newsletter

V I R G I N U N I T E

GUESTS NEWSLETTER ISSUE 12 JUNE 2010 Compiled by Eve Branson

V I R G I N U N I T E

Morocco
N E W S A N D D E V E L O P M E N T S F R O M T H E AT L A S M O U N TA I N S

K A S B A H TA M A D OT • ASNI • ASSELDA • TIMZRA • TA N S G H A RT • IMSKER

 virgin unite mo cashmere goats were patiently waiting for pat to show aziz
how to extract and cut their fibre ready for spinning into
cashmere jumpers and other items.
Back up to the craft house where i hope to share some new
ideas – ever since starting three years ago on each visit i’m
always fearful that no girls will show up. Fear not mrs B, there
were 22 girls sitting sewing and knitting, waiting patiently
for our arrival. after examining their work i gave them an oral
exam in english (they receive four hours of english tuition a
week from Zoubair), and i was thrilled when they answered,
somewhat shyly, in english. at last, we are now able to
communicate if but briefly!
the garden at the craft house now looks somewhat well
established with all the surrounding land green with young
barley shoots, leaving not an inch of ground un-cultivated.

spinning cashmere wool at the craft house

Return To Tansghart
i was back in morocco again to organise two full days’ work.
arriving late at night at kasbah tamadot there was only the
rhythmical sound of frogs croaking outside my Berber tent
which soon lulled me to sleep.
oh the joy! as morning arrives you pull back the curtains
to see a clear blue sky lighting up the mud brick village of
Tansghart, where my day’s work lies. the birds are singing,
Working the loom pounding nuts to make oil
the donkeys are braying whilst below the river gushes by,
leaving an icing of snow on the mountains above.
it was time to move onto the next village, Asselda, another
my project manager and interpreter, Zoubair, drives me rugged village nearby desperately in need of help. how
over to the craft house in Tansghart where my film crew, thrilled i was after we clambered and climbed to the top,
Fred and gemma as well as pat thorne, president of the accompanied by cocks crowing and goats bleating below
cashmere association in england, are staying. First we must when, finally, we entered the large room we’d purchased for
take pat down to see aziz, the goat herdsman i’ve referred to them to find four busy girls at their loom making a large red
in previous issues of this newsletter. Yes, all the lovely white carpet. i was sorry to see two looms standing empty, but

goat herder aziz combing the goats choosing some land for the goats What a view!
orocco the drums sounded and looking up how thrilled i was to
see 25 moroccan young teenage girls marching towards us
beating their drums as they advanced. it was then that i
realised that i must somehow find the funds needed to help
these girls.
sitting cross legged on the carpet, i opened my case and
handed them 25 pairs of knitting needles and a ball of wool.
if you have ever tried teaching 25 girls to ‘cast on’, let alone
knit, you can imagine the result! knitting needles were
getting lost amidst the wool which was getting entwined and
meanwhile, ali, the mayor of the village, had cooked everyone
six large dishes of couscous. But would they eat? oh no!
they wanted to go on trying to knit, with ali’s three year old
granddaughter trying to copy the girls with two sticks she’d
found nearby!

aziz and ali preparing a lunch of couscous

was struck by an idea: why not produce hand woven small

car mats?! Yes, i’ll place an order for four and with luck other
people will order some, enabling the other looms to start
working and so help the girls with making their own livelihood.
the following day we picked up aziz as we wanted to show
him some land we had been offered in the forest – wild scrub
land much needed by the goats! after leaving the car on
the road we had to scramble, slide and slip, pushing our way
through scrub and bushes until we finally found the ideal site en route to imsker teaching the girls to knit
for aziz, his goats and a hut. the site and view beyond was
magnificent - lucky aziz. lucky goats! Until we can raise enough money to finish a craft house
Returning to the car we drove higher into the atlas mountains in this village and have a bedroom for a teacher, i’ll have
to reach a wonderful village with panoramic views with the to leave these excited smiling youngsters to cope on their
river gushing by below - the village of Imsker. luckily not a own as tonight, kenton Jones, kasbah tamadot’s co-general
car did we pass on the narrow stretch. however on market manager laid on a party to show a film of the work of the ‘eve
day the road is used by many donkeys and mules, their iron Branson Foundation’. somehow we must find enough money
panniers laden with boxes of locally grown fruits. to build another craft house to help these happy, unspoilt
girls, as at 13 they leave school and they have only the
this village of Imsker has not
prospect of marriage and tending to a cow to look forward to.
had any outside help so far.
not only is it isolated with on saturday i was due to return home, but the volcano
no running water, there is no dust from iceland descended and all planes were grounded.
electricity and no roads (they although i’m very glad for a forced rest, we were uncertain as
have only rough tracks). so far to how long we would have to wait!
we’ve managed to buy a small as the sun was sinking the only sound left was the call of
plot of land in the village which the frogs and the cuckoo in the distance. this, surely, was
was where we finally stopped. the dream lining to this volcanic eruption – surely there are
on the ground we saw they had many worse places to be stranded than to be stuck at kasbah
laid out their own handmade, tamadot nestling in the atlas mountains!
colourful rug carpets with an old
wooden table, six stools and a
teapot.
eVe BRanson
ali’s granddaughter with knitting sticks
ISSUE 1 2005 ISSUE 2 AUGUST 2006 ISSUE 3 DECEMBER 2006 ISSUE 4 FEBRUARY 2007

ISSUE 5 SEPTEMBER 2007 ISSUE 6 FEBRUARY 2008 ISSUE 7 AUGUST 2008 ISSUE 8 APRIL 2009

ISSUE 9 MAY 2009 ISSUE 10 OCTOBER 2009 ISSUE 11 DECEMBER 2009

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