High Atlas Wedding Trek

On the way to Rebha's parents 

Waterfall next to Rebha's parents' house

Outside her parents' house

Setting off

Easy way up

Two hours in

Three hours in

Rebha's mom baking bread in the outdoor bread oven 

Talk about creative

Abdullah (Rebha's brother), Rebha and her Mom, baking bread on top of the woodstove

A couple weeks ago,  Rebha invited me to join her on a trip into the mountains to her parents' house. Her brother at 44 was to be wed and I was invited to accompany her on a trek to pick up the bride. We left on Tuesday morning and hiked for one and a half hours through the foothills,  to the base of Mascar (the mountain next to Tounfite). Her parents live in a three-room mud house at the very base of the mountain. They live without electricity and the closest neighbor is about a half an hour walk. The pictures I am including don't do the views justice. They have a billion dollar view.  


Upon our arrival we were greeted with massive smiles and hugs to match. Rebha and I drank some tea and refueled ourselves with bread,  olive oil,  butter and fresh walnuts,  before taking a short hike to a nearby waterfall. Upon return to her parents house,  we had lunch which was a tagine of chicken,  carrots,  potatoes,  caramelized onions and raisins. Everything but the raisins was from their garden,  including the chicken.  


After lunch,  we went outside where Rebha's younger brother was waiting with two mules-one for me and one for him,  and a donkey for Rebha. There were blankets for saddles and I was given a very special pair of stirrups (two stirrups connected with rope, hung across the mule). Rebha and her brother rode without such a luxury. We then rode through and along the High Atlas Mountains for four hours to Ait Chaouili a small village nestled in the mountains,  home of Rebha's soon to be new sister-in-law. The ride was breathtaking. Again,  the pictures simply don't do it justice and words can't describe.


Upon arrival at the brides house,  we relaxed for a couple hours,  drinking tea and eating bread with olive oil,  honey and oodi (rancid butter). Around 7pm,  the members of the village began to arrive at the house for the bride's 'leaving' dinner/wedding celebration. Men were in a separate room from women and the arrivals continued for just over two hours. I sat next to Rebha and tried hard to ignore about 50 pairs of eyes staring at me.  Dinner was served once everyone had arrived and we ate tagine followed by couscous, which is two dinners at one time! 


After dinner we sat for another hour or so allowing everyone more time to stare at me. Around 11pm,  the bride joined us (she ate dinner in the kitchen with her mother and sisters) for traditional local wedding rituals. First,  an entire pack of incense was lit on the table next to me. A plate of dates was passed around as Rebha washed the bride's hands and feet with Henna  before presenting her with a new suitcase full of clothes,  shoes,  makeup,  perfume and other bits and pieces for her to take to her new home with Rebha's family. A sheet was placed over the bride and Rebha so that non of us could see them and Rebha helped her change into a new kaftan (fancy dress used for special occasions). The rest of the women were chanting and singing traditional wedding songs throughout the entire event.


Once the bride was changed into her new kaftan,  a few of the women gathered the presents from the suitcase and placed them on large trays. They hoisted the trays on their heads and we all stood and clapped and danced around the bride. It was amazing to be a part of the celebration and rituals, certainly another thing I will never forget. 


As soon as all the guests had left,  Rebha and I made our way outside...most of the houses in the village are without toilets and so we ventured into the darkness to spend a penny before bed. Bed was a pile of blankets on the floor and Rebha, myself and her brother shared a room to sleep. , In the morning,  Rebha and I went on a short walk before breakfast. I took some pictures of the village from the roof of a nearby house and afterwards we returned to the brides house for a breakfast of tea, bread, olive oil and jam...seeing a pattern yet? 


After breakfast,  we went on another walk with one of the bride's little sisters. She showed us around the village and we ended up sitting in a field, next to a tethered mule, talking about work with the Cooperative and beliefs/traditions in Islam vs. culture in the United States. While we were sitting there,  the girl picked a turnip from the field and munched away at it. Without prompting from me, Rebha gave a small lecture about washing the vegetables off before she eats them which made me happy.


Lunch was ready when we got back to the bride's house. We drank soup and ate tagine and then had about three glasses of sweet green tea. After lunch, the girls from the family all gathered to dress the bride up for her journey to her new home at Rebha's parents. She washed her face over a bowl of water and black eyeliner was applied afterwards. The girls loved having their pictures taken and I had to struggle to keep the camera in my hands as they all wanted to look at the pictures. 


We then went outside where the entourage of mules and donkeys were waiting for our journey back to Rebha's parents. The brides parents and uncle joined us on the trek back and the bride rode double with Rebha's younger brother (not the groom as he was not present for any of this). In fact, the bride and groom had never actually spoken, ever. We rode for four hours and while it was even more beautiful on the way back,  with the view of the bride on a mule in front of me,  it was Painful. And I mean I wasn't comfortable at any point during the journey. The four hours the day before were enough to gently bruise my behind, and all I could think of was what the next day would be like after 8 hours of riding in two days...


When we got back we ate more bread, drank more tearelaxed until dinnertime. Dinner was pressure cooked beef and bread. After dinner everyone had an early night as we were all  exhausted from the traveling. The next morning we had breakfast (the usual) and then we pretty much sat around (I sat on a pillow, which still didn't mask the pain) until lunch time. People hiked in from Tounfite and surrounding villages for the 'wedding lunch'. I'm guessing there were about 60 people in total, with the men in one room and women in another. Again, I was stared at the whole time. At one point I went outside to take a phone call and within two minutes I was surrounded by about 15 children staring and giggling at me as I spoke that crazy English language on the phone. There was more sitting and tea drinking after lunch, which led all the way up to dinner (more meat and bread) and then at last, bed. 


