Zahra was born in Ouarzazate in the mid 70's and is married with three children. While she did not attend school, she is currently studying at a local center to learn how to read and write. Her primary source of income is through the sales of her rugs. She learned how to weave from her mom and now specializes in weaving and design at the association.
Mouzil Zehra 38 years old, born in Lmdina village, married and has 3 kids. Zehra didn’t go to school but was able to attend literacy classes; she learned weaving from early age form her mother. Her specialty is making carpets and drawing on it. From her income she helps her family and she wished to have a prosperous future for this craftsman.
Biya was born in the late 60's and has lived in the Ouarzazate region all her life. While she never studied in school, today she is enrolled in literacy classes at an association. Biya is married and has four children.
Fatima was born in Aguim and moved to the Ouarzazate region when she married. Today, her and her husband have five children. Fatima specializes in all the types of rugs the association makes.
Born and bred in the area, Fatima Ben Hssayene is married to a local farmer and has a son and three daughters. While her eldest daughter is working in a driving school, her younger children are still studying - her son being at university and her youngest daughters in high school.
And altough Fatima only reached the 5th grade, she has learned her craft since early childhood from her mother, perpetuating a longstanding tradition that has been passed on from one generation to another. She had wished to pass it on to her daughters but they were reluctant to invest so much time and effort into learning her intricate craft because it is excessively hard to make a living from it.
She is really happy to work at her local cooperative because it has been a constant source of creativity and improvement of her own work mainly thanks to the different exchanges with the other women.
She really wishes that the association will prosper so that it can have a big working space with all the necessary equipment available for the women. On a more personal side, she would like to be able to find a religious mentor to help her better understand and follow the righteous path.
Each Zerbya, or pile knot rug, reflects designs that blend the designs of the association's president with the colors and symbols commonly found throughout the Ouarzazate region.
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