Research Field Trip to Marrakesh HOURIA meets AMAL
“I feel a little more fearless in change-making and making decisions that might take us into new territory. Amal has given a brilliant ‘living-breathing’ lesson in how to be responsive to external forces and use challenges as a slingshot for really positive change and growth.”
- Saskia Fitzpatrick, Operations Manager, Houria
Our visit to Marrakech was something I was particularly excited about, for a few reasons. It was going to be my first trip to Africa since graduating with my MSc in International Relations & Affairs in 2021, and I was keen to immerse myself in the culture.
We were travelling to spend time with an organisation that seemed like Houria in so many ways, that it felt really uncanny. We were booked in to spend the day with Amal, a not-for-profit organisation whose mission is to provide a safe and loving space where strong, resilient women can rewrite their narratives. Like Houria, Amal provides a cooking based training programme and package of support that supports women in vulnerable situations, helping build confidence, hope and a future where they can better reach their full potential.
Kim taking instruction and learning from one of Amal’s Students
Amal is Arabic for HOPE where Houria is Arabic for FREEDOM. Right down to the brand colours and the leadership of a passionate founder, our organisations had so much in common and I was intrigued to finally meet the team and see how they did things.
Amal’s Founder, Nora Fitzgerald Belahcen created Amal from her own kitchen – just like Houria’s founder Kim – back in 2013. Today Amal has helped over 300 women graduate through their programme, and established a designated cooking centre and restaurant.
Myself, Kim and Eddy travelled by tuk-tuk out of the Medina to the outskirts of the city to their cooking centre and on arrival were met by a coordinator from Amal. We were made very welcome and joined other visitors – mainly from America and Australia - who were booked to attend one of Amal’s cookery classes, which were facilitated by Amal’s ‘students’; the women on the programme.
In the kitchen two of Amal’s students taught us how to make a range of dishes, and I was guided through how to make a vegetarian tagine. I was struck by how thoughtful and deliberate each step in the process was, right down to the proper way to prepare and cut the vegetables.
The ingredients were very basic but when brought together, lined in the tagine and with an added blend of spices and oils, it all came together. I really enjoyed cooking over the coal fire and tending to it with my little hand bellows.
The three of us took a break from cooking for a tour around Amal’s beautiful little gardens, where they grow all of their herbs and other ingredients, such as lemon geranium, lemongrass, beetroot, tomatoes, parsley and of course mint! It was here that we were encouraged to pick some herbs to put into the communal teapot for a tea ceremony. Seeing the team growing their own spices and herbs was very inspiring and I couldn’t help but daydream about a time when we might be in a position to do the same.
Saskia cooking on the traditional coal fire
We were all given traditional long gowns to wear and invited for tea, where our host for the day explained all about Amal’s work; their projects, funding, who they help, and how they partner with others to help in times of great need. Earthquake Relief was one such organisation Amal were currently working in partnership with, on a side project that was set up in response to the devastating Earthquake that hit the area in September of 2023. Many local people lost their lives and their homes, and Amal has been working to help build new wooden houses in the mountains for the people who lost their homes.
It really struck me how established and deep Amal’s roots must go, to be able to respond in the way that they are alongside their main charitable remit. It was hugely inspiring. Amal’s partnerships work reaffirmed my appetite to deepen our working partnerships with organisations like Unseen, Bristol’s foremost modern slavery charity. We have had plans to do more together and this visit has refuelled our commitment to starting to deliver some of these plans.
Everyone came together to share the dishes we had all created
After the tea ceremony it was time to eat the food we had prepared. We were fortunate enough to be joined by Amal’s founder Nora, who ate and spent over several hours talking with us. She shared her story on how she set-up the not-for-profit organisation, and the struggles she had encountered. I was so grateful for her generosity of knowledge; she shared some wisdom on overcoming the sorts of struggles that we ourselves at Houria had experienced and a lot of what she had to say really resonated.
One of the key things Nora shared was around the uncertain future of an organisation; she reminded us that you can’t predict what happens next. It could be a Covid outbreak or it might be an earthquake; there are so many uncertainties in life, and being a social enterprise and/or not-for-profit makes it really hard to know what to expect next. Flexibility is key, but it is harder to survive if you aren’t a big corporation or have a large contingency fund. It felt reassuring that working in this sector is just hard, and that we are not alone in our challenges at times.
Another insight that Nora shared about her own learning journey was around how ‘success’ is different for everyone. When you are working with and for women from different cultures, every woman has their own idea of what success looks like for them. Helping women to be independent and get a job might be ideal for some, but some of the women Nora has worked with didn’t want a job out of it, they were happy to learn the skills on the program and return to be homemakers. That was part of their success story. It was good to be reminded that support needs to be tailored to every Student. To every Sister. Everyone has different ideas of where they want their future to be.
From left: Kim, Amal’s Coordinator, Founder Nora and Saskia
Now we are home, both myself and Kim have been absorbing all we have seen and learnt, and thinking about how we can use that to improve and build upon Houria’s strong foundations. It feels quite special to have made a connection with the brilliant women at Amal and it certainly feels like we have an extended sisterhood now. It will take a few more days to unpack it all but it has enlivened us to think about what might be possible. I feel a little more fearless in change-making and making decisions that might take us into new territory. Amal has given a brilliant living-breathing lesson in how to be responsive to external forces and use challenges as a slingshot for really positive change and growth.
If you are in a position to be able to give a donation to Amal, to help them with the current earthquake response, please, please do. I cannot tell you how much work there is to do in helping their vulnerable mountain community to rebuild their homes and their lives. And if you happen to be planning a trip to Marrakech anytime soon, you MUST book on to their cookery classes. These classes are open to anyone who wishes to visit Amal’s centre and learn how to make authentic, delicious local cuisine from the women there.
You can find out more and donate to them here: Amal: Empowering women one meal at a time (amalnonprofit.org)