Written by Lisa Robinson-Spader.

MARRAKECH. The name alone evokes exotic images, and the city does not disappoint. The city was surprisingly clean, and, particularly in historical Medina, I encountered architectural beauty at each new turn. The air was filled with the enticing aromas of slow-cooked tagines and freshly squeezed pomegranate juice sold from push carts. Prayer rugs were periodically unfurled in random places as vendors momentarily paused their activity to honor God with their prayers. Except for an occasional beggar, one might not even notice the poverty hidden among the fringes of the city, out of the tourist’s eye.

The purpose of my visit was to get to know Nora, the gentle, soft-spoken founder of Amal, which means “Hope” in Arabic. Amal is an organization that helps desperately poor and vulnerable women by training them for six months in the food industry and then helping to place them in permanent jobs. Each story is different, but a common thread is that a woman, often a single or widowed mother of young children, is alone and has no hope as she struggles to survive with no education.

Zineb, for example, came from a large family in a rural Moroccan village. Her father, too poor to feed all his children, told her one day that he was taking her on a vacation. She excitedly packed her few belongings, but instead of a vacation, her father took her to a city and left her at a house to work as a domestic. She was 6 years old.

Such jobs typically involve long hours, hard work, and meager pay (her family received about $20/month for her labor). Worse, domestics are often treated harshly and are vulnerable to sexual abuse. Several times she escaped and returned to her family, but they ignored her pleas and sent her back. Abandoned by her family and unable to endure the harsh conditions any longer, she ran away and drifted from city to city, begging and pursuing odd jobs to survive. Eventually she gave birth to a daughter as a single mother, cementing her position as a social outcast. Hope finally came in the form of Amal where she trained for six months and now has a stable job at a riad. In the process, she also regained her smile!

Amal has about 100 applicants each semester for 30 training positions. Only the poorest, most vulnerable women are chosen, but with two semesters each year, this provides new hope and life for 60 women a year. They are given a small stipend during their training and help, if needed, for their children to attend school. In addition to restaurant skills, the women are taught basic French and English (important for work in the tourist industry), math, hygiene, interviewing practice, and other key job-strengthening skills. The work of Amal is powerful because it doesn’t just provide job training. It provides a sense of community, a family, that supports and loves the women through the difficult circumstances of their lives.

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