Cooperating to Success: A PHOTOSTORY OF OUED IFRANE’S WEAVING WOMEN

By Rachael Diniega, Multimedia Committee Member (Staj 99)

They thought their work wouldn’t sell, that people would doubt their abilities and demean their success in creating a women’s cooperative—and yet in October 2018, the women of Cooperative Nahda in the Middle Atlas town of Oued Ifrane cheered and clapped when artisan leader Mustapha Chaouai announced their most recent sales success through the online platform of the collective Anou.

Jan Sojka (Staj 98)

I met with the cooperative at the request of a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) living in their town, Jan Sojka (Staj 98), pictured above, who worked with them during her two-year service from 2016 to 2018. “My overall experience in Oued Ifrane has been filled with generous hospitality and a familial bond with many of the locals in this Amazigh village, “ she said. “Throughout my two years, I was met with endless invitations for meals, tea, henna, and celebrations. Throughout my service, I was lucky to encounter Cooperative Nahda, which is a group of female artisans who specialize in carpet weaving and are assisted by a talented, dedicated blacksmith, Mustapha Chaouai. They quickly took me under their wing and were always willing to host visitors and participate in various activities, such as design workshops affiliated with Anou or study abroad programs with American high school students. I have observed them to be a hardworking group that also has a great sense of humor and lively spirit. It is easy to see why they are identified as one of Anou’s strongest cooperatives.”

---

A woman in the cooperative shows off a rug typical for her region in the Middle Atlas Mountains.

Before the cooperative began, women in town individually wove rugs and crafted other items to sell at Oued Ifrane’s weekly market or in nearby towns. In 2012, with the encouragement of Mustapha, ten women formed an association to join efforts in creating and selling products. In their first two years, they attended trainings and traveled to sell their wares, though they rarely sold much, according to the women.

Around that same time, a PCV in the Ait Bouguemez valley, Dan Driscoll, came up with the idea of creating an online platform as a way for cooperatives to sell their products directly to an international market, rather than through middlemen. Prior to Peace Corps Morocco’s switch to Youth Development as a single sector in 2011, it had placed volunteers with cooperatives as part of its Small Business Development program, and many PCVs in the Youth Development sector have continued to work with cooperatives in their sites. The Anou has created a network of cooperatives; trained artisans about the supply, production, and marketing chain; and enabled them to sell products directly abroad through its website.

By 2014, Mustapha and the PCV living in Oued Ifrane at the time had connected with Anou. The women’s association became a cooperative, and they joined Anou. Since then, the cooperative has thrived: they have attended more trainings, built an expansive network of fellow cooperatives across Morocco, filled direct custom orders requested by buyers, sold more products, and earned more money to split among the women and reinvest into the community. Mustapha now works for Anou as an artisan leader and talent developer, traveling across Morocco to identify potential cooperative partners for Anou.

Two types of rugs that the women make at the cooperative.

Peace Corps Trainees (PCTs) of the 100th group of volunteers in Morocco sat in on our meeting with the twenty women of the cooperative and Mustapha to learn more about life in their training site. Said PCT Anna LaRocco Masi, "I have met the women of the co-op several times, and each visit, I grow more impressed and inspired by what they are doing. They do not give up even when they run into business-related obstacles. Meeting them is an amazing cultural experience because I got to see what local Moroccan women are doing on a daily basis to succeed for themselves and their families."

Women of the cooperative, some of whom are host family members of current Peace Corps Trainees, sing and clap as some trainees broke out dance moves.

The women have learned new designs from Anou and lessons from other cooperatives, while forming strong bonds amongst themselves—the women are proud of the fact that they get along well, have become friends, and have rarely experienced conflict. Moreover, one woman added, working outside the home and earning her own income has brought her independence. Now life is different than before, the women agreed. They have learned from their own accomplishments and success and have grown more confident in their abilities to sustain the cooperative together.

The women of the cooperative, Mustapha, current PCTs and their teacher, and PCV Jan.