Women's Empowerment in Africa

For many, the act of empowerment is one of creation — it is imported into contexts in which it had not previously existed.

This conceptual framework of empowerment, however, is simplistic and fundamentally at odds with the lived reality of many women with whom the High Atlas Foundation engages.

So instead, HAF’s IMAGINE Workshop which nominally seeks to empower women has adopted what can only be described as a sort of enhancement methodology for empowerment.

This workshop intimately understands that women’s strength is already localized within communities and needs only to be enhanced.

For adults, imagination is often seen as a frivolous escape from reality. However, the IMAGINE Workshop implicitly subverts this simplistic understanding of imagination in favor of tools which rely upon the radical and universal power of imagination as articulated through stories and meditation.

Through this program, and specifically through imagination and storytelling, participating women are given the tools to develop their confidence and to amplify and name their agency.

The IMAGINE Workshop’s distinct methodology is clearly demonstrated through the way in which HAF facilitators position themselves in relation to participating women.

In the Melah of Marrakech in late May 2024, HAF facilitators began the workshop by emphasizing that they were not “teachers” but rather “facilitators” who would work to promote mutual learning.

The facilitators, in their own words, were not the only ones with expertise. But this was not a dynamic that was immediately comfortable for the participating women.

Despite first-name introductions, each participant called the facilitators “oustadha,” a term of respect most frequently used for a teacher. And this term was not wholly inaccurate either.

The facilitators asked the group of women to tell their own story of the September 2023 earthquake. As the women narrated their stories one-by-one the facilitators asked questions to draw out details, as a teacher might do.

The facilitators then began to introduce important concepts, asking the participants what they associated with stress and providing the metaphor of elasticity to describe a sustainable path through life.

During the first morning, the facilitators were emphatically the experts and the participants were the students. In short, it became clear that mutual learning was an aspiration not an easily assumed reality.

By the fourth and final day, however, this community had blossomed into a space that transcended the teacher-student divide.

The facilitators were no longer the only people dispensing advice. In fact, the school-room-like silence of the first morning had entirely been replaced by a cacophony of voices and laughter. With each imaginative exercise, the women had created a community based on shared learning.

Through guided meditation, participants accessed their imaginations and began a process of self-discovery. They illustrated discipline and commitment and support systems in various hues of colored pencils. They named what made them powerful and what made them feel unpowerful.

They visualized living creatures whom they asked for advice in understanding their spiritual gifts. And by the fourth day, they had begun to carry these drawings, words, and visualizations into their daily lives.

Consider Halima, one of the participants. She has recently moved to Marrakech after growing up in a small town. She is a single mother of two boys ages ten and sixteen.

One of the things from which she derives strength is healthy food including tagines, kefta, and vegetables. She prefers tea — without sugar — to coffee because it is less sugary. And unsurprisingly, fries are very much on the “forbidden” food list for her children.

When the facilitators conducted guided meditation, Halima saw nothing but darkness in her “support system room” which reminded her of how the people she has loved have let her down. But the facilitators helped her realize how the darkness was not as empty as it first seemed.

As a single mother, she had spent years dedicating herself to her children’s futures, endeavoring to support them in the way she had never been supported. This, more than any personal support system, was a well of strength from which she could draw agency and power.

Halima, and the other women of this workshop, already embody strength and resilience in the face of great difficulty. They do not need power to be given to them but rather to have the power that is already inside them amplified and named.

As such, empowerment, according to the workshop, is not something which must be manufactured. It is as innate as imagination and must simply be carefully enhanced.

In the IMAGINE women’s workshop that we visited this week, the facilitators of the High Atlas Foundation used balloons to represent stress.

This simple yet effective tool provided me with a tangible way to visualize and cope with the pressures of acclimating myself in Morocco.

Balloons have always been a symbol of happiness and celebration, but having a new perspective of these objects was intriguing. Fill the balloon with too much air, it will pop.

If the balloon doesn’t have enough air, it’s incomplete. I’m currently trying to navigate the fluctuations of my balloon and the way that it will carry me throughout my study abroad journey.

Arriving in Morocco was an enlightening, yet overwhelming experience. The initial days were filled with new surroundings, diverse people and honestly a new sense of freedom.

It was much like the sensation of floating inside a balloon and seeing the world from a new perspective. However, the balloon of my stress began to inflate gradually.

The culture shock was fascinating, as we navigated through the bustling souks of the Medina, understanding Darija and French and adjusting to a new way of life. Amidst the stress of it, there was a sense of adventure and excitement that came with exploring a country that I’ve always wanted to visit.

To prevent my balloon from bursting completely, I first attempted to establish some sense of stability like I would back at home.

We’ve discussed the importance of structure and organization in one of our first classes and wanted to put that in practice.

I started going on daily runs so that I’m still remaining active, I would always text my family group chat on What’s UP (inside joke), and Jhordawna would always play music in the morning to start the day that reminded me of the dynamic that my family has back in Connecticut.

Little practices that we’ve implemented allowed me to slowly deflate my balloon and slowly let out the stress that tried to trickle back into my space.

One of the vital sources of stress was the process of making new friends with people I hardly know. Each attempt I made to connect with other people felt like another puff to my balloon.

However, getting out of my comfort zone, making myself known and discovering the city of Marrakech together gradually eased the stress.

Sharing our experiences at the University of Virginia and knowing that some of us have similar academic and career paths helped release some of the accumulated air in the balloons that all of us seemed to have.

Within my first week in Morocco, it has been such a rewarding yet stressful experience. Each facet of the day was brought with a thrill of adventure, yet also the anxiety of the unknown.

I’m constantly adding and releasing air from my balloon. The metaphor provided from the workshop has provided a clear, visual representation of my stress levels, helping me understand when I need to take action to prevent overwhelming pressure.

As I continue to navigate this new chapter, the lessons from this therapeutic tool remain invaluable. With that, I truly imagine myself for the next seven weeks now embracing the fluctuations of my balloons, knowing that each breath (inflating or deflating) is a part of the journey in experiencing a new country.