The first fair was Peace Corps sponsored, Marche Maroc Essaouira, which took place July 7th-10th, 2011. In preparation for this fair, I created business cards, product tags and a brochure for the Cooperative. Keeping sustainability of these new marketing items top priority, I took Rebha two hours away to the nearest professional printer and we spent quality time there making sure she knew what was what on the USB and how to request copies printed, etc... Eventually, I will teach her how to change the informational content too, but we have to start with basic computer skills later this year.
As for the craft fair, it was the same story as all the other Peace Corps sponsored Marche Maroc's; guaranteed sales to other Peace Corps volunteers, their families and staff, but this time next to the beach. We did okay financially at the fair, but it just simply isn't sustainable sales outlet. We did have our second ever non-Peace Corps related sale at the fair, which was a small relief.
On a side note, I really enjoyed returning to Essaouira, it is a fantastic old city. However, I wouldn't recommend going for the beach alone, unless you enjoy wind sports as it's known as Morocco's 'Windy City' and it's a bit of a sandstorm.
On the 14-hour bus ride to Essaouira, I gave Rebha a nicely bound notebook I'd brought with me from the USA and explained that it was for the Cooperatives money records. Up until that fair, there were absolutely no sales or financial records for the co-op, beside from the ones in Rebha's head. The Cooperative pays for Rebha's travel to and from the fairs and her meals each day, and so I explained that to prevent any confusion about finances with the women, there should be a record that the women can look at and see whenever they want.
The book came in as a handy visual aid at the end of the next craft fair, which was in Tinghir. This was a Ministry sponsored craft fair (the one Rebha networked and found out about at the Rose Festival), which took place July 19th-29th, 2010. This was a loooong craft fair, in both hours and days. It was open from 9am until 11pm each day. To make it even longer, the Ministry failed to advertise the craft fair, at all. So until the weekend, when the locals got word of the event, no one came and I mean not a single person. Over the ten days, we ended up selling two carpets for half price. The meals and transport ended up being more money than the Cooperative actually has, and now we are operating at a loss. Brilliant.
Rebha realizes the situation, but she doesn't seem to be grasping the big picture, as I'm currently trying to play devil's advocate with her, as she tries to persuade me that we should go to Zagora next month, for another Ministry sponsored craft fair...I'm still focused on getting them exporting. Rebha has also come up with two new ideas to expand their product line; shoes and bags. She made friends with a man called Murad, who makes shoes, while we were at the fair in Tinghir. They discussed the possibility of incorporating small samples of carpets into his sandals. As he works with leather, they also discussed the possibility of leather messenger bags with a carpet sample incorporated into the from flap. I had suggested this to Rebha when I first came into site, but she didn't think much of the idea then. I'm glad she has come around though, as I believe the bags will sell very well if they are made to hold a laptop.
Not much progress elsewhere with the Cooperative, thanks to the slow times of Ramadan...which I'll fill you in on soon!
Miriam x
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| Essaouira |
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| Rebha at the beach (she is terrified of the water) |
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| Cooperative Chorouk's Booth |
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| Working on a sale |
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| Moroccan Horse Trailer going over the Tizi-n-Tishka from Marrakech to Ourzazette |
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| Our booth at the Tinghir Craft Fair |
Such a shame that the overall craft fair scene is such an up hill struggle - but please persevere and hopefully there'll be some rewarding improvements in the near future. Meanwhile some good pics to accompany your piece. Keep going...Granddadxxxxxx
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