During the night a storm rolled in off the mountain and brought with it a thick haze of fog,  which actually filled the house. It woke me up,  but no one else,  as it made breathing slightly difficult for me. I'm guessing the altitude affected me and that they are used to it, but it was certainly bizarre. The storm brought was high winds and rain,  which made the morning hike back to Tounfite pretty miserable. 


I never did see the bride and groom have any kind of interaction,  they were kept in separate rooms the whole time. Rebha told me that later that day, once all the guests had left, they would be able to speak to each other. I know I've been here for a year and had all this time to get used to the concept of arranged marriages, but physically being in the middle of the wedding, I was having a hard time wrapping my head around the whole thing.  


I'll be honest, I got pretty teary eyed on the ride back from the bride's village to Rebha's parents' house. It was a combination of the scenic views, bride wrapped in a wedding blanket on the back of a mule being carried to her new life and home, and the fact that I was a part of all it. I honestly felt like I was a character in a children's story about a princess being taken to her wedding through the mountains on horseback...Then the sweeping realization that it is in fact a true story and I will be able to tell it for the rest of my life...okay...you get me, it was emotional :) 

Brides' Village-Ait Chaouili

Brides' Village-Ait Chaouili

Wedding Rituals

Wedding Rituals

Mama, the bride is in the middle

Singing and Dancing around Mama

Mama, the bride

Holding the brides' presents and singing

Just before the bride leaves for her new home...the orange/yellow sequin dazzleness is a traditional Berber wedding blanket

Taking the bride to her new home

:)

I'll end on a funny note...Rebha's father and grandfather, being so close to the mountains do a lot of hunting. For this, they have hunting dogs to help them bring back their kill. It's so unusual to see purebred dogs in Morocco, as most are crossbred strays since people don't have pets here. Anyways, Rebha's family have two very pretty dogs, which came from France (a friend brought them back as a gift). There is now an adorable puppy who I got to play with for three days before finding out that his name is Booby :) Apparently it's a man's name in French...The women were in hysterics when I showed them what it means in English :)

Much love,

Miriam xXx

The infamous 'Booby'

Maternal Health & Childcare Training

2011 Tounfite Maternal Health & Childcare Training Participants

This is an annual training led by health volunteers in my area, along with the help of volunteers from other sectors, like me. There were seven of us in total, along with my counterpart Rebha, who helped to organize and facilitate the event. The training was the fourth consecutive training of trainers, aimed at addressing the high maternal and infant mortality rates of the High Atlas Mountain region surrounding Tounfite.

Over sixteen women from eleven different douars (tiny villages scattered throughout the mountains) convened for the 3-day training on October 16-24 at the Tounfite Birthing Center. A month or so before the training, we hiked into the surrounding mountains to recruit women for the training. 


The training was funded by a grant from the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF). This allowed us to pay my host family to host the women in their home for the length of the training. It was a lot of work for them as they had over sixteen women to prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner for each day, along with regular daily household chores. They did a brilliant job opening their home to the women. 

Each day after breakfast the women walked to the birthing center for morning training sessions as outlined below. The afternoons were dedicated to review and the practicing of teach backs in small groups, using the information learned in the morning sessions.

Day One: Introductions, Womens Health Problems of the Atlas Region, Purpose of training-Encourage Prenatal & Postnatal Visits at the hospital and the Encourage Giving Birth at the Hospital vs. Home, Womens Anatomy and Sexual Development, Intercourse and Fertility Cycles, Family Planning, Sexually Transmitted Infections

Day Two: Pregnancy, Nutrition, Birthing Process, Newborn and Infant Care, Breast Feeding and Maternal Care

Day Three: Personal Hygiene and Common/Basic Newborn and Infant Illnesses

On the last evening we held a celebration dinner and presented certificates of participation to each of the women. 

                 

The most important part of the training was the opportunity to provide female leaders from rural areas a safe space to discuss sensitive topics from female sexual and reproductive anatomy to proper condom use. Also, a big focus was educating the women on teaching skills; trainees were required to practice, rehearse, and teach back the topics they learned to other trainees. This helped to better prepare the women for the teach backs they will facilitate upon return to their villages.

It was impressive to see the dedication and focus the trainees had in retaining the knowledge they learned and putting it into practice. At one point we observed one trainee speaking to a group of women, who were waiting in line outside the hospital, about the importance of family planning. This was done of her own volition and not prompted by any volunteer or community partner.

The training was huge success and exceeded all of our expectations as volunteers. Many of the women who have participated in the past proclaimed that this year's event was also one of the best organized and most useful. I'm look forward to making visits into the mountains to help the new Rural Health Educators kick-off their first teach-back to other women in their villages.

While the training was on very serious and culturally taboo topics, there were as always, a few humorous moments which I will share with you...


The first was on the second day, when we asked the women as a group, "where do babies come from?" and a few very serious responses were fingers pointed at the sky and the exclamation, 'sug Rrbie' which means 'from God'. Ah, Bless. 

The second was during one of my afternoon small group sessions. I was reviewing family planning with my four women and I asked them to name the four ways to prevent an unwanted pregnancy. We had covered the topic in the morning and the correct answers were; birth control pill, injection birth control, intrauterine device (IUD) and condoms. The women were able to name the first three with ease and then struggled for awhile, before one lovely lady exclaimed, "ariyaz adil3ab duh ixfinus" which literally translates to...'the man should just play with himself.' 
I managed to contain the fit of giggles inside me, until I was back at my house with the other volunteers. 

The Peace Corps Crew

My Afternoon Small Discussion Group

Practicing Teach Backs

My Small Group Presenting their Teach Back Topic

Morning Sessions

Showing the women and IUD

Practicing the Correct Way to Wash Your Hands

Last Evening's Celebration Dinner/Party