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Morocco Week in Review
August 28, 2010
Exhibition of North African Jewelry and Photography Announced in Philadelphia.
PHILADELPHIA, PA.
For thousands of years, North Africa, a region that comprises the modern nations of Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Libya and Egypt, has been a crossroads for trade and the transmission of cultural influences from the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa and Europe. This exhibition explores the richly diverse artistic heritage of North Africa through the presentation of a group of extraordinary works of the jeweler’s art collected over the course of three decades by Xavier Guerrand-Hermès, of the Paris-based fashion empire. Including 93 pieces of jewelry complemented by 28 late 19th- and early 20th-century images by photographers who were captivated by the allure of North Africa, Desert Jewels (September 4 – December 5, 2010) features ornate necklaces, bracelets, rings, and earrings, many of which have not been publicly displayed before this exhibition.
“These objects illuminate the rich history of North African craftsmanship, which has been shaped by the imprint of many different cultural traditions,” said Timothy Rub, the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s George D. Widener Director and CEO. “We are pleased to collaborate with the Museum for African Art to share this exceptional collection, which is remarkable not only for its quality and great beauty, but also for the rich insights it provides into the customs and cultural diversity of North Africa.”
Examples of jewelry created with combinations of silver, coral, amber, coins, and semi-precious stones demonstrate the shared aesthetic heritage of many North African societies, while variations in materials and motifs reflect significant regional differences. Brightly colored necklaces of amazonite beads or large amber beads, such as the Three-Strand Necklace made in Morocco, symbolize wealth, while pendants or enameled beads known as tagguemout are used to encourage the wearer’s fertility. Many of the works in the exhibition indicate regional and group identity, and many were designed to protect the wearer from harm. Hand-shaped amulets, or Khamsa, typically made of silver, are the most popular form of protective jewelry, and are sometimes engraved with prayers and inscriptions in Arabic and Hebrew. The jewelry on view in Desert Jewels also identifies its wearer. Women receive jewelry from their husbands when they marry and wear it as a symbolic expression of social codes and cultural identity. Some of the jewelry on view is unique to a specific geographic location: for example, the bold and graphic spiked silver bracelets known as “bracelets of the horns” (izbian n’iqerroin) adorn Aït Yenni women in Morocco, while Amesluh, bracelets with enamel decorations, are worn by Aït Yenni women in Algeria.
Beginning in the 1860s, European photographers seeking images of foreign locales, set up studios in the major cities of North Africa, photographing women wearing their extraordinary jewels, as well as documenting markets, ancient archaeological sites and landscapes. The popularity of these photographs, which featured images of Arabs, Jews, Imazighen (also known as Berbers) and people from sub-Saharan Africa, reflected Europeans’ growing fascination with the so-called Orient. These photographs came to the attention of Western collectors in the 19th century, when archaeological monuments in the region were being explored, visited, and, in some cases, pillaged. Important photographers of the day including the Scotsman George Washington Wilson, the Neurdine brothers from France, and the Turkish photographer Pascal Sabah, visited the region. Some of their images were used for postcards, while other remained hidden in little-known collections.
http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=40122
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Morocco launches Ambassadors of Hope programme.
2010-08-22 By Naoufel Cherkaoui
Morocco's new Ambassadors of Hope will work to identify youth issues across the kingdom.
The Moroccan Youth Forum launched the Ambassadors of Hope programme Thursday (August 19th) in Rabat. The first-of-its-kind initiative will select and train 30 young men and women to travel Morocco and prepare a report on problems facing the nation's youth. Once the report is complete, the new experts - all between 15 and 35 years of age - will create a blueprint to address the issues they raised. "Ambassadors of Hope is an ambitious programme aimed at creating new dynamism in the framework of youth work in Morocco," said Moroccan Youth Forum President Ismael Hamraoui. To this end, Ambassadors of Hope will also train young people to take decisions and shoulder responsibility, to involve them in local development, and to understand the values of citizenship. "The programme aims to choose 30 young men and women to be ambassadors of hope, who would look for local active young people," Hamraoui added. "This is in addition to networking local youth action and advocating for... young people". Moroccan youths face problems in education, reproductive health, and access to public utilities, he said. "These problems make it necessary for us to find solutions that would help in the local development of the country."
Youness Jaouhari, director of the youth, childhood and women's affairs department at the Moroccan Ministry of Youth, voiced his support for the Ambassadors of Hope programme. "We encourage and support all initiatives that create dynamism among young people," he said. "The most important thing for us is that all Moroccan young people become real actors in solving their issues," he added in a statement to Magharebia. "We will keep up with any initiative that is suitable for young people, useful for the state, and is in conformity with the national youth strategy, especially as we're living in the international year of youth."
Director Amina Souidi of the National Institute of Youth and Democracy told Magharebia the initiative was "highly symbolic". "We hope that the number of ambassadors will be much more than 30," she said. According to the Moroccan Youth Forum, restricting the number to just 30 was merely due to regulatory controls. With the selection process under way, many young Moroccans had questions about eligibility and standards. Hamida Taha, communications director for the Moroccan Youth Forum, said: "In our choices of the Ambassadors of Hope, we depend on competency, spirit of responsibility, enthusiasm and the will to work in the framework of certain programmes."
So far, three candidates have been selected, with the rest to be named by September 1st. The first three were quick to express their preparedness. Ahmed Medkouri, a 23-year-old student, told Magharebia that the initiative came at exactly the right time for him. "Moroccan young people have major concerns," he said. "We will do our best to come up with an accurate diagnosis of the issues facing them." As to whether young people possess the necessary ability to communicate their important message, 16-year-old Imane Bergami said: "I think this point can be judged only after we receive the training course; if we all do our best, we will be up to the task that has been assigned to us."
