“We Do What We Can” by Ariel Barbieri-Aghib

by tuftsigl
Aug 23

Upon my arrival to the states after my research in morocco, I realized how much I had learned from my research. While I was comparing the United States to morocco in terms of making an indigenous language a second official language, I realized how much morocco had done. After speaking to experts and understanding the true struggle the Moroccan population in adopting a new official language, it was made clear that Moroccan society isn't ready for this change, however it is imperative. In order for morocco to continue advancing in the world, it must address its indigenous populations struggles. The struggles of being recognized as official, as well as not being discriminated against.

The efforts that king Mohammed has made are very notable; he has made steps no other king has made. I'm excited to see how this amendment will change the general atmosphere, and how It will improve--or deteriorate-- the situation for the Amazigh in Morocco.

When I interviewed different members of government entities, I received many similar answers, ranging from “we do what we can” to “the decision lays in the hands of the Moroccan people”. Whereas these are valid responses for a country which is among the more unstable in the world, the ministries in charge of officializing Tamazight into an official language should be pushing for more legislation to be passed if they are truly trying to make it an official language across Morocco.

Since our group was small and we had three very different research projects, we all went to each others interviews, learning alot from each person’s interview. More often than not, the interviewer was able to speak about many different issues, ranging from Amazigh culture to the constitutional reforms (another members project). This allowed us to learn from each other, and expand our knowledge of Moroccan culture as well as the problems within Moroccan society.

Overall, our trip in Morocco was educational and interesting. We learned about Moroccan history, culture, politics, law, and so much more. We also had time to go exploring, such as taking two days in Chefchaouen, the notorious “blue city” in the Rif mountains, and hiking to Akshour, a beautiful hidden waterfall in those mountains. We explored Marrakech and Fes, the cultural capitals of Morocco, and gained experiences that wouldn’t have been possible to acquire had we stayed in the States. For this, I would like to thank the Tufts Institute for Global Leadership for providing this amazing opportunity to us. 

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