In Morocco, women find a recipe for success and gainful employment
| Marrakesh, Morocco
It is an initiative so successful it鈥檚 struggling to keep up with demand. The Marrakesh-based聽Amal for the Culinary Arts association enables women who previously had no income to聽learn the restaurant business and gain hands-on experience at the association鈥檚 own restaurant,聽before finding them a job through its network of partners. Today, Amal (Arabic for 鈥渉ope鈥�) is聽so successful it doesn鈥檛 have enough trainees ready to fill all the positions that potential employers are willing to offer.
The nonprofit offers free six-month training courses to Moroccan women ages 18 to 35 from聽disadvantaged backgrounds. It provides them with professional skills in culinary arts聽(traditional Moroccan and international cuisine) and business management. Theory meets聽practice during the classes, since everything takes place at the association鈥檚 restaurant, which聽is open to the public. The trainees run the kitchen, wait tables, take care of maintenance, and聽manage the accounts and budget. Making a thorough commitment to the restaurant is essential聽to obtaining a diploma. The women must also attend classes in hygiene, customer聽service, safety, and languages such as English and French.
The restaurant has found a place in the hearts of local Marrakshi, who are keen to savor the聽excellent family cuisine while supporting these women on the path to financial independence.聽Each day, a choice of two dishes is written up on a slate, along with traditional couscous on聽Fridays. The restaurant welcomes about 100 customers for lunch and dinner.
The program recently received accreditation from the Hotel Industry Association (AIH) in聽Marrakesh, which is responsible for auditing hotels in Morocco and giving them star ratings.聽Currently 26 women are undergoing training.
Since the launch of the association and restaurant in 2013, about 200 women have attended聽the courses, and most of them have found employment through Amal鈥檚 network of partners in聽Marrakesh鈥檚 high-end eateries. Six of the graduates became their own bosses: One聽of the women is setting up a snack bar and five others have opened a bakery together.聽
Both businesses were funded thanks to the generous support of Nora Belahcen Fitzgerald, the聽founder of Amal. Born in Morocco to American聽parents, she realized that her situation was relatively comfortable, and she wanted to share聽some of her good fortune with women in need.聽In 2015, Ms. Belahcen Fitzgerald received 25,000 euros ($29,000) from the聽Orange Foundation鈥檚 Women for Change prize in France.聽
Opening this community restaurant has been her way of fighting the economic insecurity聽faced by women in Morocco, who are disproportionately affected by unemployment (14.7聽percent compared to 8.8 percent for men). All of the restaurant鈥檚 profits go toward the聽association鈥檚 expenses. 鈥淚 never imagined it would be such a success,鈥� Belahcen Fitzgerald聽says. 鈥淥ur aspirations were quite humble at the start.鈥� Her project was able to grow with聽financial support from the Swiss foundation Drosos, without which 鈥渋t would have taken聽longer to get to where we are today,鈥� she says.
She is currently putting her energies into overcoming聽the technical and financial obstacles that make it difficult to create a micro company.
鈥淎mal聽version 2.0 will be a structure that mentors women and supports them on the path to聽entrepreneurship, in the form of community business development,鈥� she said.
Today, Amal is part of the fabric of Marrakesh life. Word of mouth travels fast between those聽who have been trained and found employment and women in need who would like to do the聽same. Some of the beneficiaries find Amal through its partner associations, such as Kafalat El聽Yatim, which takes in orphans, and El Amane, a shelter for single mothers and women who聽face domestic violence. This year, two of the trainees are deaf, so everyone on staff has聽learned sign language to accommodate them.
In 2016, the association opened a caf茅, also in Marrakesh, which is run entirely by deaf聽women. A visual menu that works like a board game, with counters, enables the staff and聽clients to communicate. 鈥淲e want to welcome women from a聽diverse range of backgrounds, so that no one is stigmatized,鈥� Belahcen Fitzgerald explains.
Her association is becoming a hub of ideas for new projects. Amal鈥檚 latest initiative is the聽publication of a personalized recipe book, in which 21 women offer 21 recipes, each one聽accompanied by her life story.
鈥淎bove all, what stands out for me is the joy of these women,聽who 鈥� with their small salary in pocket 鈥� manage to take care of themselves and their whole聽families,鈥� Belahcen Fitzgerald says.
This story was reported by L'Economiste, a news outlet in Morocco. The Monitor is publishing it as part of Impact Journalism Day, an international effort by more than 50 news organizations worldwide to promote solutions journalism. To read other stories in this joint project organized by Paris-based , please click here.