Meanwhile, her colleague Mehdi Efrah, 19, said to Magharebia: "I think that our mission won't be easy, given the difficulty of the process of coming up with an accurate diagnosis of the problems facing young people." Calling hope the "main gateway for development", Ismael Hamraoui said he hoped the programme would raise youths' job qualifications and work ethic, and ultimately serve as a model for others. "We will export this initiative, first at the Arab level, and then at the international level," he said.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/08/22/feature-01
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ACCMA Project: adaptation to climate change in Morocco .
Environmental project produces 75 studies of three and a half years of research on harshest rural areas in Morocco.
By Mohamed Tafraouti - RABAT / First Published 2010-08-24
During the current month of August, Morocco has experienced torrid heat waves shortly followed by a spell of lovely weather. Moroccans gladly welcomed the cool interlude to sustain them through hot fasting days in the Holy Month of Ramadan. But the surprise was still in store, torrential rains which were more reminiscent of winter’s stormy nights than summer days. This strange display of weather, let alone the terrible natural disasters experienced by some Asian countries and which have wreaked havoc on crops and cattle and cost their lives, presents a scene never witnessed before by our planet.
Tackling concerns similar to these, the Adaptation to Climate Change in Morocco–ACCMA- project has over three and a half years conducted scientific research that produced almost 75 studies through which it sought to shed light on the harshest rural areas of Morocco, a region at the mercy of extreme weather conditions in the Moroccan Rif and northeastern coastal Mediterranean zones, namely in Nador, Berkane and Driouech. The studies were structured around axes that embodied the main grievances of a population that endures social vulnerability, rural isolation and depleted resources. The ACCMA Project proposed an action plan for the integrated coastal zones management in the context of climate change and weaved a social dynamic between the inhabitants of targeted areas and the various local decision makers. This approach acquires even higher importance since the region under study hosts three wetlands of international importance classified as RAMSAR Sites, namely the lagoon of Nador (Mar Chica), the Cap des Trois Fourches and the estuary of the River mouth of Moulouya, besides the Gourougou Mountain which is also a site of biological and ecological interest and ecosystems endangered by human activity and climate change. The Project has come to an end, having fulfilled its objectives and identified the emergency interventions needed on the part of decision makers, the civil society and the population to improve their adaptive capacity to potential climate change impacts.
Testimonies
At the opening of the session held to announce the closing of the ACCMA Project, Prof. Mohamed Saber, Director of the National School for Forest Engineers, commended the achievements of the project which concluded with good results and collected valuable and accurate scientific data which uncovers the sources of vulnerability as a first step towards achieving a climate change-adapted development. Dr Saber went on to say that the project has made it possible to collect a wealth of local knowledge and to launch development initiatives that sensitized local residents, decision makers and the civil society.
The research also highlighted the role of local council elects in tackling development issues and interacting with the researchers; and consolidated relations between various role players, endeavoring at the same time to involve women in management matters as they are most affected by climate change. The President of the Boudinar rurale commune, Hussein Saidi, expressed satisfaction with the results and indisputable accuracy of the studies conducted by ACCMA through a concrete reality check. The studies have made it possible to encourage donors to further support adaptation to climate change in the region. The president pointed out that the research results can be considered as a detailed action plan that addresses issues of paramount importance and the means and ways of resolving them through a participatory approach that breaks the isolation of the collectivity’s villages and builds the capacity of the population to confront the natural and climatic constraints unique to the region in general, as well as to rationalize human intervention to better reflect the capacities and limited resources of the area.
epresenting the Directorate of Meteorology, Fatima Driouech explained ACCMA’s approach for adaption to climate change in terms of weather monitoring in northeast of Morocco, which entails short-term monitoring weather and temperatures in the region using scientific data. Weather monitoring is adjusted to the long term of 30 years and above following scientific models that are based on precise physical laws. Dr Zine El Abidine explained the importance of the ACCMA project and the approach adopted in the research, addressing several aspects related to climate change and building local adaptation capacities, as well as devising activities based on a participatory basis that opens the way before all relevant role players. He likened the ACCMA project to a pilot school that tackles the phenomenon of climate change using different tools adapted to specific fields, by participating in various studies, particularly ecosystem system-related ones, supervising research projects and coaching the civil society on how to impact administrative and technical authorities. It also strived to build the civil society’s capacity to develop mechanisms of adaptation to climate change effects and to sensitize the population about the need for self-adaptation to this phenomenon.
74 documents on Integrated Management of Coastal Zones
Professor Abellatif Khattabi reviewed more than 74 research papers from various angles and aspects as primary conclusions in the integrated management of coastal areas faced by the inexorable invasion of visible and predicted climate changes. He underscored the importance of drawing benefits from these studies and integrating their contents in action plans and local master planning by the relevant authorities…
ACCMA Coordinator, Abdellatif Khattabi indicated that the studies carried out on coastal areas in the northeast of Morocco followed several approaches to analyze living conditions and styles, the extent of the inhabitants’ assimilation of climate changes, all in the course of evaluating the impact of these changes on their socio-economic activities and local environmental systems. Thus, a survey of the region’s flora and fauna was carried out within the framework of a biological, socioeconomic and finally ecological approach. More than 600 farmers were interviewed to identify and analyze problems related to agricultural activity and modes of subsistence in the region.
Dr Khattabi went on to explain in further detail the context and approach adopted in this research process, which was fundamentally participatory and collaborative involving most stakeholders in the region. The project, said has focused mostly on vulnerability and adaptation to sea level rise and extreme weather events, both of which are applicable to the flat lands of the Mediterranean coast, particularly in Nador and Berkane coasts. This requires recourse to the use of local meteorological data in Nador and Oujda where hotter temperatures and high frequency of extreme events have been documented, as well as beach sand erosion on the coastal strip of the Moulouya river mouth and lagoon of Nador, as clearly shown by satellite images and aerial photos. Dr Khattabi reviewed data on irregular rainfall and soil erosion, a study on soil erosion in the targeted regions, and another study on the 2008-2009 floods experienced there and the severe damages inflicted upon some isolated areas which already suffer from social vulnerability induced by climate change and arbitrary human interference.
Five main activities most vulnerable to climate change were identified in a participatory manner in the targeted region, namely traditional fishing, tourism, water, agriculture and natural ecosystems. In-depth studies were carried out on each sector of activity to gauge the impact of climate change on it according to the specific conditions of the area and through a participatory research action that involved local stakeholders taking into account the gender dimension, the overriding aim being to strengthen ecological systems and determine best adaptation options. This entailed the organization of various workshops in partnership with stakeholders such as the municipalities, the provinces administrations, the environment authority, the Tourism Provincial Delegation, the Provincial Forest Service, the regional Office of Agriculture, the University of Nador, local NGOs, professional associations of fishermen, cooperatives, etc.
Dr Khattabi pointed out that the ACCMA project has initiated the implementation of concrete adaptation actions for the benefit of local associations, thanks to the studies and research conducted and availability of data and information and which encouraged the Community Based Adaptation program (GEF/UNDP) and the National Initiative for Human Development to grant funding to two fishermen adaptation projects, one in Cap des trois Fourches and the other one in Saidia-Moulouya river mouth area, and two agricultural projects in the rural commune of Boudinar. The ACCMA project is also attracting the World Bank’s sponsoring for other projects in the area and their implementation is foreseen in a short horizon.
A Poll on Climate Change Awareness
Professor Khattabi presented the results of a poll taken to gauge the level of awareness among the population about the concept and impact of climate change. He presented a summary of the poll, conducted in a highly focused and precise manner, indicating that the population held some misconceptions about the nature and causes of climate change, but had nonetheless some knowledge about its impacts on the region such as droughts and human diseases. The poll covered more than 600 residents of the targeted areas and 240 fishermen, using simplified questions designed to determine their perception of climate change. The Adaptation to Climate Change in Morocco –ACCMA- sought to develop understanding, build capacities and assess vulnerabilities to climate change in various social contexts and economic sectors in the coastal areas of the Berkane, Nador and Driouech.
The project lasted for three and a half years between 2007 and 2010 and studied adaptation to sea level rising and other extreme climate phenomena. The project also seeks to build the population’s capacity to adapt to climate change of which the impacts have noticeably worsened east of the Mediterranean coast of Morocco. ACCMA’s research has focused on local populations, giving special attention to the role of women and other social categories in order to learn about their lifestyles, sources of income and the extent of their awareness about the magnitude of climate changes to better assess the impact of these changes on their living conditions. ACCMA falls under the Climate Change Adaptation in Africa (CCAA) program funded by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Department of International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom.
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=40821
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Research: Integrated Approaches to Sustainable Development in Ifni, Morocco
Document Action Communities in arid and semi-arid regions struggle to access sufficient supplies of fresh water for domestic and agricultural needs. Now, in some coastal regions and areas adjacent to coasts, fog water harvesting is emerging as an alternative source of water. The first large-scale application of this technique was in Chile in the late 1980s [1]. Since then, countries such as Morocco, Namibia, Croatia, Nepal, Yemen and Peru have experimented with harvesting fog to provide water to communities on a permanent basis. Fog collection involves setting up mesh screens to trap fog water droplets, which condense on the nets and drip down to containers below. According to FogQuest, a volunteer organization that implements fog collection, rainwater collection and other water projects for rural communities in developing countries, fog water meets World Health Organization drinking water standards because the nets are usually set up in remote locations with few sources of contamination. However, as in all other water sources, necessary precautions need to be taken to ensure the water remains potable.
In 2006, the Foundation Si Hmad Derhem, Dar Si-Hmad and the Geography Department at the University of La Laguna initiated a project to study the viability of fog collection in Ifni, a region located on the Atlantic coast of Morocco across from the Canary Islands. Most of Ifni’s limited precipitation falls between November and February, with the rest of the year — especially the summer — experiencing low precipitation coupled with cloudiness and high humidity levels. Ifni experiences a high number of fog days because of its location between the Atlantic Ocean and the Anti-Atlas Mountains. Trade winds that are driven by the Atlantic anticyclone bring in thick layers of stratocumulus clouds and humid tropical air, which cools as it flows over the cold water of the Canary sea current and condenses to fog as it is channeled across Ifni’s terrain [2]. Initially, two sites were chosen — one coastal (Boulaalam), and the second (Boutmezguida) 30 km inland — to explore the possibility of fog collection in Ifni.
Following preliminary trials, the coastal site was abandoned in favor of the inland location because it had higher water outputs. Ifni’s local economy is based on fishing, agriculture and animal farming — activities that are water intensive. The water scarcity is more pronounced in the rural areas where there are no water services and residents acquire their water from public wells and private cisterns that collect rainwater. During the dry months when wells and/or cisterns are empty, residents are forced to buy water at unaffordable prices or to move their animals, and sometimes families, to regions that have sufficient water for their needs. The migration of young adult males to main urban centers in Morocco or Spain in search of employment has left the rural villages in Ifni with a disproportionate share of females, children and the elderly. As a result of the emigration, and cultural practices, the burden of collecting water falls heavily on women and children, who sometimes have to walk long distances in search of water [2]. This sometimes robs women and children the opportunity to participate in income generating activities or to attend school.
While fog collection is clearly suitable and necessary for this part of Morocco, the existing project involves more than just setting up nets to trap fog. The team works to understand social dynamics within the targeted villages to determine communities’ needs and desire to participate in the project, available resources and gender issues. It also investigates how the proposed systems can be sustained in the long term, and using what funds and forms of participation from the local communities.
