Last Thursday (26th June), the women’s group at Centre Amane celebrated the end of the year together with a Saharan-style party.
The women’s group decided to organise the party in a typical Saharan style and had divided up the tasks to evenly contribute to the organisation and the running of the event. Each woman took a role during the party: preparing the food or the tea, decorating the room, gathering the materials and ingredients, and cleaning the room after the party. All the women actively and very successfully contributed to the running of the event.
For the occasion, the room where the women’s group usually takes place at centre Amane was laid out with traditional carpets on the floor. All the women and the staff at the centre dressed with a malhaf, the typical Saharan piece of clothing. The women also prepared henna and Soumya, a member of the team at Centre Amane, decorated the women’s arms and feet with it during the party. The group sang and danced to typical Saharan music, and, as part of the tradition, a basket full of traditional beauty products was passed around the room, which included perfume, kohl (eyeliner), cream, siwak (an herb used for dental hygiene) and infusions.
During the party, a short Powerpoint presentation was shown to the group, to share the pictures from this year’s activities at the centre and outings. Then the food the women had prepared, including ruisa (typical Moroccan dish), cakes, msemna (Moroccan pancakes), dates, nuts, almonds, popcorn, and Saharan tea were served.
It was a great occasion to celebrate such a successful year together in the women’s group. Furthermore, even though during the holy month of Ramadan Moroccan women are very busy with work, family and the preparation of all the food to break fast, they have decided to break fast together at Centre Amane on the 12th day of Ramadan, as during this month it is particularly important to spend time with family and friends.