drive through the chocolate coloured Quirka valley and see the traditional rammed earth walls of the Kasbah Bab Quirka. As the manager Hassam walks us through we are speechless.

The atmosphere almost twinkles with period pieces from the Marrakesh markets found by the owner Stephen Skinner, a banker/ lawyer and ex-Etonian with an eye for objects and a choreographer of good times. Yves Saint Laurent once had a party here and you can expect the Marrakesh movers and shakers to show up at some point during your stay. The residents play on the mystic and are universally engaging and creative.

As at Beldi, the ethos is simple – to create tranquillity and a closeness to nature. Here, your days are filled with walks in the valley and the national park or quiet moments in this otherworldly space.

Food is easy – Berber tanjini omelettes for breakfast, roasted beetroot soup with cinnamon and yogurt for lunch and a fireside dinner of French Moroccan styles – Kefta tagine with steamed egg followed by pastille au lait.

Locals only are employed here, and they work with enduring care and attention. The hotel garden is abundant with oranges and lemons and endless green bounty that transform the dishes. It is incredible value – a place locked in time and memories, oozing atmosphere and possibility. Places like this belong in a Hemingway novel and few exist any more in the paucity of this modern, generic world – but I am truly grateful this one does.

The trip ends and we have our final mint tea on one of the most perfect terraces in the world. The sun and the local people have enlivened us. We are locked in again to our commitment to visiting this, the safest Muslim country in the world.

There is understandable trepidation about visiting Muslim countries, but we feel there is no need for it here; go and enjoy in safety and experience the positives of this unique culture.
http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/travel/morocco-a-place-like-no-other-1.2503769
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Fes medina, Morocco: The best-preserved old city in the Arab world
By Nina Karnikowski Jan. 23, 2016

An empty Fes medina is a little post-apocalyptic, but in the best possible way.

A crooked old man in a pyjama suit and kufi knitted hat wanders slowly down the eerily quiet laneway, scuffing his pointed babouche slippers on cobblestones that have become glossy with age as he passes a row of shuttered shopfronts. This man is the only other person in this laneway; the only other person, in fact, that my By Prior Arrangement guide Khalid and I have seen for the past five minutes since we entered the Fes medina. We stroll past some narrower laneways and I peer down their length: also empty, save for a few stray cats and some surrealist shadows cast by the late morning sun.

This is the exact opposite of what I had been expecting to find in Fes. For years I had read about the ebullient chaos of the 1200-year-old UNESCO-listed medina of Morocco's cultural capital with its 9400 hivelike streets. About how this warren of covered bazaars would assault my senses and my concept of personal space with its endless parade of people.

But I shouldn't – and will not – complain about this ghost town that I've found myself in, because it's actually blissful. Haunting and lovely, a little post-apocalyptic in the best possible way. And it's all thanks to the Eid al-Adha Islamic festival, which Khalid tells me celebrates Ibrahim following Allah's command to sacrifice his son.

Moroccans don't work during this four-day festival, during which every family slaughters a sheep to symbolise Ibrahim's sacrifice which they then feast on. Which is why there is also, in line with the post-apocalyptic theme, rather a lot of blood congealing here and there on the rough ground, and the occasional pile of raw, fly-covered sheep hides lining the laneways. Ooh and there, under my foot just now, a rogue sheep hoof.

But really, who's looking at the ground when there's all this enchanting ornamentation to take in? These arched fountains decorated with kaleidoscopically coloured Moroccan mosaics called zellij; these romantically faded blue, green, purple and yellow walls; these antique wooden doors folded over the closed shop fronts. I wonder how much of it I would have noticed had it been business as usual today in the medina.

Khalid ushers me to the right, to the entrance of the Bou Inania Madrasa​, a 2nd century theological college and mosque. It's one of the most important religious institutions in Morocco and, Khalid tells me, one of the few religious places in Morocco non-Islamic visitors can access.

Even the stairwell leading up from the madrasa's massive brass doors is breathtaking – the morning light spills across the intricate zellij and the man sitting languidly on the stairs in a white caftan and yellow babouche slippers, quite literally, stops me in my tracks. Inside in the main courtyard there are soaring stone arches, cedar lattice screens and zellij so elaborate my mind boggles at the skill and patience of the master craftsmen who constructed it. And we can see it, including its beautiful green-tiled minaret, in all its glory since we're the only visitors this morning. Just us and a local woman in a headscarf, quietly mopping the floors surrounding the central fountain in preparation for the morning prayers.

When the cry of the muezzin echoes through the medina calling the locals to prayer, Khalid guides me around a few corners and into a ... what is this? Another mosque? No, this is a carpet shop. A very, very beautiful one, with two-storey-high ceilings hung with chandeliers, walls decorated with colourful zellij and filigree marble work and hundreds, possibly thousands, of vibrant carpets stacked, rolled and hung on every surface in sight. I spend a happy half hour perched on the floral velvet couch here at Aux Merveilles Du Tapis, sipping sweet mint tea and marvelling at the handiwork of the Berber tribes from the High Atlas, Middle Atlas and Rif Mountains who created these beautiful rugs, that I sadly am unable to afford.

What I can afford, however, is a pair of leather babouche slippers at our next stop, the historic Chaouwara Tanneries​, which has been washing, treating, smoothing and colouring animal skins into soft leather goods since the 13th century. The walls are stacked with slippers, bags, vests and pouffes in all the colours of the rainbow. I'd been told that the view of the colourful tanning and dyeing pits from here on the second floor was unmissable, but when I get up there I find that the vats are currently empty and covered in wooden scaffolding for renovations. I'm a little disappointed but only until Khalid whispers to me on our way out that I'm lucky to have missed the stomach-churning stench that usually emanates from them.

As we exit the medina, we stop to admire the exquisite brass gates of the Dar el Makhzen royal palace, which are surrounded by fine zellij mosaics and carved cedar wood. Khalid tells me these gates, which mark the entrance to the palace that is strictly closed to the public, are usually being ogled by dozens of travellers. Today, of course, we have them all to ourselves.
visitmorocco.com
http://www.camdencourier.com.au/story/3679938/fes-medina-morocco-the-best-preserved-old-city-in-the-arab-world/?cs=2507
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A Call on Moroccan Authorities to Protect Tourist Sector in Fez
Morocco World News - 16/01/2016

The author Tahir Shah writes this famous quote inArabian Nights: 'What are tourists for but for tricking?' His character in the book laments 'Simply trick the tourists like everyone else most of them will never come backand what other use are they?'

Has this become the mantra of the medina of Fez?

I experienced it first hand this week. I am an experienced traveller with culturalinterests in Morocco. I love the country and often travel in remote locations. Does this make my experience more shocking? Or did I experience the reality of the medina?

I spent quite some time in Fez two years ago and often wandered alone at night so it was with pleasure to return to visit this beautiful historic city. Standing outside the main gate of the medina I could not help noticing the gangs of young men hanging about lurking behind the Bab or in the corners of derbs. I chose to ignore the boys' body language. After all I'm an old Moroccan visitor and was with two Marrakeshi friends. I didn’t originally see the malice and bad intent behind their eyes as I strolled around snapping memories on my iPhone.

Certainly I was attracting attention for a trick. 'Did I need a guide?' they asked. 'No thanks. The last thing I need is an unofficial guide thank you.'
'Directions to the tanneries?' they asked again. 'No thanks.' 'Buy a carpet lady.' 'Nope.'

Suddenly my friend grabbed my arm and shoved me to his side. 'Put your iPhone in your bag now. Those two guys are talking about how they are going to grab it.' Wow. An audacious trick indeed in broad daylight at11:00in the morning. Where I ask are the police? Why do they allow these petty crimes? Clearly these boys have no fear of being caught and I was in a public arena.

So I’m thinking what the repercussions would be of stealing shiny tourist tech. When did these boys' lives become so poor that stealing became a respectable profession? Ali Baba and the 40 thieves in modern day attire. Where are the morals of society if strangers are fair game for youth to rob and trick? Where is the protection for tourists in a city where its main income in the medina is tourist shopping and tours?

As I pondered this and walked deeper in the Fez medina I felt the malevolence f the youth (almost exclusively boys). I couldn’t see any women and children walking about. What was going on where were crowds of tourists and local families? Had the medina become a no-go area? Buildings are falling down around you. It looks uncared for. Gangs of youths look at you assessing your wealth and vulnerability. Does your age make you a target a quick hit and run stealing your bag and hoping for wallet camera and passport?

I would like to say conditions improved as we ventured deeper into the medina but that was not so. More boarded up shops and for sale signs once off the main streets more discussions in street darija behind my back. Should they rob us? What did we have? Would we fight back? At this point one of my friends decided it was just too dangerous for us to continue. We walked back quickly to the main Bab our trip ruined.

Morocco is a country that traditionally welcomes visitors a country with a rich history and tradition of hospitality and generous behaviour to strangers. How has it changed so radically? Looking around one sees unemployment and hopelessness tales of tourists being stabbed in the centre of the Fez medina drug use amongst the young lack of permanent well-paid employment. Is this what is driving the young to drugs seeking oblivion and passing away the boredom of unemployment knowing there is no secure contracted employment in the medina an uncertain future where every day is the same with no possibility of escape?
So why bother trying when you can trick a tourist with no repercussions? Because once the medina's reputation as a violent crime-ridden area becomes prevalent there will be no more tourists.

Please act now. It is necessary to clean and repair housing refurbish public areas and employ a more visible police presence to reassure visitors that you care. The building of new artisan workshops and the river walk are positive steps. Allocate funds to help the young find secure homes and employment. Young people are a country’s future and tourists pay for that future.

Published with permission from Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Morocco World News' editorial policy
https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/01/177541/a-call-on-moroccan-authorities-to-protect-tourist-sector-in-fez/
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'Little Things which Make a Difference' The Gift of Dyslexia
MENAFN - Morocco World News - 16/01/2016

I’m dyslexic which actually isn’t anything extraordinary; I’m only one of the 20% of all people who have this gift.

That's right one of every five people on this planet have this same gift. Let's make this clear; this is not a “disability.” It is a difference and a God-given gift. It's not astonishing that this gift has a bad image; even the name for this difference dyslexia starts with the prefix “dys” which means abnormal impaired difficult or bad. By labeling it in a negative way it's normal that people think of it as a disability.

You may be asking 'What's dyslexia and why is it a gift?'

Dyslexia is considered to be a learning disability because people with dyslexia often have difficulties learning to read write and perform mathematical calculations. People with dyslexia have a different way of thinking; often looking at the global picture and not the specific details.

Dyslexic people often think 'outside of the box' and for this reason while they are creative they have difficulty understanding some simple 'logical' things. Classic examples are Albert Einstein whose teacher said that he was 'an absent minded fool who would never amount to anything' or again Thomas Edison whose school teacher thought he was mentally retarded (now we use the term 'developmentally challenged') and who went on to bring us a revolution with the invention of the electric light bulb.

There are so many people with this gift who have excelled in all fields. My favorite writer Mark Twain Pablo Picasso Leonardo da Vinci Ansel Adams August Rodin Mohammad Ali Richard Branson Alexander Graham Bell Robin Williams Andy Warhol Steven Spielberg Walt Disney the list goes on.
We can even suppose with near certitude that if all these people had not been dyslexic the world would not be what it is today. This is why it is a God given gift.

I can say that I never suffered like so many dyslexic people have and there are several reasons why. First of all I thank my parents who were really wonderful. I’m sure that neither of them even knew of dyslexia. I myself didn’t even know that I was dyslexic what dyslexia was until my first child was discovered to have this gift (she’s now 29) and knowing this made many things clear for me.

I never experienced the difficulties with reading that so many dyslexic people have because of my mother. A key factor was the early start she gave me teaching me to read with Dr. Seuss long before I started school along with her patience and constant encouragement. I learned to love to read. I was almost a straight-A student (all except math). In addition from the age of four I loved to draw and was encouraged.

Even now I regularly reverse letters when I write and I tell my students laughingly “I’m dyslexic so if you notice some letters reversed when I write on the whiteboard just let me know. It will show me that you know how to spell and that you’re paying attention.” This gift and my constant revision of what I write has actually made me very attentive to spelling errors. I spot them straight away when I’m correcting papers. This can help me to be aware that perhaps someone has my gift as well!

Math has always stayed a major difficulty for me and when I think of the algebra teacher I had in high school who called me stupid and who made me hate math it underlines how important it is for teachers to recognize each person’s gifts and differences and never to criticize a student or make them feel incompetent.

There was a quote in the film Embracing Dyslexia from “a teacher or administrator” regarding a dyslexic first-grade student which really shocked me: “Not everybody can be smart and somebody has to stock the shelves at Walmart.” My GOD! How can people be so ignorant and insensitive! If I had the person in front of me who said this I would surely respond that he or she should be the one stocking the shelves at Walmart and not dealing with children.
It is essential that the world wakes up to this and recognizes it as a special difference not as a deficiency.

Published with permission from Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published rewritten or redistributed without permission.
http://www.menafn.com/1094540173/Morocco--Little-Things-which-Make-a-Difference-The-Gift-of-Dyslexia
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