Moreover, the initiative also supports local cooperatives that produce oil from the Argania spinosa, a tree found only in this part of the world, and prickly pears, both of which are labor-intensive activities. This summer, the Energy Forum is sending interns to Ifni, Morocco, to assist with additional engineering studies of fog collection tests at Boutmezguida. In addition, the students will also attend planning sessions with the oil-producing cooperatives. This internship allows students to participate in finding solutions to sustainable development problems in developing countries. It also ties in well with the themes that the students explored this semester in the Rice University course “Integrated Approaches to Sustainable Development,” which is sponsored by the Energy Forum, the Center for Civic Engagement and Rice 360°.
[1] Schemenauer, Robert S. and Pilar Cereceda. “Fog-water Collection in Arid Coastal Locations,” Ambio, Vol.20, No.7 (1991): 303-308
[2] Marzol, Maria Victoria and José Luís Sánchez Megía. “Fog Water Harvesting in Ifni, Morocco: An Assessment of Potential and Demand,” Die Erde, Vol 139, No. 1-2 (2008): 97-119 http://www.bakerinstitute.org/programs/energy-forum/research/research-integrated-approaches-to-sustainable-development-in-ifni-morocco
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Harvesting fog to quench thirst in Morocco.
June 18, 2010
Imagine a huge volleyball net on the side of a mountain enveloped by a thick fog. The polyethylene mesh of the net captures the tiny liquid droplets of water in the fog. As more and more tiny droplets are captured, they merge together to become rain drops and drip down the nets into collecting tubes at the bottom of the nets. Gravity propels the drops down pipes that terminate at a water storage tank at the bottom of the mountain -- providing clean, safe water for an otherwise parched community.
This weekend, I will be going with a group of six Rice University students to Morocco, in North Africa, as part of a Baker Institute Energy Forum program to assist Jamila Bargach and her foundation Dar Si Hmad. The purpose of the trip is to work with fog-capturing nets to help relieve the water scarcity problem in a rural mountain city called Ifni and to survey opportunities for biofuels ventures in the region. Jamila, who graduated from Rice University in 1998 with a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology, started her nonprofit foundation to improve the quality of life for some of the more impoverished communities in and around Ifni. Our goal this summer is to work with her on the necessary background research to put this sustainable development project together. Our efforts will focus on completing the calculations for the designs and locations of the nets, along with developing the required infrastructure for a future Rice group to finish the project next summer. Determining the location to position the nets will be especially important for maximizing the efficiency of the nets in regards to the orientation, frequency of fog, and wind speed and direction.
Fog capturing nets can by no means supply water for an entire urban city. However, for roughly $1,000-$1,500 to cover materials and maintenance for an average 10-year lifespan, we can provide anywhere from 200 to 1,000 liters of water per day for a village. This is a sustainable project that we feel is incredibly important in regard to supplying potable water for a city with very few clean sources.
When I signed up for Baker Institute Energy Forum director Amy Jaffe's class on "Integrated Approaches to Sustainable Development" this spring, I would never have imagined that, at one point in the future, I would be actually practicing what we learned. There's no doubt our project will be a lot of work. But I've never been to Morocco (or Africa, for that matter), and our hotel will be right on the beach, in sight of the majestic mountains. The weekends will be our own and Jamila already has put together some plans for us. Skydiving, anyone? -- Learn more about the goals of the Ifni, Morocco, trip and the Baker Institute Energy Forum's other sustainability projects. Kevin Liu is a research associate at the Baker Institute Energy Forum. A 2010 graduate of Rice University in civil and environmental engineering, his work focuses on alternative fuel sources and new technology in the energy industry
http://blogs.chron.com/bakerblog/2010/06/harvesting_fog_to_quench_thirst_in_morocco.html
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Turning fog into potable water in arid Morocco.
by Elizabeth Armstrong Moore August 26, 2010
Six students from Rice University have spent the past month in Morocco figuring out how best to capture drops of water in the foggy Atlas Mountains so that nearby villagers have better access to safe drinking water. Working in Sidi Ifni, Morocco, with the Dar Si Hmad Foundation--which was founded by 1998 Rice graduate Jamila Bargach--the students used structures resembling volleyball nets with a polyethylene mesh to capture tiny droplets of water that drip down the nets into tubes and then (thanks to gravity) down larger pipes that lead to a water storage tank at the bottom of the mountain.
Working in Sidi Ifni, Morocco, with the Dar Si Hmad Foundation--which was founded by 1998 Rice graduate Jamila Bargach--the students used structures resembling volleyball nets with a polyethylene mesh to capture tiny droplets of water that drip down the nets into tubes and then (thanks to gravity) down larger pipes that lead to a water storage tank at the bottom of the mountain. The nets do not harvest enough potable water to meet the needs of an entire city, says 2010 Rice graduate Kevin Liu, who was one of the project's participants. Still, he estimates that the nets, which cost around $1,000 to $1,500 in materials and maintenance and should last a solid decade, "can provide anywhere from 200 to 1,000 liters of water per day for a village."
Before leaving for Morocco earlier this summer, Liu said the team's main goals were to focus on completing the calculations for the designs and locations of the nets, along with developing the required infrastructure for a future Rice group to finish the project next summer." Specifically, Liu said, "Determining the location to position the nets will be especially important for maximizing the efficiency of the nets in regards to the orientation, frequency of fog, and wind speed and direction." The group's main takeaway, now that they're back: the need to conduct a comprehensive survey to identify local water demand as well as to design and install basins to capture water from fog on vegetation. Another Rice group will likely follow up on both counts next summer.
