Handira

Fatima Ait El Hajj

Fatima is a native of Sidi Yahya Ou Youssef. She lives with her two daughters and has two sons who do small construction work in the city of Tetouan. Her husband works multiple small jobs to make ends meet. Fatima learned how to weave, when she got married at the age of 20, from her mother and other young brides. She makes rugs that are specific to her village of Zaouia. She joined the weaver’s association in 2012 to improve her family’s living conditions. Through weaving, she hopes to afford a heart surgery needed to treat her heart condition.

Fatema Amlih

Fatema is a native of Sidi Yahya Ou Youssef. She has two sons and a daughter. Before getting married she moved with her sister to another village for a few months, where she learned how to weave from other young women. When she moved back to her village, to start her own family, she continued to weave to decorate her home and make warm clothes for her kids. She makes Handira rugs, which the women of Zaouia are known for. This is Fatema’s first time weaving for a commercial purpose. She decided to join the association in 2012, when she heard about Anou and the opportunity it gave the local weavers in her village. With almost no income at all, Fatema has a hard time paying for her diabetes medicine. She hopes that her weaving skills will allow her to comfortably pay for her medicine, as well as get her own place where she can live with her husband and kids.