On Tuesday, the 7th, a group of women from AUI, staff and students visited Tarmilat, a very small Berber village right of Ifrane. When we parked the car, I could not see the village. I couldn't see it because we had to hike a 1/2 mile through the snow-covered hills to the village. I had just come from class so I had my casual slip-ons and no jacket...smart girl.
We visited Tarmilat because Karen Smith and some faculty of AUI are trying to help the Tarmilat women launch their own woven-rug business. They started over a year ago with the AUI women subsidizing wool, materials and teachers for the village. The plan was that gradually the subsidies would decrease while the women learned new weaving skills, designs and made extra income off the sales of the carpets. Their representative, Moustaffa, coordinates the flow of materials and sales of carpets. However, the process was going slower than expected and so we had a kind of business meeting at Moustaffa's house. We met the women, 12 in all who weave, and their cute children. I got to hold a Berber baby! hehe. We discussed the situation, had tea and m'ssmon.
As we were about to leave before the village got dark (they have no electricity) the real issues of the business came out. It was interesting to conduct a business meeting through English, Arabic and Berber. I and two other exchanges want to meet to find possible solutions or business strategies for these women, either having them register as a co-opt with access to government resources and also finding buyers for their rugs. Hey you guys in the states, want to buy some original, Berber-made rugs? They're pretty! It was so amazing because I had read cases like this in school including all the dilemmas of culture and management and now I'm here and have this task ahead to help these women. All the women were so friendly and warm with smiles on their faces...they're such beautiful people...
We visited Tarmilat because Karen Smith and some faculty of AUI are trying to help the Tarmilat women launch their own woven-rug business. They started over a year ago with the AUI women subsidizing wool, materials and teachers for the village. The plan was that gradually the subsidies would decrease while the women learned new weaving skills, designs and made extra income off the sales of the carpets. Their representative, Moustaffa, coordinates the flow of materials and sales of carpets. However, the process was going slower than expected and so we had a kind of business meeting at Moustaffa's house. We met the women, 12 in all who weave, and their cute children. I got to hold a Berber baby! hehe. We discussed the situation, had tea and m'ssmon.
As we were about to leave before the village got dark (they have no electricity) the real issues of the business came out. It was interesting to conduct a business meeting through English, Arabic and Berber. I and two other exchanges want to meet to find possible solutions or business strategies for these women, either having them register as a co-opt with access to government resources and also finding buyers for their rugs. Hey you guys in the states, want to buy some original, Berber-made rugs? They're pretty! It was so amazing because I had read cases like this in school including all the dilemmas of culture and management and now I'm here and have this task ahead to help these women. All the women were so friendly and warm with smiles on their faces...they're such beautiful people...
No comments:
Post a Comment