AMAL
Few doors are open to Moroccan women who are orphaned, widowed, divorced, handicapped, or are single mothers. In some cases, they are stigmatized, so their lives can be desperately difficult. Each day, our Global Pearls partner Nora Fitzgerald would pass one such woman who sat begging with her young children: “Her children were the same age as my own, but she was struggling to make 2-3 dollars a day to keep them alive. My heart broke, and I couldn’t NOT do something.” Pondering how to help that woman and others like her become financially independent, Nora conceived and, in 2013, founded Amal (Hope)– a non-profit restaurant which serves as a training center to teach disadvantaged women how to cook and bake. After eight months of training, the women find permanent employment in restaurants, hotels, riads, and private homes. In 2023, Nora won the “World’s 50 Best” award as a “Champion of Change” for her work using culinary training to help disadvantaged women in Morocco.
In addition to cooking skills, Amal’s trainees learn life skills, receive French lessons, and build their self-confidence. In gratitude for this opportunity, they have decided, on their own, to start giving to others. Without any help from Nora, Amal, or Global Pearls, these women pool contributions from their small earnings to buy ingredients, then periodically cook and serve meals at an institution for the destitute in Marrakech. They no longer see themselves as victims or as helpless, marginalized women. They see themselves as overcomers who are now in a position to help others. Nora aptly refers to them as Amal’s Champions.
This attitude extends broadly to others during seasons of trouble, as the Amal team loves to use food as a gift of love and hope. During Covid shutdowns, Amal provided a month of food staples to 2,000 families in Marrakech. After the earthquake, they provided 19,000 meals, 2.5 tons of fresh vegetables each week, and kitchen supplies for 630 families. Some Amal staff were sleeping outside after the quake because their homes were unsafe, but they still showed up ready to cook thousands of meals for people who were even worse off. And each Ramadan season, they assemble and distribute food baskets to hundreds of needy families. Amal believes that spreading their love to others who are hurting is an important extension of their work.
More recently, Amal has chosen to develop a special partnership with Koutoubia Deaf School. In Morocco, few programs exist to teach sign language, so children who are deaf often live very isolated lives, having limited communication even with their parents. To address this need, an amazing woman, Hafsa, started a part-time school for the deaf in Marrakech where she taught without pay for 18 years. Now partnering with Amal, the school finally has some support. Amal funds teachers and needed school supplies, and they are developing ways to help graduating students become economically self-sufficient, such as the Deaf Café and coffee carts. They even made summer camp possible for the Koutoubia community. The deaf children traveled with their teachers from Marrakech to Tangiers, swam in the ocean for the first time in their lives, and participated in many fun activities. Hope and joy are essential components of every child’s life.
