Synopsis

Under construction

Script

Voice over

There are remote areas where hidden doors open to the astonishing beauty of the Sahara desert. Many secrets are revealed in this immensity of wind and sand. Enigmas which, from time to time, spring from their invisible world to reveal their mysterious existence. And of all the Saharan secrets, water is perhaps the greatest wonder which the desert hides, the secret treasure, the source of life.

Pepa Ortiz, CERAI volunteer – Hassi Labiad oasis, Morocco

This project came about from another CERAI project in which 9 countries from the Mediterranean basin were involved. One of them was Morocco. Nationwide seminars were held in each country, to identify the needs of the population. And from these national seminars an international seminar was organised in Spain. And that’s where we learnt, where each association presented different projects which could be of interest, and that’s where we found out about the ketaras and about oasis culture.

Hassan Aghadaoui, tour guide – El Begaa shelter

Their used to be a lot of nomads in this area, and as they are constantly travelling... there was a very white stretch of land space, here where the vegetation is, and they thought that maybe it would be good for agriculture. Back then one of my grandfather’s friends – both are dead now - was looking for water near the mountain there, and he found that the water, the water table as you say, wasn’t very far. Since the river was going downhill, we were able to canalise the water and bring it down from the mountain to the oasis.

Voz de Sonia:

And that was the first ketara, your grandparents built it?

Hassan:

Yes... and... of the... of the people outside there, there’s only one person left from that generation... that started the irrigation system.

Pedro Escriche, CERAI cooperation director, Aragón – El Begaa oasis

This ketara region has a very important cultural and historical component. The Ketaras are considered an area of agricultural world patrimony by UNESCO. They originated in Mesopotamia in the first century before Christ. The Ketaras started in old coal mines dug by the Persians who realised that these mines, once they were no longer productive, could be used to reach and transport water. Then the Romans, in contact with the Persians, spread Ketara technology throughout Europe, between the first and third centuries, and then the Arabians, in the seventh century, when they expanded from the Arabian Peninsula, extend the use of Ketaras over North Africa.

The project basically consists of getting more water for the Oasis than what is currently being tapped, and we’re going to do this by extending the system of water canals, which is what the ketara is. We’re going to extend them some 1.2 kilometres, towards the mountains there which stretch south and where rain water accumulates. So with this additional quantity of water, we’re going to irrigate, all year round, an area which is some 3 kilometres from the main oasis, which the people here have traditionally cultivated during the sporadic rainy seasons, off and on, and now they’ll be able to cultivate it year round.

Secondly, we going to... once the water source is ready, we’re going to repair the canal systems from the oasis to the new agricultural area. Additionally, we’re going to plant productive date palms in the new area which, in a period of 6 to 8 years, will provide local people with a source of income, thanks to the sale of dates.

Pepa Ortiz

In fact, this settlement exists because the ketara was built. Water attracts life, and without water, there is no life. That’s why these people exist, first the irrigation system was built, the ketara, which created the oasis, and from there... as you can see, you come in and it’s another world, it’s a garden, and there’s not only vegetation, there’s fauna and flora, and thanks to this people can live here, without it there wouldn’t be any human settlement. And in this trip, we’ve been able to see that, since it has rained, there’s an abundance of water, and if you look around you can see new growth, plants, we’ve seen eagles, we’ve seen fish, we’ve seen frogs... Life is being generated. Water here is life, and it’s opportunity.

Julio Martínez, cooperation technician, Zaragoza City Council –

Ramilia oasis, Morocco

In the case of a City Council like that of Zaragoza, many factors were involved. One of them is that this year we’ve got the World Expo dedicated to water that’s being held in Zaragoza. And Zaragoza and the Aragon region have always been very sensitive towards water related issues. And... we can say that one way or another the city of Zaragoza is currently positioning itself, as a city, strategically speaking, at the centre of water related issues. And this has repercussions in the areas of municipal action, and also in cooperation activities. So water, and sustainable development are mottos that we’ve assumed in the field of cooperation, and so we’re very sensitive to projects like theses.

Voz de Sonia:

How do you develop a process of identification?

Pepa Ortíz:

Well, normally, through one channel or another, associations in Spain receive a proposal from a local association. From there, we try to adopt the philosophy of the project involved and we go on site, in order to see first hand what the needs are, to work with the local population, to get to know each other, to gather all the equipment which we’ll need to meet specifications, and to submit the project for financing. And especially, most important of all, is to establish communication between the two associations. To agree on what needs to be done and how, to create links, to foster trust, and... those are the basics. Later, to implement the project...

Pedro Escriche:

The operation is presented by the tribal leaders, those who head each of the 36 families, and with them we’ve been discussing work methods, and this has given us knowledge of the terrain, of how they’ve been making their ketaras, how they’ve been expanding them, and therefore setting a course for us to follow, and this will allow, after all these discussions with them, that they will be the ones in charge of the project, implementing the project, and forcing us to change our preconceived ideas, to adapt to local reality. It’s really them who are doing the project.

