aminayabisThanks to the financial and technical assistance of various governmental and non-governmental organizations, the women of the Sefrou region have benefited from Arabic language literacy and numeracy classes, weaving trainings, natural dye techniques, and various business workshops focusing on topics like how to form an association or a cooperative, product development, marketing, and how to adapt new technology.
All of our community outreach activities are coordinated through our sister non-profit organization, the Golden Buttons Association. The association has a membership of approximately 250 women from Sefrou, Bhalil, El Menzel, and other neighboring villages.
The objectives of the association are as follows:
- To train and organize local craftswomen
- To provide technical and professional training to its members through literacy classes, organizing excursions and conferences
- To network with all associations that resemble our association including NGO’s that can help this association directly or indirectly
- To develop productive units for the participants in all sectors, including cooking, weaving, and baking
- To improve access to services for rural women
Workshops are conducted primarily in the Middle Atlas region with one just recently in the Souss region near Taroudannt. Below is a brief slideshow of some of our trainings:
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| Natural Dye Training |
GLOW, Girls Leading Our World
The Golden Buttons Association believes strongly in developing the next generation of women leaders. In collaboration with the Peace Corps, three summer camps have been held over the last three years. The Peace Corps has developed a leadership curricula titled GLOW, Girls Leading Our World, that encourages young girls to think about a future where they will be the next doctors, lawyers, politicians, star athletes, and business owners of Morocco. Below is a brief slideshow of our latest camp.
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| Camp GLOW – Girls Leading Our World |
Cultural Exchange
Over the last year, we welcomed a number of groups to Sefrou who were interested in getting to know Moroccan culture and history first-hand. Our first group was led by Morocco Exchange, a cross-cultural education non-profit with the aim of “building bridges of genuine human connection between the Muslim and Western worlds”. The second group was a group of high school students led by the organization Where There Be Dragons. Lastly, we hosted a delegation from the Center for Women and Democracy. For each of our groups, we conducted classes teaching the art of our hand-knotted buttons taught by our cooperative members. We also held a number of dialogues about the challenges Moroccan women face in establishing and maintaining a successful cooperative.
If you are passing through Sefrou, please let us know. We would happy to arrange a button-learning class that can also be combined with a luncheon. A portion of the class fees are donated back to the Golden Buttons Association. Class fees vary on the size of the class. Please contact us for further information.
Below is an album of past classes:
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| Button Classes |
