Women's Empowerment in Africa

No matter where you are in the world, it’s (nearly) guaranteed, unless something has gone horribly wrong with the solar system, that every evening the sun will set and colors will dance across the sky before dusk, and eventually darkness, take hold. It’s a perfect time for reflection and to simply exist; to observe, appreciate, and marvel without feeling like anything else could be more important. It was under the twirling clouds and flowing ribbons of sunset’s colors that the President of Slimania cooperative came up with an answer to a question I’d posed earlier: “if there’s anything you want me to know before I write about today, what would it be?”

No sentence could better sum up the palpable aura at Slimania cooperative, made all the more poignant by the magic of the evening sky and the vast field stretching out for two hectares before us, where she’d taken me to meet her horse (an idea about which I’m sure I expressed childlike excitement). The members of this cooperative are as deeply connected to their land and their work as any produce they’ve grown for themselves in their rich and nurtured soil; they and their lives are inseparable from the mission they’ve chosen to undertake.

Slimania cooperative was founded in 2017 by five women from Slimania commune, the namesake for the cooperative. Their mission? To empower and unite the strong and inspiring females of their community in order to safeguard the economic futures of their families and of the place that they lovingly call home. They’ve spent the majority of their recent lives raising and tending to livestock, ranging from rabbits to chickens to sheep, and so could think of no better work for their cooperative than to be able to transform their experience and the pride they take in caring for their animals to market quality.

For these women, their product is not simply a product, but an integral part of who they are. When describing the most unforgettable and impactful moments of their work, they answered “watching a sheep give birth,” “walking through the fields together and eating along the way,” and “simply being with the livestock.” They draw joy from every moment of their work, and it shows in the healthy and contended animals that stroll across their fields.

While to the untrained eye (me, when it comes to raising livestock), these animals appear perfect, these women face an unexpected challenge: meeting the very particular market standards for the sale of their sheep, the first ‘product’ they’ve chosen to focus on for their economic betterment. While their animals “baaa” with enthusiasm as they munch on their midd(h)ay snack, the traditional methods these women have used to raise their livestock, although meeting the standards of care necessary for these animals sustain and practically become part of their families, are not expert enough to make their sheep marketable.

Initial struggle, however, by no means indicates failure, especially for a group of women who embrace the land as a gift, and who “will fight to the end, no matter what challenges they face, and no matter what happens.” Just like I know the sun will set at the end of every day in a landscape of color and magnificence, I know these women will be out in their fields, tending to their animals the same way they care for their families and the world around them. These are the sorts of people who are touched by USAID’s Farmer-to-Farmer Project, and who’s success goes deeper and beyond themselves, impacting and inspiring those around them.

It has been already a week in Morocco. However, just today I experienced cultural shock.

Wednesday, at 8:54am, we came to the Hight Atlas Foundation office all prepared for today’s workshop. At the doors, a young intern named Layla welcomed us and she started to describe the main assumption of the workshop.

Today’s workshop is a part of four-year project aiming to empower women in Marrakesh and nearby villages areas. While waiting for the rest of the interns, the girl told us about local realities and main problems that women need to deal with. If you were born as a woman in the village in this area you will find many difficulties with the access to higher education. From this point, after finishing elementary school women tend to focus their lives on getting married and staring a new family. Now, while entering the room of the village house I saw about 15 females around their 40s talking about their experiences related to being a wife and a mother. I am amazed with all the colors that were overflowing the room. All their colorful dresses on the background of pink-golden sofas made the room look as a really happy place.

A big white board filled with questions hung in front of the sofas. Layla started to translate the main topics that are going to be discussed. One of the questions appeared on the board: “Do you love yourself and is the love enhanced after today together?” could be a good summary of the day, with its objective to raise women’s awareness about their mental and physical health. If the answer to this question would be yes, the goal of those days would be reached.

 While talking about common problems, women realize that they are facing some similar issues regarding what makes them feel better about their worries and what enables feeling better about oneself.

My favorite part of the workshop was the described by Layla as “physical exercise”. Suddenly, the discussion stopped, the host of the house stood up, staring to sing loudly and dance. After few minutes, almost all of them were dancing in the middle of the room. I was really impressed by what I saw.  I can honestly admit that the moves and singing abilities of some of them were better than some of nowadays well-known pop stars. I feel ashamed that after ten years of taking dance classes I am not able to repeat their hips moves. Just at that moment, seeing them dancing, enjoying the moment I could see how powerful they actually are. I found incredible how does the Wednesday afternoon can all of a sudden change into some beautiful celebration of femininity. Living in the Eastern part of the Europe does not familiar you with this kind of behavior. Trying to imagine my mom, aunt or grandmother in this situation seem to be an abstraction for me. I started to wonder how successful they could be if they would have been born in a big city. Does it mean that their identity would be changed? Would they still be as powerful? Maybe one thing come at the cost of something else.

At the end of the day I was introduced to a daughter of one of the precipitants that was hosting the event for us. Amira was just 19 years old, married at 16 and divorced at 18.

After a short talk with her and goodbye with the other participants, we departed. We were on our way back to the city.