Casablanca, May 28, 2021 – Hosted by Aït Manos, a zellige craftsman, the Aït Manos Foundation is based on two reasons for being: the economic empowerment of women artisans and the promotion of ancestral arts and crafts.
Despite being the backbone of the rural economy, women have limited access to financial resources.
Aït Manos, through its leaders, 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 shelter at the initiative of the villagers via several charitable associations (bringing together 32 women in 3 villages), raised a number of questions:
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How to create income-generating activities?
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How can we enable the learning of a trade and the transmission of ancestral know-how?
The Aït Manos Foundation was created, with two missions:
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Empowering Women:
Firstly, to support women in creating and marketing magnificent knotted wool rugs and boucharouits.
The ongoing charity sale has already raised nearly 50,000 Dhs for the Alanwar association.
"In just a few months, the village women made sublime rugs despite the difficulties linked to Covid. Indeed, since the souks could not be held normally, they were unable to source wool. So, they took the initiative to start spinning their wool again as the old women did, with, as you can imagine, a much more beautiful quality! What a demonstration of agility! What a lesson! With this first step, they gained confidence in themselves because their know-how benefits the entire village. Ultimately, it will be necessary to help them create their cooperative in order to achieve true autonomy," explains Ghalia Sebti, co-founder of Aït Manos.
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Promoting ancestral arts and crafts:
