{"id":2128,"date":"2018-04-07T17:17:12","date_gmt":"2018-04-07T15:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/didouqen.com\/?p=2128"},"modified":"2018-04-07T17:17:12","modified_gmt":"2018-04-07T15:17:12","slug":"settling-into-boujdour-week-two-with-community-development-in-the-sahara","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/settling-into-boujdour-week-two-with-community-development-in-the-sahara\/","title":{"rendered":"SETTLING INTO BOUJDOUR – WEEK TWO WITH COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN THE SAHARA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wednesday, November 14, 2012<\/strong><\/p>\n

I discovered a new district called \u201cAlkhair\u2019 where most of the local Saharawi people live.\u00a0 After getting my bearings again, I finally decided to take the main avenue to return back.\u00a0 I prayed and did some readings.\u00a0 Then I went to the principle market of Boujdour city \u201cSawiqa\u201d, about 1 kilometer from my apartment, to buy something for my evening breakfast for I was fasting that day.\u00a0 While I was preparing my food, there was a knocking on at the door; it was the woman upstairs, Mammas, with her daughter Aicha. Mammas, is an Amazigh name.\u00a0 I rent my apartment from this family, which a family from Ihahan near Agadir. They came to Boujdour in 1992, they were not offered a house or land for building a house by the Moroccan State, so they built their house on their own.<\/p>\n

Mammas and Aicha, who is 18 years old and a student of Bouchra at Ennasser high school, introduced themselves.\u00a0 They speak Tashlhyt, and felt very comfortable with me when she found out that I speak Tashlhyt too.\u00a0 We talked and got to know each other little bit, then they left.\u00a0 They invited me to their house upstairs, I said next time inchallah for the evening prayer for breakfast is about to call out.<\/p>\n

That night, many questions came into my mind.\u00a0 The first thing I thought of is how to most effectively start my mission in this City of Challenge.\u00a0 How would I accomplish conducting a series of community-wide participatory planning meetings and dialogues with different groups of the local people, in this new significant critical place with a different culture and environment?\u00a0 It is not something easy; it is a very new experience and I\u2019m very excited about it.\u00a0 I planned to see the city by foot the following day.<\/p>\n

Thursday, November 15, 2012<\/strong><\/p>\n

While circling round the city, I discovered that all the rural commune\u2019s offices belonging to Boujdour Province have their headquarters in the center of the city (El massid, Jrifia, and Galtat Zammour). \u00a0 I saw a lot of holes alongside the roads of the streets most of them vacant with no trees or plants.\u00a0 These holes were used to plant palm trees but, these latter were unable to adapt to the region\u2019s climate.\u00a0 The only tree I saw surviving in many parks of the city are the following in the pictures \u2013 a Cuban Laurel (Ficus Retusa).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In the early afternoon I visited Mammas and her family.\u00a0 They were happy to see me upstairs.\u00a0 She invited me to join the lunch table, but I couldn\u2019t as I was fasting.\u00a0 Instead I listened to their interesting stories. Mammas\u2019 husband, Si Mbark has a lot of experience in the Sahara region.\u00a0 He was a merchant, and used to travel between the Southern Provinces.\u00a0 He knew a lot about the region\u2019s historical transitions. He stopped working after he lost his site from diabetes.\u00a0 However, he narrated a lot of important events about the camps in nineties and the war between Polisario and Moroccan military.<\/p>\n

From Si Mbark I learned that the rural communes of Boujdour Province have their headquarters here in the center of the city because most of the people working in rural areas are fishermen that come back to the city to visit their families weekly.\u00a0 These fishermen live in slum conditions.\u00a0 They are a community of boys and men.\u00a0 There are three fishing villages: Agti Elghazi and Ognit belong to Elmassid rural commune (Cap 5), and Aftissat and Elkraa belong to Jrifia rural commune (Cap 7).<\/p>\n

Si Mbar talked about the era of camps during nineties in Boujdour.\u00a0 He spoke fast, and I enjoyed listening to him speaking spontaneously in Iahahan Tashlhyt accent.\u00a0 He said that during the nineties there goods and accommodations were provided for free by the government.\u00a0 People at that time took advantage of this and collected money to build a future.\u00a0 Now, however, there is little opportunity and employment outside of herding or fishing.\u00a0 I asked if women have jobs here.\u00a0 Mammas interrupted her husband to reply that most of the women here in Boujdour are housewives cooking and looking after their children.\u00a0 There are no factories or farms for women to work, and thus most are unemployed.\u00a0 The government will build a port, and that will provide jobs for men only.\u00a0 She added that there are some women cooperatives but these can\u2019t guarantee a stable financial income for a woman like her having four children with their huge expenses.<\/p>\n

Friday, November 16, 2012<\/strong><\/p>\n

My husband\u2019s uncle Si Hassan came to visit me from Dakhla to provide me with all furniture and appliances I needed.\u00a0 He has been in Sahara for 30 years, where he works for construction company.\u00a0 He took part in building the early camps of Dakhla city.\u00a0 He told the same story as Si Mbark: there had been a lot of goodness during the camps era.\u00a0 He stayed with us for little time and left for the Friday prayer called out.<\/p>\n

I went out to the mosque, which is no more than 50 meters from my apartment for Friday prayer at 1:00pm.\u00a0 It is a big mosque with a decent tower like the mosques throughout cities of Morocco, the huge space down stairs is available for men and the medium space upstairs is for women. \u00a0 I ascended the stairs to the room where women pray; I took off my shoes and put them on the shelf.\u00a0 As I entered the room, I saw four lines of women.\u00a0 The majority of them were wearing \u201cmlehfa\u201d (a wrapping cloth for the whole body used by Southern women\u00a0 as a special outside dress).\u00a0 The Imam gave a speech about \u201cLove of Homeland is Faith\u201d.\u00a0 After I finished the prayer, I stood in the line waiting for my turn to exit. While I was waiting, I observed that most of the women are overweight and wear many large golden bracelets round their wrists.<\/p>\n

Bouchra called the small van to take us to her house for lunch.\u00a0 While we were sitting round the small circular table eating couscous and drinking \u201cZriqia\u201d, I noticed a photo of the Moroccan King, Mohammed the Sixth wearing jelleba.\u00a0 After we had a nap and afternoon tea break, we come back home.\u00a0 Bouchra invited me to attend a seminar in celebration of a World Philosophy Day, which would be held on Saturday from 3:00 pm to 6:00pm at Errachdi High School.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t hesitate to accept her invitation.<\/p>\n

Saturday, November 17, 2012<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bouchra was very busy drafting some papers for her afternoon school seminar in the morning.\u00a0 I prepared breakfast: tea, bread, jam, black olives and Moroccan cake \u201cFqqas.\u201d\u00a0 I yearned for olive oil. \u00a0 In Boujdour, it is rare when you get some on the morning breakfast table, and if you are lucky enough to get it, it does not taste like the pure bio olive oil at home in Ait Ourir or Al Haouz in general.\u00a0 Before Bouchra left my house, we agreed to meet next to the building of \u201cDrham\u201d to go to the seminar; this building is at the center of the main avenue where the banks (Popular Bank and Tijari Wafa Bank) are situated. \u201cDrham\u201d is a name of a very known businessman in the domain of construction in Sahara region.<\/p>\n

I did some readings and reflected on the immediate question: \u201cHow should I start working within this chaos?\u201d<\/p>\n

In the afternoon, we took a small taxi to the Errachdi High School.\u00a0 This school is located near the administrative district where one can find Boujdour municipality, and the offices of the other rural communes of Boujdour Province: Jrifia, Elmassid, Gltat Zammour, police station.\u00a0 This school is well constructed like Enasser and Elbaqqali high schools in Boujdour.\u00a0 I was told that 90% of Errachdi students are Saharawi students in contrast to Ennasser high school, where most students are from the immigrant communities.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

During the seminar, I was neutral sitting in the back listening and taking pictures.\u00a0 The seminar was animated by 10 to 12 teachers of philosophy but there was no student sitting round the table of discussion, though the seminar was titled \u201cThe Philosophy and Student\u201d.\u00a0 The speech was addressed to the students of high school from 15 to 18 years old.\u00a0 Most of students were sitting back on the classroom tables (see the pictures).\u00a0 Most of the lectures were very theoretical, 95% of time was given to the teachers and only 5% was offered to the participation of students who kept asking how-to-do questions; unfortunately, these questions were not completely answered most of them were left unanswered.\u00a0 This made some of students bored and left the room of the seminar.\u00a0 It was a chance for me to get to know new people and new place in the city.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Monday, November 19, 2012<\/strong><\/p>\n

I woke up with a clear action plan in my mind about how to start my mission in Boujdour.\u00a0 After having my breakfast, I went outside to discover some new districts of the city.\u00a0 I noticed when wandering the streets that most of people hung out laundry outside their houses.\u00a0 Many also raised animals such as chickens, turkeys and sometimes goats or sheep.<\/p>\n

All the houses I saw were typically Moroccan style, \u201cDar Maghribia,\u201d with entry door in the middle of the facades and windows upwards.\u00a0 The floors are decorated either with Zellij or colored cement coating especially grey or red.<\/p>\n

As I was walking I tried to call Mr Abderrahim Ouarghidi, the HAF\u2019s project Manager.\u00a0 I wanted to consult him about my action plan to start.\u00a0 I stated that I was going to call Mr Abdelkarim, the president of the Division of the Interior Affairs at the local Government of Boujdour Province \u201cAlaamala\u201d.\u00a0 He would be able to provide me with all the information I need and also connect me with civil society leaders and all the governmental and nongovernmental agencies in the province.\u00a0 Mr Abderrahim had been to this Sahara region and his advice was very crucial and helpful.\u00a0 I called Mr. Abdelkarim to fix a meeting with him on Tuesday 11:30am.<\/p>\n

One could never get lost in Boujdour because all streets lead to the military lighthouse at the center of the city.\u00a0 It is the oldest building in the city built during Spanish Colonialism in the Sahara. When at shops or restaurants, I was always asked if I\u2019m from \u201cDakhiil\u201d (this name is said to refer to the north part of Morocco by Saharawi People).\u00a0 They know that I\u2019m not from Boujdour, likely because of my dress and language.\u00a0 I decided to purchase and try out wearing \u201cmlehfa\u201d to look like the local women.<\/p>\n

Tuesday, November 20, 2012<\/strong><\/p>\n

My meeting with Mr. Adelkarim at his office in \u201cAlaamala\u201d was very important and inspiring.\u00a0 I learned many details of Boujdour Province\u2019s history, economy and society.\u00a0 I introduced him to the HAF participatory method of working with communities supported with some photos of the previous trainings the HAF team had done in some project sites.\u00a0 This gave him a very clear concrete view of HAF method and goals.\u00a0 He appreciated that, and in his turn he offered me some important documents of Boujdour Province\u2019s monographs.\u00a0 He assured that he will find a list of all the local associations after two or three days.\u00a0 He happily offered his assistance during my work in\u00a0Boujdour.\u00a0 The meeting was a success.\u00a0 The opportunity for this meeting to have happened is because the Wali of Laayoune, Khalil Dkhil, and the Governor of Boujdour,\u00a0<\/span>Larbi Ettouijer,\u00a0<\/span>were introduced to this community project last month\u00a0<\/span>with HAF President Yossef Ben-Meir and myself.\u00a0 It is true, sustainable development includes working together at all levels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wednesday, November 14, 2012 I discovered a new district called \u201cAlkhair\u2019 where most of the local Saharawi people live.\u00a0 After getting my bearings again, I finally decided to take the main avenue to return back.\u00a0 I prayed and did some readings.\u00a0 Then I went to the principle market of Boujdour city \u201cSawiqa\u201d, about 1 kilometer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2129,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[46],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/tree-blog-2-1.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2128"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}