Hassan Aghadaoui:

For someone from the desert who travels to Europe, it’s very difficult... it’s not the same... it’s not the same culture, it’s not the same religion... nothing’s the same. It’s very hard to integrate... to become integrated there.

Julio Martínez:

It’s also true that from all of North Africa there’s a lot of immigration that has arrived in Spain, in Zaragoza too. And also there’s the historical immigration from the sub-Saharan nations, but most immigrants in Zaragoza have come from North Africa, Algerians, Moroccans, with their families, so we have to position ourselves to support those less developed countries, where.... where the standard of living is causing a situation of migration. There are many factors, and one of them is the quality of life... the distribution of resources and economic development... and social development.

Hassan Aghadaoui:

The only work they’re going to find is in tourism, that’s why you see a lot of children around with bags, they’re selling rocks. When they are 14 or 15 years old, they go up to the dry mountains where they gather fossils and rocks. People work there, they don’t have to leave the village and go to the city to find work.

Pepa Ortíz:

That child surprised me too, well, he didn’t really surprise me, but you have an image of Morocco related to immigration, of people wanting to leave the country, wanting to find a better life, whereas here you meet young people, people looking for a way to stay here and continue living in their houses, maintaining their traditions, and living happily.

Moroccan waiter:

And he’s over there, working in construction... yeah, and over there they pay good money in construction.

Pedro Escriche:

We’ve tried to set it up so the project would generate as many economic resources as possible for the region. We’ve avoided bringing in external companies, that way the economy generated by the project would benefit the people here. So, following the same organisational principles we’ve applied before, it’s the local people who are doing the work, building the system, so they’re getting salaries for construction work, for specialised masonry, for the expansion of the ketara system.

Voice over

Another secret of the desert is its women, behind veils which at times seem made of steel, and which hide their face from the world. Untangling their mysteries is like following Ariadne’s thread through the labyrinths of Minotaur. Veils which weave stories of solitude, renunciation and submission, and yet, it is these confined women with their all encompassing gaze and their silence, who weave the tapestry of life in this desert.

Fátima Amraoui, Vice President, Hassi Labiad Assoc. –

Hassi Labiad headquarters, Morocco

Our association works with the community, but especially with women and children. For women we have two training centres. Here and in another village 20 kilometres away. In order to motivate these women, we are, on the one hand, teaching them to value their work, and on the other hand to give them some independence with a small income. We do textile exhibitions, it seems like very little, but for women who don’t earn money it’s a big thing.

Voz de Sonia:

Many of the cooperation projects that are being carried out in North Africa have a clear gender perspective, and it’s worth asking... to what extent are the women who are benefiting from these projects going to gain personally, going to gain in freedom...

Julio Martínez:

Well, I look at this as a type of process, and processes have to start somewhere, sometime. And... we start with work, with sensitivity issues, with training, with teaching skills. And at the same time with raising awareness of capabilities, of possibilities, in this case for women. It’s very likely that the first generation of women... the first group of women who experience this process will have a double workload, this personal productive experience will be added onto the family related workload, all the household work they do, but these are... we’re talking about fundamental change for women, and this process involves education and training, breaking from the closed circle of family life, children and the community life of the village.

Hassan Aghadaoui:

Before, girls couldn’t go to school, that was our tradition. Well, they could go but their parents wouldn’t let them. Girls used to be raised to work in the house. Nowadays there are girls going to school, and but only here. Most of them don’t go to Richani to finish their schooling. They stay here to help their mothers, they work in the kitchen, and when they’re finished with that they go looking for food for the animals. At 11 o’clock in the morning they have to come up and make bread, then at sunset they go get water, they go looking for wood to cook food. The poor things spend all day working, so they have no time to go to school.

Pepa Ortíz:

I may have a broader perspective than my male colleagues do, because the women here have opened up to me. When Pedro is around they become very shy and suspicious. And I’ve never had any problems with the men around here. They’ve always shown respect towards me and I’ve never felt that they see me as a woman.

Fátima:

Here in the village we only have a primary school. After the age of seven, the children must go to Richani to attend secondary school. Most families who have a son that was able to finish primary school, they send him to Richani, because they have a boy’s boarding school there. But it’s much more difficult for a girl.

It’s hard for boys and girls to be separated from their families when they’re so young, but it’s especially difficult for girls to be allowed to finish their studies in Richani, for cultural reasons. But thanks to the work of our secretary who is the administrator for the Richani secondary school and thanks to our association too, we’ve formally applied for the creation of a girl’s boarding school in Richani. The closest boarding school for girls now is in Rachidia, 130 kilometres away. 5 years ago, only 1% of the girls from here finished their schooling. But not anymore. Now, we’ve got a teacher in our association who is teaching them. For example, the first year the school was set up, 20 girls from here were sent, and that figure increases every year.

Pepa Ortíz:

We’ve been coming to this area since about the year 2003, and I remember that at first women wouldn’t look at you directly, they were extremely shy, they even covered their faces when you walked by them, but not anymore. Now they show their curiosity, from the youngest girls to the oldest women, they’re willing to talk to you, to let us get to know them, they’re very hospitable, they’re willing to let us into their homes, to answer questions. They accept us. I think they are... they’re very broad minded towards others.

Fátima:

I’m looking for projects for women for their development. If they have resources, they can have more equality. They can do anything they want while respecting their families and their culture. They can change many things in their lives and in their homes, in all aspects of their lives if they have a little money. That’s why I’m looking for future oriented projects.

Voz de Sonia:

We’re half way through our trip, and is this your first time here on site to see the day to day of a cooperation project?

Voz de Julio Martínez:

Yes, it is.

Voz de Sonia:

It’s probably too soon for detailed analysis, but can you give us some of your first impressions regarding the project?

Julio Martínez:

For me, every cooperation-related trip is a process of discovery, because the written word, the photographs and even video, well, they show us a perspective, but to see the people in their element, in their gatherings, in their expressions, in their work, this gives you a totally different dimension. And then there are other aspects, like the organisational activities, and how, ehm... on site... how people are responding to development projects. In this sense, I’m very happy with what I’m seeing here. And this is usually the case, I mean... maybe because we’re dealing with decentralised projects, with specific... comprehensible goals, and that they’re easy to approach rationally, well... you often get the impression that, uh... things are working, you see the protagonists, each playing their part... and in this case because of the local organisation and its impact... I’m very impressed with the project. With how the association has brought people together, motivated them, and has become a reference for the local people and local administration, all this is really important.

Pedro Escriche:

For me, this has really been a turning point. When I first came to Morocco to work with the oasis communities, it was all such a discovery, and such a change in perspective, I had to change a lot, my way of thinking, my way of seeing things. It’s been very enriching for me and I’m sure that the work I’ve done... I got a lot more out of it than I’ve been able to give, loads more. In the end you realise that a lot of selfishness is involved, because it is all so satisfying. Satisfying because the work has an impact, people are benefiting from it directly, you meet these people, they show their generosity, their hospitality, they’re great hosts, they are very curious about things. In the more remote areas, they show a certain innocence, so to speak, in the way they deal with you... it’s... really fulfilling... very enriching.

Pepa Ortíz:

That’s the big question. Uh... Well, look, most of all, this is about putting a face on the statistics that I’ve been seeing from Spain for quite a while now, putting a landscape to the news we’ve been getting in Spain, and... behind the policies and the headlines of world events there are people, specific people living their lives, and sometimes we think that they are part of a very closed world, but maybe it’s the world that closes them in, because they are not close-minded people, so it’s been super interesting for me, totally enriching... and the contact with them... with the people... and the work here. I... uh... I’ve never done this kind of work where I’ve felt so involved and so motivated... and...  I’ve never been part of a team where there’s been so much excitement, the kind you find in a cooperation project.

Voz de Sonia:

Are you a happier man now?

Pedro Escriche:

Yes (he laughs)... it’s true, I am... and I’m working a lot harder. When I’m in Spain it’s more complicated. Lots of paperwork, numbers, budgets, administrative stuff, management, dealing with government agencies, everything’s really complicated. Really dry. But when you come here, it’s like recharging, and it gives you the energy to go back to Spain and carry on the good fight, looking for funding, putting together all the necessary steps to bring the funds here and implement the project. To tell you the truth, if it weren’t for the energy we get here on site, we wouldn’t be able to do the work involved back in Spain. The work in Spain... I don’t know... The work there in Spain, in Zaragoza, is a lot harder for me than the work here.

Pepa Ortiz:

Well, yes, in fact... emotionally, I’ve created links here that I would like to maintain, not only through the individual friendships that I have some people here, but the work relationships, I’d like to keep working with them, because these are people who want to prosper, to carry out projects, to develop, and I’d like nothing more than to support them, all that I possibly can.

Voice over

The last secret is that the desert freezes time. The image of dusk falling on this lagoon framed our departure with its metallic reflections. A mirage of emotions rippling across these newly born waters. The waste land upon which nothing grows, transformed into a fertile Saharan delta, will remain intact in our memory, a reminiscence which time cannot blur. It was the image of a journey whose destination is always return... return.... return.... return. And even thought the water, following its designated course, returns to the depths of the desert leaving behind its desolate prints of salt and sand, we know that this eternal moment facing the lagoon at dusk will forever be our secret.