I would first like to start this newsletter off with a BIG THANK YOU! We had started off this Fall with an ambitious goal of raising $10,000. As a result of your generosity, love and support, Amalna Maroc goes into 2023 having reached our goal! This is all possible because of the support that we receive back home. Of course, additional donations are always welcome! We work on a shoestring budget. Donations can be made here!
When I reflect on what is the foundation of this project, Amalna Maroc, it is relationships. It all started in 2017 when I joined the Peace Corps and packed up my bags and headed off to Morocco. If anyone knows the Peace Corps well they know that it is not necessarily about the project, but the relationships that you build out of your experience. The relationships with the locals, they are everything. It all starts with humility, trust, and relationships. Without it you have nothing.
As a volunteer I made sure to start my services with an open heart. I left with my heart exploding with love and full of new relationships. Back in the states I was craving more. Continuing to enrich my relationships as well as expand them, which is what led me to embark on starting Amalna Maroc. I wanted to combine my relationships and resources back in the states to continue to build and enrich my relationships in Morocco.
Over the past year, Amalna Maroc has been thriving! Thriving in our relationships! And thriving in our work! A year ago Amalna Maroc helped oversee the very first weaving cooperative in Ait Yahya Oualla. They started from earning no income from weaving to earning over 10,000dh in the past year selling overseas! This is huge for these village women.
Ait Benattou weaving cooperative started in 2011 and was predominantly selling to the Moroccan market, barely making an income. This year, 2023, they are going to start selling their rugs through two fair trade organizations that Amalna Maroc helped connect them too.
As for the weaving cooperatives in Ait Hamza and Ain Leuh, Amalna Maroc is excited to start working with them alongside Fair Fabrics, a Dutch fair trade organization, in the coming year. We can’t wait to see what these highly skilled weavers have in store! None of this would have been possible if it wasn't for relationships. The relationships I have stateside and the relationships I have in Morocco. All of this started with humility and trust that evolved into rich, beautiful relationships which became the building blocks for Amalna Maroc to do the work that we do.
About Amalna Maroc: Amalna means “Our Hope” in Arabic. Our hope is to advance women’s development in Morocco. A primary focus of Amalna Maroc is to work with women’s cooperatives in Morocco, especially in rural areas, by providing education, resources and support that increase empowerment and economic opportunity for Moroccan women and girls.
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