More than 10% of the winners in
Morocco’s second parliamentary
elections in 2007 were women, and
women have been elected to
municipal offices across the country:
including lawyer Fatima Zahra
Mansouri, elected mayor of Marrakesh
in 2009 at age 33.Moroccan girls account for almost
two-thirds of the half-million Moroccan
kids under 15 who work instead of
getting an education.A Day in the Life of Morocco
Forget for a moment the glossy travel brochures about Marrakesh, movies filmed in the
Moroccan Sahara, urban legends about decadent Tangier: as anyone who’s been there knows,
the best way to get to know Morocco is through Moroccans. So to introduce you to Morocco,
meet Driss, Fatima, Rashid and Amina, four characters who are composites of people you
might encounter during a day in Morocco. The way each of these characters spends the day
illustrates the tremendous variation and some major recurring themes in Moroccan daily life.
Morning: Meet Driss
Six days a week, Driss wakes at 6am to ride his scooter from his family’s apartment in a
Marrakesh suburb to the riad (courtyard house, converted into a guesthouse) where he works
as assistant manager, dropping off his little sister at school on the way. He knows enough
Spanish and English to explain the riad’s breakfast menu to guests and speaks fluent Moroccan
Arabic, French and classical Arabic (mostly from watching the news on Al-Jazeera) – though
his native Berber language, Tashelhit, is getting a little rusty. Driss takes computer courses on
his weekly morning off, and wants to take Spanish too. His father approves: he owns a small
hanout (corner grocery) and doesn’t read or write that well himself, but insisted that Driss and
his four siblings attend school.
Driss knows his parents will start pressuring him to get
married now that he’s pushing 30, but he’s in no rush and not
especially interested in the village girls they have in mind. He’d
rather have a girlfriend in the city first, and take things from
there. He already has someone in mind, actually: she works at
a cybercafe near the riad.Noon: Meet Fatima
It’s been a long, hot morning cracking argan nuts at a fair-trade
women’s cooperative near Agadir, and Fatima is ready for her
lunch break. She’s not really hungry – now that she has a steady hourly income through the
cooperative, she doesn’t go hungry anymore – but she could use a breather, and likes to chat.
She speaks Tashelhit at home, can get by in Moroccan Arabic, and knows how to say ‘hello’
and ‘welcome’ in French and English to foreigners who sometimes visit the argan cooperative,
but she doesn’t read or write.
Her five grandchildren do, though, and she’s very proud of
that fact. Fatima lives frugally, saving most of her income to
cover their school fees. All her four children are married, and
she always has stories and treats for her grandchildren when
they visit. When she goes into town to visit her daughter, she’s
surprised how informal young people are towards their elders,
though not offended – she thinks it’s good for young people to
think for themselves – and she’s truly shocked by the prices.
Top of section