Casablanca, May 28, 2021 - Sheltered by Aït Manos, a zellige craftsman, the Aït Manos Foundation has two main objectives: the economic empowerment of women artisans and the promotion of traditional crafts.
Despite being the mainstay of the rural economy, women have limited access to financial resources.
Aït Manos, via its directors Ghalia Sebti and Tawfik Bennani, has been supporting villagers, and in particular the women of Imzour, for 20 years through the Alanwar association (Al Haouz region - Morocco).
In February 2020, the opening of a women's hostel at the initiative of villagers via several charitable associations (bringing together 32 women across 3 villages), raised a number of questions:
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How to create income-generating activities?
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How can we make it possible to learn a trade and pass on ancestral know-how?
The Aït Manos Foundation was born, with two missions:
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Empowering women:
Firstly, to help women create and market magnificent knotted wool rugs and boucharouits.
The current solidarity sale has already raised almost Dhs 50,000 for the Alanwar association.
"In just a few months, the village women produced sublime carpets despite the difficulties associated with Covid. Indeed, as the souks could not be held normally, they were unable to obtain wool supplies. So they took the initiative and started spinning their wool again, as the old-timers used to do, with, we guess, a much better quality! What agility! What a lesson! With this first step, they have gained self-confidence, as their know-how benefits the whole village. Eventually, we'll need to help them set up their own cooperative so that they can become truly autonomous," explains Ghalia Sebti, co-founder of Aït Manos.
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Promoting traditional arts and crafts:
