Where to start when trying to talk about
ü
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Two types of tourists come to this country:
those looking for a seaside resort to goof off in the sun on the beach, and
ü
ü There is a significant contrast between the desert in the south and the green hills of the north. It is sometimes hard to believe that in a matter of a couple hundred kilometers, you transition between these two completely different environments.
ü
We had a good time there. Here are some of the sites we liked:
ü Matmata, a town in the desert where the houses are dug in the hills. Staying in such a place is a real treat, and if you look for it, you will find the site where some scenes of Star Wars were shot.
ü The “palmeraie” in Tozeur is an interesting place. On the way there, you can discover the Chotts.
ü
El Djem has an amazing coliseum.
ü Monastir has an interesting Ribat: this is a fortified Muslim monastery (no, these three words are not incompatible…)
ü
The
ü
ü
Sidi Bou Said is a quaint little town with a great
atmosphere. Its traditional blue and white architecture has been well
preserved, and makes it an enjoyable site for visitors.
We now invite you to relax and discover the contrast between the green urban north and the dry rural south.
When we told our friends we were going to cross
The Algerians initially fell for this trick, but quickly realized what the awful truth was and fought back with all their energy. Women in particular countered every attempt to take their freedom away. These years were marred with summary executions, revenges and brutal assaults on villages at night by those so-called religious people, and many people simply fled the villages and took refuge in city suburbs, where rows and rows of large buildings were built in order to accommodate them.
The 6 attacks that took place just before we arrived have
not been owned so far. We do not believe these should be seen as a risk for
travelers, as they are internal matters in
Are
Algerians vaccinated? Or will they fall for this trick in the future? We want
to believe they won’t, but can’t vouch for it…
It is interesting to note that as the Algerian government
was struggling with the terrorists, they warned the Western countries against
this disease to which they were not immune either; every single one of them
laughed at the warning, and some even took the position that these extremists
should be given the means to accomplish their goals in accordance with civil
rights.
The
government is working really hard to make sure that nothing happens to
tourists. Police escorts are provided to you when you enter several cities
deemed to be sensitive. They will stop you at almost every single one of the
numerous checkpoints, will check all your papers, and will notify the
authorities so that they can keep track of your whereabouts (no intent to
harass you really, but rather a real concern for your security). They even
require that you hire a certified guide when you head too far south (actually,
just beyond Ouargla, our southern-most point), because they are afraid you
might get lost on the desert tracks.
The Algerian government nationalized hotels in the 90’s because they were about to close due to the lack of visitors. As a result, many of these hotels are still state-owned and run, which translates into soviet-style service. We encourage the Algerian government to turn this trade entirely to the private sector, as today international tourists are expecting a level of service that civil servants will simply never provide. Now, we encourage those of you who disagree with such a statement and believe that the state can provide the quality of service they want to rush and enjoy one of the few places on earth where you can still find this “marvel”!
Even if things have changed during the past few decades, the Algerian society remains very socially repressive. A husband can divorce anytime he wants, but his wife needs to argue her case, which remains very difficult. Nothing is ever held against a man as long as he works and feeds his family whereas a woman is responsible for the honor and the estate of the family.
Algerian law is inspired from the Islamic law, because Islam
is the national religion, and everybody has to abide by it. One is born Muslim,
by one’s father, and converting to another religion simply isn’t an option
(giving up Islam is an act of apostasy, and is punished by law; few conversions
that take place are performed secretly). By law, in order to marry an Algerian
woman, a man has to convert to Islam. Recent evangelization movements in
Abortion is forbidden and is punished by law. It is limited to cases of rape by a terrorist (a fatwa, that is, a religious edict, authorizes it).
In
She
can give birth “under X” (an inheritance from the French time), that is,
anonymously (without giving her identity). The child is then declared “NSP”
(without family name), and is given two “first names”. Until recently, the
second one (traditionally the father’s, used as a family name) was chosen as a
female one… The AAEFAB association (see below) fought this practice which left
the children with a lifelong stigma that prevented them from having a normal
life.
20 years ago, half of these children died at the orphanage during their first few months.
A few alternatives were developed by the families of these unwedded women in order to save face and provide a socially acceptable story :
ü The notion of “child that fell asleep in his mother’s womb” is traditionally used to explain why a widow delivers long after her husband died,
ü Sometimes, a young girl will hide her pregnancy, and the child is then declared as hers by the grandmother.
Today, things are changing, albeit slowly: children born out of wedlock are less taboo and a single mother can be accepted, even though it’s difficult. More and more, these matters are discussed, and the various taboos are falling, because nowadays, even in the countryside, everybody has a TV set and a satellite dish!
When delivering anonymously, the mother can decide whether she wants to give her name in the file that will be given to the child when it becomes an adult. After giving it up, the mother has 3 months to change her mind and take her child back. As a result, it cannot be adopted during these 3 months, which can be extended by another 3 months at the request of the mother. Today, there are more anonymous deliveries than before, but there are also more mothers who take their child back, usually to give it to friends or family members.
Many abandoned children are very small, but when over 1.2kg
(3 pounds in the
The western-style adoption (which includes a real name change) is forbidden by Islam, which sees it as a fraud, an alteration of the truth. The only possible form of adoption is called “Kafala”, and corresponds to a commitment by the adopting father to treat the child as his own. Even though the child can take the father’s name (allowed since 1992), it will remain an adopted one, and will never be on the family papers. In particular, it is not entitled to any inheritance, unless the father performs a donation or couches it in his will. Last, only a Muslim man can hope to accomplish a Kafala.
The Algerian association for childhood and Adopting Families (AAEFAB) was founded in 1985 by adopting families. It was initially a local organization, but has been granted national status by the Interior Ministry.
Its
motto is “the child was born to be happy”, and its goal is to find a family for
each abandoned child. Several studies demonstrate that the children which spend
the first few months of their lives in the “industrial” atmosphere of a
hospital often develop what is called “hospitalism”, a syndrome not dissimilar
to autism, and that even those who escape this problem often run into serious
psychological problems later in life. It is now a known fact that a family type
of environment is essential for a baby, in particular during the first 3 months.
Having the opportunity to discover the world surrounded by familiar faces is
fundamental for the future of the child.
The Association opened its first nursery in Hadjout in 1987, with nuns. Today, the babies are cared for by “berceuses” (nannies) that are well trained, in bedrooms for 6. In Hadjout, there is room for 24 children (4 rooms of 6).
A baby needs stability in space and in time: it needs its own room, and its nanny. Each one of them has its “reference nanny” (who greeted it upon arrival, and who will follow it until it leaves); during their stay in the nursery, they will only deal with 4 nannies: the two who share the day shift, and the two who alternate for the nights. The 6 beds in the bedroom are facing the center so that at any point in time, the children can see the nanny. The bath tub and the changing table are also positioned in such a way that the nanny can see all the beds while taking care of a child. The nanny writes in a booklet everything that happens to the baby: expression of happiness, sadness and improvements. This booklet is know as the “secret garden” and will be given to the adopting parents.
While
the child is in the nursery, the maternal bound is preserved as much as
possible: the mother is invited to come and visit. Sometimes, she will take it
back, but sometimes also, she will give it up again because she can’t cope…
Many of us have spent time in a hospital. Although we are adults, and we see ourselves as tough and ready to face situations, we have all felt lonely and desperate in the inhuman atmosphere of these health factories, where we are only a number, and where numerous people interact with us (you know, the nurses, medical assistants, doctors, pharmacists, cleaning people, etc.) without paying attention to our feelings and cold-bloodedly focusing only on their mission. Try to picture now what consequences such an experience can have on a baby a few hours old (even though we’ve had three, we still marvel at how small and defenseless a newborn baby is…) who knows nothing about life, who doesn’t understand anything about what is going on or what is said around him and who just comes out of a warm and fuzzy environment where it has spent all of the few months of its conscious life… We are totally convinced that this is not a case of excessive sensitivity, but that these first few months in life will have an everlasting impact on these children, and we are very conscious of the merits of what is being accomplished by this association. After spending several hours watching the life of these newborns in their bedroom (while being very careful to stay on the side in order to not interfere with their life), we are convinced that what is being offered to them is as close to a family experience as it gets, and that this translates into more balanced adults.
But please come and look at our pictures to decide whether you agree with us on the merits of what AAEFAB has accomplished…
About 1/3 of abandoned children are taken back by their mother, and the other 2/3 are adopted. More and more mothers take their child back: mentalities change, taboos are falling… While a few years back it was difficult to find adoptive parents, the situation is now reversed: the demand exceeds the number of children available for adoption, as 800 couples (either couples who cannot bear children or couples who want a particular gender) are waiting…
Adoptive parents should be less than 55, and are subject to an enquiry by the social services. Some of them adopt several children. When a child in presented to a couple, it is usually chosen in order to physically match the parents or the other children. The parties are then prepared (discussions, meetings with parents who have already adopted…). A refusal can always happen, sometimes by the child, more often by the parents. When everything goes well, 5 to 6 days are enough to establish the bonding and the adoption can take place.
The social services follow up with the family during the first year. The Association invites the parents to its general assembly as well as to other social events in order to continue the follow up.
The
Association created the IMPE (Mediterranean Institute for Prime Infancy). This
is meant to be a resource for all the professionals who work on prime infancy:
library, multimedia center… It started last November and aims at serving the
needs of the whole
The Association has 2 nurseries, the one in Hadjout and
another one in
This training is funded through the IMPE by the French cooperation. The objective is to train the nannies so as to change their behavior. It is not of course possible to train all the nurses (over 50 of them have already followed this curriculum since 2,000), but it is believed that once a critical mass has been reached in each nursery, things should improve dramatically.
The methodology that is being taught comes from
ü Welcome the child with words, because it can hear and understand,
ü Provide the child with a stable environment,
ü Beware of physical interactions, as they must remain professional (the right question to ask is: “who enjoys it? The baby or the nanny?”),
ü
In
The training occurs in two phases:
ü 3 months of full-time training in Hadjout: this is known as the immersion phase,
ü
9 months of part-time training (1 week of
practice and 1 week of formal courses in
The nannies from the public nurseries only follow the second phase: they keep their salary (that’s the government’s contribution), but their additional costs (travel, housing) are covered by the Association.
One of the main challenges was to find funding for the nurseries. Various solutions were initially explored by the Association:
ü Creation of a daycare for abandoned children, which would have allowed the children from the orphanage to regularly escape from the dreary to play in better conditions. By taking 15 paying children (that is, non-orphans) and 15 orphans, the daycare should have been able not only to be self-sustainable, but also to generate cash for the nurseries. This did not work because the orphanages did not play along and did not send their children.
ü Tailor shops: the plan was to train young women in order for them to make dresses. This did not work because the Association wasn’t able to market the resulting products.
The nursery and the training center in Palm Beach get subsidies from the Wilaya (county) of Algiers (which covers 2 months of expenses), but the one in Hadjout only gets milk, water and diapers from local industrials and shops.
The Hadjout nursery was partly funded by Tdh between 1,998 and 2,006. It has also received funds from the Swiss Embassy. It is now funded by the IMPE as well as by a French NGO.
Both pouponnières receive donations from several Algerian donors (companies and individuals) who sponsor beds (10,000 Dinars, i.e. $140 per month) or a bedroom (60,000 Dinars, $850 per month). This covers about 75% of the actual costs. A child typically stays 4 to 5 months and costs 50,000 Dinars ($700).
A significant effort is involved in marketing their activities in order to develop a portfolio of donors and to put in place the sponsorship conventions. One of the key challenges for the Association is that funding from international NGOs is bound in time: this helps kick off the projects, but other sources of funding need to be found to sustain the project after that.
We
have found
- It has been open to the West for a very long time,
- It is led by a very strong leader, and
- It is a Muslim country with a moderate form of Islam
The king Mohamed VI, son of Hassan II, is demonstrating a strong desire to modernize his country. He has started many projects to improve the fate of his people (who all love him), et appears to be truly motivated to make things happen. Time will tell if he will be able to overcome all the obstacles laid on his course by the currently elected people who are very happy with the current state of things and don’t want anything to change. All our wishes are with him!
Here are a few pictures of yet another land of contrast…
Just like many other countries,
Terre des hommes has been in
They are involved in a number of projects:
v
Healthcare – the whole country: Tdh brings
children to
v
INSAF –
v
Al Ihssane –
v Oum El Banine – Agadir : Shelter for 150 mothers and over 80 children
v Ard Al Atfal – Agadir : Pedagogic support for 180 children, literacy and support to 25 “petites bonnes”
v Childhood and Solidarity Association – Jerada (where coal mines closed): children daycare, pedagogic support for children, literacy and vocational training for women
v Oxygene – Ouarzazate: Shelter for women in distress (see below)
v Al Hoceima (where an earthquake stroke in 2004)
v
Support to migrant women and children from
sub-Saharan countries who live in
v Institutional capacity building among Moroccan associations (see below)
Here are descriptions of several projects we have visited.
In the past, Tdh was involved in helping children with polio.
Over 2,200 children from Ouarzazate, Tétouan and Agadir have undergone surgical
operations, orthopedic treatment and follow up. In 1998, the project was
transferred to the department of health. Today, there is no more polio in
The current healthcare project started in
1976 in Agadir and in
Many heart diseases come from intermarriage. Ideally, the people would be made aware of this problem, but the topic is way too culturally sensitive for a Swiss organization to even dare try to do anything…
Tdh works with the department of health, hospitals, physicians, Moroccan clinics (Casablanca, Rabat, Agadir), the Swiss, French and Spanish consulates (who facilitate visa processes), health care centers and hosting homes in Europe, the Massongex house in Switzerland, volunteers in all 3 European countries and Aviation Without Borders.
The Strategic plan for 2007-2009 calls for developing the local side of the project: a Swiss surgeon can come and operate with his/her team for a week or two, in the process train local MD’s and leave some equipment behind as he/she goes back…
This association was created in 1999 by Tdh. Since 2006, it’s located in brand new buildings offered by a donor.
In fact, “women in distress” means “single mothers”, but this latter term carries a bad image in the Moroccan community, and makes fund raising difficult as it is deemed to condone misbehavior…
In the Shelter, women are hosted for about 6 months (starting at the 8th month of pregnancy) until they are fully integrated in the community, so that they don’t end up in the street. Each year, about 400 of them are helped INSAF (out the 700 or so that seek their help. Over 70 are provided full housing. When a woman shows up, she meets a counselor who interviews her and determines which course to follow:
- If she is a prostitute, she is reoriented to an other association, because mixing her with other women is not desirable,
-
If she wants to abandon her child, the counselor
will see if she will 
change her mind. If not, she is also
reoriented.
After that, the counselor will attempt to talk with her family and to meet the child’s father. In about 36% of the cases (196/600), it is possible to bring her back to her family, and 3% of them get married with the father. The others get reintegrated to the community through a professional track.
Most of these young women (2/3 of them are under 26) used to be “petites bonnes”, that is, these little countryside girls sent to a family in the city, in theory to get education as a daughter of the house, in practice often ending up a slave (these are easy preys: when you are 6-12, you don’t need much and you don’t know how to push back…). Tdh is trying to prevent these situations by working with the poor rural families and by developing alternative approaches.
Most of the budget at INSAL is for medical expenses (physicians and medicines). Every woman is carefully monitored, and an HIV test will be done if she wants it: there are actually very few cases of AIDS because in most cases, these women have had only encounter and they know the father.
Here are a couple of quotes from the Institute’s Director:
“When a woman arrives, she thinks she will find a solution to all her problems, but that is not true”
“We are not trying to “do good”, nor to “give charity”, we want to do “development”. In order to do that, we should not offer solutions: we need to think with the beneficiaries and accompany them, but let them find their own solutions. These solutions have come from them.”
Al Ihssane is the only orphanage in
Its objectives are to help these children at the physical, psychological and pedagogic level, to train its staff and to prepare adoption files (To this day, 1,180 children have been adopted).
The Institute is now in a new building offered by the
Mohamed 5 foundation. The Princess Lalla Hasnaã (the King’s sister) is honorary
president. The architect worked pro-bono to
adjust the building to the orphanage’s needs, cement and tiles were donated.
The budget of the Association is 6'000’000Dh per year (US$720,000) out of which 2/3 is for employees’ wages: 120 people, including 94 maternal assistants (this corresponds to an average of US$500 per person per month). At any point in time, there are 30 people onsite… Not quite enough… 44 additional staff are sent by the ministry of health to work at the center.
The staff is all too often poorly qualified, and there is a chronic/permanent shortage of psychologists and other children specialists. While it’s reasonably easy to find funds to cover material needs funding for salaries and training (actually, everything that’s intangible) is extremely hard to come by.
The association is now fully mobilized to raise funds from the general Moroccan public in the form of sponsorship: 200Dh/month (US$24) will cover the costs associated with one orphan…
This association was created in 2000 with volunteers led by
sister Francesca, who has since retired in
Article 6 of the Moroccan constitution states that “Islam is the state religion”. In Islam, single mothers are not supposed to exist; therefore their children are simply illegal: they are often thrown away, strangled, disposed of… However, single mothers do exist and Oxygene helps them keep their child. It also tries to familiarize them with condoms (one mistake can happen, two is not acceptable…).
Oxygene started with 30 single mothers aged 18 to 25. It got a bad rap from that: “you condone prostitution!” In fact, the opposite is true: until then, these ostracized women had only one recourse to survive, to prostitute themselves… The association’s work thus contributed to reducing the number of prostitutes in the streets of Ouarzazate.
An inquiry conducted with hotels showed that there were opportunities for these women to work in jobs such as maid. As a result, these 30 women were trained, starting with literacy classes (Arabic, but also French, English and Italian…). 3 years later, they all either were married or had a job. 75 of the husbands recognized the child. 5 women are married to foreign men who now support the association.
In 2002, the community became aware of the benefits of the Association’s work, in particular on the prostitution front, and everything became easier. The Association opened its doors to all sorts of women in distress: illiterate, secluded… It appears that many women are actually in distress. Even women from the wealthy district will come and knock on the door: they are welcome, but they are asked to demonstrate solidarity and pay the fees of 4 or 5 other women (the fees amount to US$2.4 a month).
The offices are located in a well-off district, but this is a necessity because elsewhere security problems abound. No sign indicates them, because it is felt that future beneficiaries have to go through the trouble of finding the place: Oxygene isn’t here to assist people, if one wants help, she has to look for it! Now, all the cab drivers know where the association is, even if it moved a few times, so the task isn’t insurmountable! Most of the animators and trainers used to be women in distress.
One mission is to protect the mother’s and the child’s rights. Legally, both the father and the mother are guilty, and should spend 3 months in jail. In practice, the father seldom is in trouble, only the mother goes to jail: when a single mother arrives at the hospital to deliver, the police take her to jail immediately after the delivery.
When you visit the offices, you find:
v A literacy room: this has to be the starting point in order to get these women on the right track. They learn how to read and write Arabic, and to speak French, English and Italian (in order to be able to work in hotels).
v A room for psycho-social help, where listening, counseling, support and legal assistance are provided. 2 listeners take turns under the supervision of a coordinator. Even though they are not trained psychologists (there appears to be none in the whole Ouarzazate), they have been trained for this role.
v An embroidery and knitting room
v A cutting and Sewing room
v A computer & Internet room
v A room to study hotel related skills. In groups of 12, women study until they find a job (this usually takes 2 years).
v And a library
Every year, 120 women join the center and stay for as long
as 3 years. Women from all over the south of the country, and even some from as
far as
There are still challenges ahead for the Association: among the 401 members, there are only 5 men; there is a severe lack of committed women, of competency and of training; Omar, the leader, is unsuccessfully looking for someone to take over…
The Centre Social Féminin (
The services include a main desk, a classroom, a library (the members bring their books), a posting board, a clothing sharing corner, a computer room (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and a knitting, sewing and embroidery room. Some women come from very far. Today, there are 201 members who regularly come to this facility, located in a rural and religiously conservative quarter of the city. The waiting list is very long!
10% of the annual budget of 310'000Dh (US$37,000) are covered by member fees, which leave about $300 per member to be funded by the association.
A center for women in precarious situation should be build downtown, with the same services and a shelter where women who are beaten or kicked out of their home can sleep. The drawings are all ready, but Oxygene is still missing the land and a part of the funds (they had managed to gather the whole funding, but these funds vanished because there was no land…). The governor promised to help, so not all hopes are gone!
In all these local associations, there are
people with a big heart, but it is essential to put in place management rules similar
to that of a large enterprise. This isn’t easy, because changing behaviors and
mentalities takes time and energy!
The project’s goal is to provide these various Moroccan associations with the tools and skills they need in order to make a real difference. In particular to:
v Teach them how to build 3-year and 5-year strategic plans
v Provide them with a process guidebook (finances, human resources, other…)
v Establish a network of associations,
v
Train social workers (such training is not
available in
Tdh works on 8 modules using modern teaching material to provide efficient training. Interactivity and graphics/diagrams are heavily used to catch them by surprise (most expect a very boring monolog from the educator).
Don’t miss our slideshow of Tdh in Morocco!
Moroccan mentalities need to evolve: a divorced or single woman doesn’t yet have a full status. A woman is identified only a mother, a sister or a daughter… We even witness a rise in religious conservatism: some men (and some women!) challenge the associations working on women in distress, and demand that women wear a headgear…
With the new laws that establish shared responsibilities between men and women, the divorce rate has increased by 50%, because women become aware of their rights and take advantage of them. However, if too many efforts hare applied to women’s rights without paying attention to the men’s, there is a risk of violent kick back in the form of religious conservatism: after all, aren’t they (I mean, men and women) victims of an ancient culture, and isn’t it necessary to help them all start from a blank page? Isn’t the simplistic solution adopted at the end of WW 1 regarding guilt and repayment by the Germans responsible for the second war?
Problems are more acute in the cities :
in the countryside, a man does not leave a pregnant woman: he marries her, if
only because of the social pressure and the group solidarity. In cities,
Egotism prevails and the man often doesn’t want to hear a thing. Similarly,
while domestic violence unfortunately exists everywhere, it is less serious in
the rural world because it is seen: nowhere is it acceptable to beat one’s wife,
but in the countryside, neighbors quickly are aware of it and will intervene
when it tops some socially tolerated limits. Here again, the rural community
plays it role while the urban one doesn’t, mostly because of anonymity…
TV plays an important (and bad) role in promoting emigration, because it paints in idealistic portrait of Europe to the marveled eyes of all Africans, and of Morocco to the eyes of sub-saharian Africans, a portrait where everybody gets money without having to do anything and where everything is available to everyone in supermarkets. The resulting migration pressure is dramatic, and so is the disappointment upon arrival!
The new King is full of good will. He really means change, but the government is digging its heels: that’s because only the less privileged want the change, and the elected ones in particular want to keep things the way they are. Last, you must know that most people (especially women) don’t bother voting, and those who do often do it… for money!