Elizabeth Armstrong Moore is a freelance journalist based in Portland, Ore. She has contributed to Wired magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, and public radio. Her semi-obscure hobbies include unicycling, slacklining, hula-hooping, scuba diving, billiards, Sudoku, Magic the Gathering, and classical piano. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. http://news.cnet.com/8301-27083_3-20014812-247.html
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Students Help Harness Fog to Quench Moroccans' Thirst .
Thursday, August 26 2010 ScienceDaily (Aug. 25, 2010)
Some rural Moroccans have to trek for miles every day because their arid environment doesn't provide enough drinking water. Or does it?
Six Rice students with the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy's Energy Forum spent a month helping with a project that harvests potable water from the fog that envelops parts of the Atlas Mountains. The students were joined by Amy Myers Jaffe, a fellow in energy studies at the Baker Institute and associate director of the Rice Energy Program; Ronald Soligo, professor of economics; and Eugenia Georges, professor and chair of anthropology. They worked with the Dar Si Hmad Foundation in Sidi Ifni, Morocco, to move forward an engineering program to capture tiny droplets of water with a polyethylene mesh in the mountainous Boutmezguida region of southern Morocco.
The volleyball-net-like structures grab liquid from the fog, which drips down the nets into collecting tubes. Gravity propels the drops down pipes that terminate at a water storage tank at the bottom of the mountain. The sustainable project could theoretically provide clean, safe water for people in the area.
The idea for Rice involvement in the project began this past spring in Integrated Approaches to Sustainable Development, a class taught by Jaffe, said Kevin Liu, a 2010 grad who now works as a research associate at the Energy Forum. "One of the guest lecturers turned out to be Jamilla Bargach, the founder of the Dar Si Hmad organization, and she told us about an opportunity to go to Morocco to work with fog nets in water-poor areas," Liu said. "The goal of the trip was to expose students to applying sustainable techniques learned from a course to real-world problems in developing countries."
Bargach graduated from Rice in 1998 with a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology. She started her nonprofit foundation to improve the quality of life for some of the more impoverished communities in and around Ifni. In addition to Liu, other Rice participants were junior John Michael Nosek, junior Rebecca Jaffe, senior Marilu Corona, junior Alexandra Ernst, senior Noemie Levy and 2010 graduate Joyce Yao.
"Initially, it was a huge culture shock to be in an Arab country, but Moroccan hospitality and food won us over," Liu said. "We had a great experience working with the foundation and the local people." He described the interaction with professionals associated with Dar Si Hmad Foundation and residents of the Boutmezguida region as the highlight of the trip. After overcoming early "stomach issues," he and his colleagues developed a taste for the local cuisine. However they gave up on mastering its preparation. "We learned that we could not cook Moroccan food, not matter how hard we tried," he said.
While he acknowledged that the nets cannot supply enough water for a metropolitan area, Liu said they can make a real difference for rural families. At a cost of roughly $1,000-$1,500 to cover materials and maintenance for an average 10-year lifespan, he said, "we can provide anywhere from 200 to 1,000 liters of water per day for a village." They also looked into the possibility of harvesting water that accumulated on trees by spreading tarps on the ground beneath them. The idea stemmed from observing indicators of water accumulation on the vegetation. Ideally, the vegetation acts as a natural fog collector.
The Rice students' mission included conducting background research on the project, completing the calculations for the designs and locations of the nets and developing the required infrastructure for a future Rice group to finish the project next summer. "Determining the location to position the nets will be especially important for maximizing the efficiency of the nets in regard to the orientation, frequency of fog, and wind speed and direction," Liu said. "The region could also benefit from a comprehensive survey of natural groundwater patterns created by the fog."
"Our main two takeaways were developing and conducting a comprehensive survey for local water demand as well as designing and implementing basins to capture water from the fog on local vegetation," he said.
"The challenge of both the science and engineering and cultural implementation is large, and the predestined condition of geography and nature is hard to overcome," Jaffe wrote on the Baker Institute's blog in the Houston Chronicle. One of the lessons of the Morocco experience, she added, is that "the solutions to such problems are not global at all. They are community-specific and require a deep knowledge of specific cultural, geographic and socio-political conditions."
Liu echoed Jaffe's conclusion: "Although we may think we know what is best for other countries, it is impossible for us to put ourselves in their shoes. That is why a comprehensive survey needs to be done before any construction so we can get a feel of the situation. If you just go and build without understanding the culture and the relationships of the locals (and what is socially acceptable), you could do more harm than good."
The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by Science Daily staff) from materials provided by Rice University . http://www.moroccoboard.com/news/34-news-release/1163-students-help-harness-fog-to-quench-moroccans-thirst
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Young Moroccan entrepreneurs attend USAID event.
By Siham Ali 2010-08-27
The Forum for Young People's Organisations, held this week in Rabat, focuses on youthful innovation and leadership.
Some 160 young men and women from across Morocco are attending a one-week entrepreneurial leadership seminar in Rabat through Saturday (August 28th). The Forum for Young People's Organisations, sponsored by USAID in celebration of the UN's International Year of Youth, aims to integrate young people in the process of economic development and familiarise them with business opportunities. Forum director Karima Ghanem said that the event, held under the banner "From Ideas to Plans", was aimed at encouraging young people to seize opportunities in various fields and gain skills needed to put their ideas into effect. Young people aged 18-35 took part in activities and workshops relating to entrepreneurship and planning, advocacy, participatory democracy, citizenship and education for employment. Participants were selected following an online call for applications made in July. They are members of non-government organisations in all 16 regions of Morocco, explained Ghanem. The organisers sought to respect gender equality and cultural diversity in their choices.
This second run of the event, she added, was planned on the basis of an assessment of last year's forum. "We hand out forms to the participants at the end of every workshop. At the end of this year's event, a plenary session will be held so that we can identify the forum's strengths and weaknesses with a view to improving it in future." A number of conferences focused on investment and young people's involvement as citizens in local affairs. At the official opening of the event, Minister of Social Development Nouzha Skelli said that the Moroccan government's policy is to build young people's capacity and help them turn their plans into reality. She called on them to take advantage of the strategies and facilities made available to them by the government. She also urged young people to abandon their idea of the state as an employer and have faith in themselves, while also relying on support from the government. "Government officials, local councillors, and civil society take a keen interest in young people, who are a force for change and a better future. The aim of the government's policy is to integrate them into the process of economic and social development," she said.
Minister of Culture Bensalem Himmich commented that it is essential for young people to develop their skills and spirit of initiative, and also to know how to make use of these things. Young participants were eager to benefit from the activities organised at the forum. Youssef Hamdaoui, a young man from Missour, said that the forum had proved to be an opportunity to meet others and gain a clearer idea of young people's vision of the future with regard to both employment and citizenship.
Hafsa Yabou, who also attended the event, said that young people discussed their plans during the weeklong training session and will stay in touch after they all return to their own regions, so will be able to help each other to implement their ideas. "USAID's initiative is laudable and meetings such as this one should be held more often," said sociologist Samira Kassimi. "For a long time, families and schools have inculcated into children and young people a model based on preparation for public-sector work or steady jobs in large corporations, whereas society has changed enormously over the past few years and there are now a plethora of opportunities available," she told Magharebia. Kassimi said that perseverance, self-confidence and the battle against people's fears are the watchwords that young people must keep at the forefront of their minds. "We need to develop self-employment but also show young people ways of finding jobs that correspond to the training they have received", she added.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/08/27/feature-02
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U.S. Group Plans a Digital Library to Aid North African Research
Ursula Lindsey Wednesday, August 25 2010 Rabat, Morocco
To expand North Africa's research capabilities, a project financed by the United States plans to connect the region's universities and science institutes to a "digital library" that could eventually stretch from Morocco to Libya.
The U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation, a nonprofit created by the U.S. government to promote international science programs, is leading the effort and is initially working with Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia to increase their access to the latest international research, give scientists greater opportunities to collaborate, and hopefully bolster their scientific work and scholarly publishing.
The foundation, which recently completed a similar virtual library in Iraq, is spending $1.5-million on the effort. The money is part of a $5-million grant awarded to the nonprofit by the U.S. Department of State to support scientific cooperation in the Middle East and North Africa. "The U.S. government has a renewed interest in science cooperation generally in order to solve a number of problems: environmental, economic, security," says Eric Novotny, the foundation's senior vice president. "And there's a push toward engaging the Muslim world."
In a speech last year at Cairo University, President Obama said science and technology partnerships were one of the ways the United States could strengthen ties with Islamic nations.
While the North African digital-library project is still in its infancy, researchers in the region are hopeful about its prospects. "Morocco has every interest in being connected to this sort of network," says Omar Fassi-Fehri, secretary general of the Hassan II Academy of Science and Technology, a Moroccan government think tank that promotes scientific research. "Knowing what's happening in other labs will give researchers ideas," he says.
Mr. Fassi-Fehri participated in a 2007 conference organized by the Fulbright Academy of Science & Technology where the idea of a regional digital library was first discussed.
In recent years, governments in the region, called the Maghreb, have made efforts to increase Internet access at universities and to connect them to each other and to European academic centers.
But access to American academic research is limited. There is also a serious problem with equipment and know-how. In a lab, there might only be one networked laptop, usually belonging to the research director. And researchers may not be aware of or know how to navigate all the available databases.
Brahim Bessais, a lab director at the Tunisian Center for Energy Research and Technology, says the idea of a regional digital library is "very ambitious, yet very beneficial for the development of the Maghreb." Mr. Bessais says Tunisia has negotiated access to various international scientific databases but has yet to digitize its universities' libraries or connect them to one another online.
Charles Dunlap, the Civilian Research and Development Foundation's senior program manager for institution building, says such problems can really hurt research. "If you're in an up-and-coming university in the developing world, and you're not seeing the best, most recent articles, it's a real roadblock," he says. "Our mission is to make sure scientists are seeing what they need to be part of the global dialogue."
'Intricate Negotiations'
In addition to North Africa, the foundation is helping set up digital libraries in Afghanistan, Madagascar, and Pakistan. In June it completed the Iraqi library, which made approximately 6,000 online journals available to all Iraqi universities and several government ministries. According to the foundation, thanks in part to the effort, the number of publications by Iraqi scientists increased from 80 in 2005 to about 250 in 2009.
The foundation's staff members are meeting with universities and ministries in the Maghreb and just beginning to carry out what Mr. Novotny describes as "intricate three-way negotiations between the owners of content, the institutions that want to use it, and us, who want to facilitate this."
One goal is to consolidate universities' existing access to online journals, negotiating one subscription with each publisher. In addition, journal articles would be available in a single, unified index, making searches easier. Another goal is to increase the visibility of North African research. The plan is to establish an open-source system for Web publishing, which will make locally produced research available online, and to help local institutions set up peer-reviewed publications where none exist.
Mr. Dunlap says the digital library's interface will be in Arabic, English, and French. It will include software that facilitates online discussions, allowing researchers to view and comment on each other's unpublished articles and automatically alerting them if others are working on similar topics.
Across North Africa, says Mr. Fassi-Fehri of the Hassan II Academy, "there are personal relations between researchers but few institutional relations. Morocco has signed an agreement for scientific cooperation with Tunisia but unfortunately with no other countries."
In a second phase, the digital library may be expanded to include Libya and Mauritania. In the meantime, the $5-million Global Innovation Through Science and Technology effort, which the library is a part of, will also support academic conferences, training seminars, and other events across the region.
While digital libraries can "democratize access to information," it may be difficult to get researchers to participate in them, says Misako Ito, Unesco's adviser on information and communication in the Maghreb region. Potential users may hesitate to contribute because of a lack of regulatory policy, she says.
"Even some professional librarians and academics are still scared of sharing their own work" in digital systems, says Ms. Ito, fearing a "loss of ownership."
"Creating a structure is easy," says Ms. Ito. "Getting information fed in and used by people is the real challenge." http://www.moroccoboard.com/news/34-news-release/1161-us-group-plans-a-digital-library-to-aid-north-african-research
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A taste of Morocco, with costume changes.
Written by Eve Hill-Agnus Tuesday, 24 August 2010
This summer, my French cousin invited me to her wedding in the North African city of Marrakesh. As a food writer, I was excited about which foods would be served. But aside from culinary extravagance, I didn’t know what to expect when I arrived at midnight for a ceremony that would last until dawn. Scarcely over the threshold, I was handed the traditional date and glass of milk.
The Moroccan women arriving with me were like dozens of Cinderellas. Shedding plain outer clothes, they revealed their best caftans of jewel-toned cloth and glittering filigree. These outfits, I learned, are scrupulously hidden in cupboards for safekeeping, covered with cloaks until unveiled at the last minute. A concoction pale as jade gave me my first taste of the popular milk and avocado drink – so delicious, I wanted the recipe. A flaky pigeon pastilla, Moroccan meat pie, combined savory meat with sweet almond paste and spices. The main-course platters arrived piled high with roasted lamb and pullets. My French relatives and I kept waiting for the vegetables, but they never came. Instead, trays of tiny almond-paste sweets followed whole-fruit pyramids of Brobdingnagian proportions.
I had expected an elaborate multicourse meal but did not anticipate the sequence of dresses. Traditional Moroccan weddings unfold over seven days, most of which the bride spends sequestered in a chamber. Increasingly, however, families condense the festivities into one night of extraordinary pageantry. Seven dresses represent the seven days. Each of my cousin’s dresses – white, green, blue, purple – shimmered with silver or gold embroidery. Sequins or crystals or coins studded her veils. Jewels hung heavily from her earlobes, forehead and collarbone. Most of her stunning entrances were atop a litter borne by six men wearing djellaba, Arabic for long, loose robes. Her jewelry would have jangled had she not dutifully kept her head still – regal composure – even as the litter-bearers broke into dance.
Attendants placed my cousin, seated on a throne as wide and ornate as any parade float, onto the stage. Guests could stand near her long enough for a picture at designated times. Otherwise, we saw her only from afar. The only people allowed near her were the stage directors, three women hired to deck her, guide her to the appointed places and bend her hands into the appropriate poses. They hovered and fussed like Rapunzel’s overprotective guardian witch, orchestrating each dress change. To signal the end of each scene, they raised their voices in a wailing song-chant, then whisked her away for yet another costume change.
Their hold on my cousin broke only once, when, too exhausted and hot, she refused to wear the elaborate Berber dress of wool and fur. After she wore her last festive dress at the end of the night, the final course was served: breakfast soup of lentils and a fried sesame sweet. Then the bride, free of the stage directors and her pounds of jewelry, sank into a chair next to me, surrounded by leftover pastries.
Eve Hill-Agnus teaches English and journalism and is a freelance writer. Her French roots influenced her interest in specialty pastries. Contact her at janeordinaire@gmail.com.
http://www.losaltosonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22013&Itemid=145
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OPHI's Multidimensional Poverty Index less relevant than HCP's, head of HCP says.
Casablanca
The Index of Multidimensional Poverty (MPI) adopted by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) is less pertinent that the High Planning Commission (HCP)'s cost of living index, head of HCP Ahmed Lahlimi Alami said on Wednesday in Casablanca. The approach to poverty and the lack of data on which the MPI is based show its inability to replace objective approaches used by international bodies and its inadequacy in comparison with the HCP's index, Lahlimi said at a press conference themed "Indices of Multidimensional Poverty: impact and limits".
Unlike the MPI, which includes 10 indicators related to health, education and standard of living, the HCP's cost of living index has 17 indicators comprising healthy diet and housing conditions, he said.
The HCP's index includes also vocational integration of household members and job openings for young people, social equality and gender mainstreaming, he added. The MPI, as published in the OPHI's report entitled "Acute Multidimensional Poverty: A new index for developing countries", does not encompass all socio-economic priorities among which those bolstering the person's ability to protect itself against poverty, he noted. The scientific approach devised by the OPHI is based on old information from year 2000 to 2008, the official said.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/home/ophi_s_multidimensio/view
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The magic of Morocco.
Written by Hassan M'Souli and published by Interlink Books,
Moroccan Modern contains traditional Moroccan recipes, such as the secret to making perfect couscous and creating unique spice blends, while tagines are a firm favourite.
The earthenware dish with a conical lid known as the tagine is widely used in Morocco to cook a stew, also called a tagine - in a similar manner to how a meal cooked in a casserole dish is called a casserole.
These superbly aromatic meat, poultry, seafood or vegetable stews are a regular part of the Moroccan menu. The design of a tagine allows the food to steam and simmer slowly, giving each ingredient a distinctive flavour with an amazing aroma when the lid is lifted. You can serve a tagine straight from the stove to the table, adding to the charm of this Moroccan favourite.
LIFE selected fish, lamb and chicken tagine recipes from the book for you to try at home:
Hassan's Fish Tagine
Serves 4
100cm-thick blue-eye cod fillets and 1kg of turbot or halibut (substitute any white, firm-fleshed local fish)
2 cups tomato charmoula sauce (see below)
1 stick celery
1 carrot
2 potatoes
1 small red bell pepper
1 small green bell pepper
2 tbs tomato paste
2 cups fish stock
½ cup Kalamata olives
1 preserved lemon, cut into wedges
2 Roma tomatoes, halved and roasted
2 tbs chopped coriander
For the dish:
MARINATE the fish in the tomato charmoula sauce for two hours.
Split the celery stick in half lengthwise and place slices parallel to each other in the bottom of a tagine or a large flameproof casserole dish (this prevents the fish burning on the bottom).
Arrange the fish over the celery.
Slice the carrot diagonally in 1cm-thick slices. Peel and slice the potatoes to double the thickness of the carrot. Discard the seeds and membrane from the peppers and slice the flesh to double the thickness of the potato (as each of the vegetables take different periods of time to cook, preparing them in this way prevents any being overcooked).
Alternate the carrot and potato slices around the outer edge of the dish on top of the fish. Place the peppers, alternating red and green, on top of the whole dish.
Mix the remaining tomato charmoula sauce with the tomato paste and fish stock and whisk until well combined. Pour over the vegetables and fish, and top with olives and preserved lemon wedges.
Cover the tagine or casserole dish with the lid and simmer over a low heat for 45 minutes.
Serve the fish tagine directly to the table, garnished with the tomatoes and sprinkled with fresh coriander.
Chicken Tagine With Preserved Lemon And Olives
Serves 2
If you use a free-range chicken, you will only need to marinate for 30 minutes.
1kg chicken
½ cup charmoula marinade (see below)
4 tbs peanut oil
½ tsp salt
½ tsp saffron threads
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground ginger
1 cinnamon stick
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 onions, halved and finely sliced
1 tomato, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 bunch coriander, chopped
2 large potatoes, cut into wedges
2 cups water
140g green olives
1 preserved lemon, cut into 6 segments (see below)
Coriander, to garnish
Wash and dry the chicken and cut into quarters. Rub all over with charmoula marinade and refrigerate overnight.
In a large heavy-based saucepan or flameproof casserole dish, heat the peanut oil and brown the chicken. Add the salt, saffron, pepper, cumin, ginger, cinnamon stick, garlic, and onion, and cook for 10 minutes, turning the chicken occasionally.
Add the tomato, parsley, coriander, potatoes and water. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes. When the chicken is cooked, remove from the saucepan and place on to a tagine or serving dish. Reduce the stock for five minutes, then add the olives and preserved lemon. To serve, place the potatoes around the chicken, cover with the sauce and garnish with coriander.
Sweet Lamb Tagine
Serves 4
3 white onions
2 tbs sweet paprika
1 tsp saffron threads
1 tbs chopped ginger
3 bay leaves
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
½ cup olive oil
8 lamb foreshank, shoulder, or neck chops
2 cups water
Juice of 2 oranges
½ cup honey
1 tbs ground cinnamon
8 prunes, pitted
½ cup roasted blanched almonds
Sesame seeds, to garnish
2 hardboiled eggs, quartered
Chop one of the onions, and cut the other two into rings. Combine the chopped onions with the paprika,
Saffron, ginger, bay leaves, salt and pepper, and half the olive oil. Cut the chops in half and coat with this mixture. Marinate for four hours, or overnight if possible.
Brown chops in a heavy-based pan for 10 minutes on medium heat, add water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 20 minutes, then add the other two onions, orange juice, honey and cinnamon. Simmer for 15 minutes . Let stand for 15 minutes, then transfer the meat to a tagine. Pour the sweet onion sauce from the pot over the top and garnish with prunes, almonds, sesame seeds, and boiled eggs.
Preserved Lemon
10 thin-skinned lemons
11/2 cups rock salt
41/2 cups boiling water
juice of 1 lemon
8 cardamom pods
2 small red chillies, optional
2 bay leaves
olive oil to cover
Scrub the lemons well and soak in water |for three days, changing the water daily to disperse the gas and acid. Remove and cut four pockets end-to-end into each lemon, being careful not to slice right through.
Holding a lemon over a bowl (to catch any juice and salt), fill the pockets generously with rock salt, and arrange in a preserving jar. Repeat with remaining lemons.
Cover the lemons with boiling water. Add the left-over salt, lemon juice and cardamom pods.
Add bay leaves and chilli.
Leave the jar to stand for a few minutes to ensure all the air bubbles have escaped.
Cover the surface with a thin layer of olive oil.
Seal tightly, and store for at least a month before use.
correctly preserved lemons can be stored for years.
Tomato Charmoula Sauce
1 tbs olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 brown onions, diced
4 x 400g cans crushed tomatoes
1 tbs ground cumin
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tbs chopped flat parsley
2 tbs chopped coriander
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Method:
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and fry the garlic and onion until soft. Add the tomato, cumin and lemon juice. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir in the parsley and coriander and remove from the heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. The sauce can be stored in the fridge for up to seven days, or frozen.
This article was originally published on page 8 of The Mercury on August 23, 2010
http://www.iol.co.za/general/news/newsprint.php?art_id=vn20100823135427189C714904&sf=
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Ramadan recipes: Moroccan hrira, chebbakia.
By Siham Ali 2010-08-24
For many women professionals there is little time for cooking, even during Ramadan. One working woman shares a couple of her favourite holiday recipes. Sabah, an executive assistant in Rabat, makes la hrira every other day during Ramadan. This traditional soup is one of the central dishes in Morocco during the holy month. Its preparation requires discipline and many ingredients, so Sabah prefers to do as much of the work ahead of time as possible. Because she has a job, she makes the tomato coulis and chops the coriander, parsley and celery before the start of Ramadan. To make enough hrira for four people, Sabah tells Magharebia, you need:
These postings are provided without permission of the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the identified copyright owner. The poster does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the message, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.
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