Btaniya

Aicha Blaid

Aicha was born in 1966 in the valley of Ait Binamar in the village of Enjil. She is married and moved with her husband to Ait Hamza, and is the mother of five children. Aicha never had the opportunity to attend school, and learned how to weave from her mother since the time that she was a little girl. All of the women of her village were expected to weave and learn household duties rather than attend school. Aicha is one of the founders of the Tawnza Cooperative, and hopes that it continues to grow and develop. She is looking forward to when the women will be able to collaborate on new and unique design while the larger artisan market learns about the traditional designs of this province through the cooperative's work. She looks forward to being able to earn a fair, sustainable autonomous income.

Itto Afkir

Afkir born in 1950 in the village of Ait Ihya, where she has lived her whole life. Earlier in her life she was married and had one daughter, who has now completed her education and is training to become a social worker. Afkir attended school for two years, but at that time, it was not common or accepted for girls to attain an education. Instead, Afkir was expected by her family, especially her father, to learn household duties and animal husbandry skills. As a nine year old girl, she learned the skills of weaving from her mother. She was married twice, the first time when she was 16 to a 60 year old man, who she then divorced. The second time she was married was when she was 32 to a man that she also divorced. At the time of her second divorce, she needed to devote her time to her ill parents while her husband expected her to attend to his family. Afkir has extensive experience in weaving, first with her mother and then with her growing family, and she has earned multiple awards from the Ministry of Handicraft. She hopes that her cooperative continues to grow and develop while the women of the village gain access to larger market spaces. Like she taught many women to weave, she hopes that the women of her cooperative will too teach the next generation of weavers to carry on the tradition of weaving.