Morocco Observations, Past, Present and Future – Part IV

This is Part IV, the final part of this series. Click to read Part I, Part II and Part III.

by Alex Metcalfe. Picture credits: Alex Metcalfe, Asiya Brock, Helen Evans and Houssa Yacoubi

Large house clusters would have originally had extended family groups living in distinct but connected households. The largest of these we saw had only certain parts being inhabited. As in other parts of Morocco labour migration has significantly reduced the local population.

The Journey to Igourdane: Igourdane

The local sheik or headman of the tribe came to meet us. An evidently old man yet of indeterminate age as was the Fakir, the local man responsible for religious instruction in the village.

The Journey to Igourdane: From left to right; Water diviner,
Nasser’s Dad, the Sheikh

The journey to Igourdane: The Faqr

We all gathered in a large, open grassy stretch of ground, dotted with small trees to witness the diviner at work. Once he had found the area he thought showed most promise, he took his forked stick and began pacing the land. With a cry and leap, made with an energy surprising for a man of his years, his divining rod began to identify various points which he had the rest of us mark with piles of stones. Gradually a large circle began to form, outlined by the stone markers.

The Journey to Igourdane: Diviner at Work

The Journey to Igourdane: Divination marker

The diviner then focused in on the interior of the circle with a pendulum technique. Tying a rope around two rocks each the size of two fists he would swing the pendulum a number of times counting and chanting before letting it land on the ground in front of him. He would start the process again marking points with stone as before till he had his central point, the place where we would drill for water.

A sincere and heartfelt ceremony of prayer followed. Palms turned upwards to the sky and the local men and a few of us prayed to Allah the merciful, the compassionate to grant us the good fortune of finding drinking water for the people of Igourdane.

I also took the opportunity of the visit to Igourdane to photograph and survey the project site – a short walk from where the diviner performed his ancient task. It is uncultivated sloping land bordered by wheat and barley on all sides but the one facing the track. A great manageable size.

Journey to Igourdane: Tribal Networks Project site.
Watch this space for cooperation and abundance.

Regenerating naturally, it is full of plants I have not yet seen elsewhere in morocco. I can’t wait for the first work camps, to get our hands dirty with the locals and students, to learn about the local area.

The journey to Igourdane: Down the Mountain

The trip up the mountain was very transformative for all the students. It really gave the second week an extra boost of energy, solidifying the reason we were all there. The students were quick to identify possible areas for water harvesting and offer ideas where the techniques they had learned on the course could be applied to the benefit of the locals.

Group session

There was also a really healthy amount of questioning about our role as aid workers – relativism, appropriate approaches and project models were all debated enthusiastically during and between sessions. This was ideal as during the final few days the students were formed into groups to work on their design projects.

Dave takes us through soil samples from around the farm

Soil that has been washed away by flooding, separated,
settled and baked in the sun

It is evident that the way to gain the most from such a diverse and knowledgeable group of people is to remain open to learning from them, whilst facilitating their understanding of the design process. No matter how many years I am lucky enough to be involved with the permaculture movement and practice permaculture design, I will never stop learning from other people and from my environment. I feel that during my first course as a teacher I gained important experience in making space for others, in listening and in humility.

The designs were tailored around traditional land use patterns. This is particularly challenging in Morocco as land is passed down through a system of patrilineal descent. This has formed a patchwork quilt system of ownership which has to be taken into consideration when working with individuals as members of communities.

Amine and Laurent talk through their design work with David Spicer

The farm where we taught the course belonged to two families, who, while living very close together, shared resources and yet drew distinct property boundaries. Some groups designed for only one half of the property while others assumed cooperation as the basis for their designs. Everyone had the opportunity to communicate with the two young men responsible for their respective households about the land and their openness to design ideas.

Pedro explains his dream design to Asiya and Helen

Asiya, Helen and Houssa working on their design

On the last day of the course the different designs were presented. They displayed a wonderful understanding of the course material and a great range of innovative and original design solutions.

The students’ feedback was heartening to say the least. They had enjoyed the course thoroughly and all felt they were taking a great deal back home with them to work with. There was a great sense of anticipation in the air as the students couldn’t wait to apply what they had learned.

Despite a challenging start I feel the first permaculture design course in Morocco was a great success. In my time after the course I had the privilege of visiting communities that completely lacked the broken and ‘in need’ feeling of Igourdane – communities with the blessing of water, greater biodiversity and strong associations. I met Moroccans from the agro ecology organisation, Terre Humanisme, and members of the Accueil Paysan network, who were all doing truly great work. It is important to remember that Morocco has its own experts, networks and committed individuals. Meeting them and learning from them was an inspiration. It gave a real sense of what is possible in Igourdane.

I am really looking forward to working with Tribal Networks in the future to improve conditions in Igourdane, develop the demonstration site and to work on further courses in Morocco.