Btaniya

Itto Kermouss

Itto was born in 1946 in Ait Hamza where she has lived her entire life, marrying a man from the area. Itto is one of the oldest weavers of the village, learning to weave when she was a young girl, as that was the expected path for girls in the time of her youth. She has taught her daughters how to weave and would be happy to help other young women of the village learn and improve their artisanal skills. Itto feels happy with her life in the village and loves to be part of the weaving community with this new opportunity to sell her products throughout the world.

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.