a lemzouwak min berra, ash khbarek min ldakhel?Increasingly, people are talking about helping the Medina (I am using Fez as an example), which is a healthy phenomenon indeed. Perhaps the most fascinating part is the fact that they believe that the Fez Medina needs to be saved. That is absolutely great!
Do you know that the Medina in Fez was and still is seen by Fassis (people of Fez) as one of the poorest quarters of Fez? Most of the families currently living in the Medina have moved there from the countryside. Their first bet on finding a place to live is the Medina. Why? This is simply because it is easy to find a room to rent for 300 dhs a month.
Fatima has 5 kids and is divorced and jobless, except for some occasional work here and there. She told me that after 3 days with nothing to feed her kids, she took some items from the house, that she is renting and can’t pay the cheap monthly rent, and sold them, hoping to get some dirhams to by food for her family. Fatima is just an example and the list of examples is very long, believe me it is very long.
On the other hand, our heritage is both rich and unique. The Moroccan craftsmen, who were involved in the construction of the Medina, did a sole job of finesse and beauty. However, when we examine the era within which these Maalmeen, or craftsmen, excelled in their fields, we find a natural balance between a myriad of aspects of Moroccan life. An equilibrium involving social, scientific, economic… portions that made up the whole. It is as if you are looking at a beautiful and intricate traditional tile work. Different pieces of different colors that were cut separately, combined, however, to craft a solid entity. We can say, accordingly, that scales and patterns were unsurprisingly respected. We say in Morocco: “fash kateshbaa lkersh, katgool lerras ghanni” Translation: “When the stomach is full, it tells the head to sing” A common domino effect; when immediate human needs are satisfied, people consider luxurious aspects of life, such as architecture.
A poor family owns a beautiful house that they are not taking caring of because they don’t have the means. We come and provide help and assistance so they can clean the fountain and fix the tile… Should taking care of the house really be priority number one?
My point is that we need to consider the spirit of the Medina. The Medina would not have survived without its people, though they also contributed to the destruction of most of it. The human facet is important as well. We cannot blame someone like Fatima if she sells one of the house doors so that she can feed her kids, can we? The sad reality is that there are many Fatimas and many Mohameds who experience the same situation on a daily basis.
Many times I have heard people say that Fassi people did not take of Fez. That is an amazing statement to utter! When we say that, we reduce Fez to Rich Fassi people who had the means to take care of the city, and its buildings. This statement excludes the majority of the inhabitants of Fez and the Medina of Fez, who cannot afford to sacrifice their lives and those of their kids in favor of buildings. How could poor people of Fez have taken care of their city when they could not even satisfy the basic needs of life?
I think the closest thing to a reasonable resolution would be to provide jobs, health care, education to poor Medina people (and to all Moroccans) so they can take care of the Medina (their environment in general). [Some might say that restoring houses in the Medina is actually creating jobs. The question is how much are employees getting paid and how many hours a day do they work?] Restoring a house is indeed very beneficial to the Medina but on a limited scale. Moroccans say: “a lemzouwak min berra, ash khbarek min ldakhel”. Translation: you are cleaned up on the outside, but how are you really on the inside? I believe that this inside of the Medina that we are talking about is its people.
The author, Adil Ait Hamd, runs the Fez Medina Consulting Website and the Fez Forum Click here to visit his site,
Photo: Suzanna Clarke
Tags: Morocco Fes, Maghreb news
2 comments:
This is excellent, thanks for sharing it!
Wonderful! Thanks also for the fabulous blog.
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