Is there any hope for Berber Women to live like other business women?

Yes, many berber women go to cities to find modern jobs.

Why can't Berber women get a job somewhere else?

They do, many berber women go to cities to find new jobs, however in my presentation I was talking about the women who live the old way.

Do you think Berber women enjoy their life or do you think they want to change?

It all depends on the person. Some women like living this way, but I'm sure some want to change.

Why don't people try to become doctors to support their village?

Perhaps because they do not have the money to study medicine, colleges and schools cost a lot.

Why don't berber Women look for a better life such as working in towns like Rabat or Casablanca or Marrakech?

They, do many Berber women emigrate to Cities like Rabat or Casablanca to look for new better lives.

Summary

Berber Women Summary

Whilst presenting my keynote presentation on Berber women, I will be talking and explaining to you about the lives of the Berber women, their clothes, work, marriage, education, health, leisure activities – and most importantly, how old traditions of Berber women are slowly fading while western traditions are dominating the looks, behavior and lifestyle of these women. I will also be talking about why or why not this culture should be preserved.

Today, in the 21st century Berber women enjoy more freedom. They often leave their Berber villages to live in big cities, in a more westernized culture leaving behind their old traditions. At the end of this presentation I will be talking about if this culture should be preserved, hopefully by the end you will have a vague idea of why or why not it should be kept, but that choice is up to you. Now, some Berber women still live the traditional way. They either do not have the money and resources to live a modern life, or they simply want to live their way. For most of the rest of the presentation I will talk about the lives of these women that chose to live the old way.

Traditional Berber women wore kaftans, veils (also known as head scarves), jewelry and henna – a plant that is used to dye the skin and it is said that it keeps away bad luck. Jewelry is mostly made of silver and is always large and bulky because large pieces of jewelry show that you are wealthy.

Berber women need to work very hard to support their families. The men are out herding flocks of sheep or goat for most of the time so women have to guard the village as well. Their work includes planting and harvesting crops, taking care of the children and elderly. Their workday is often extended and harsh.

As for health, If any there are barely any doctors near remote Berber villages. Dirty water, poor sanitation and malnutrition are very common problems Berbers face. Many newborn babies also die because of poor sanitation during birth. Berber women often spent their free time chatting with relatives or playing with children. They do not usually have lots of free time.

I think we should do all in our power to try to preserve this culture, because it's a very rich one, and it's an important part of the identity of the Berber people, so if the culture of these people is gone, they would lose their identity as well - they would not be who they actually are.

The Berber Origins

The Berber culture is great and has a very rich history. No one knows exactly where the berbers came from. Today, there are four theories on who the Berbers are and how they came to be in Morocco. One of them is that they were Palestinian tribe whose chief was Goliath. After Goliath was killed by David, the tribe fled westwards toward Morocco. Another theory saisthat they were a Central Asian tribe that migrated into Africa around 650 - 600 Before Christ. There is another story on where the berbers come from. One day, - Ifrikos the king of Yemen invaded north africa and found people speaking an incomprehensible tongue. He called them "Berbera" , which means "A mixture of incomprehensible words". When the Romans came they found the same people speaking the same tongue. They called them "Barbari" for barbarians. This is how these people got the name "Berbers".

My Life in Morocco

I came to Morocco about three years ago, because of my parent’s job. Although my parents have been dragging me around the world most of my life, I spent four years of my life in my homeland, Croatia. There, I was free, I could go anywhere alone in the city on foot, or with a tramway. I went to school alone, It was just a ten minute walk from my apartment. Here I can’t go anywhere on foot, I have to use a car for everything. And guess what, I can’t drive! In Croatia I could leave for a walk or go to the park whenever I wanted, here, in Morocco, Im behind this wall all the time in my house or at school. The only thing i come out for is school, which i go to in a car. It’s like prison.

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog!

I have just recently came back from my school trip to the Atlas Mountains. The Atlas Mountains are the home of the berbers, an interesting culture in North Africa. You will read about the Berber Culture in this blog. During the trip we stayed in a small Berber village called Imlil. Is was made of small mud houses, and the rooms were very small.






A map of the berber village, Imlil where we stayed.
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