Interview 13 – Waiting for Change

Can you tell me about your background

I grew up here in Haj Kaddor. I married an old man, and he left me 18 years ago with these cows. I have no children.

What are your working hours?

We go out, collect what we can, come back home, then go out again. I do some cleaning at home when i have some breaks. It’s continuous work throughout the day

How long have you worked like this?

I’ve been taking care of my cows for about 18 years

Can you explain your work?

These lands belong to the State (makhzen), not to us. We just use them temporarily, until a certain time. We don’t own anything. We buy fodder and feed for the animals, and we let them graze. 

We milk the cows in the morning, throughout all the seasons, day and night, taking care of the cows, then I sell milk to a guy who buys from all the douar.

What’s your main concern about your informal work?

I can’t access social security.
They told me I needed conditions — like having a husband registered, or certain documents. I couldn’t meet those conditions. I just stayed at home.

I used to take care of cows. We sold the milk and consumed some ourselves. But we never progressed… we stayed stuck.

Would you like the formalisation of the economy?

I didn’t know anything about these things before. I have my sisters and brohters they take care of me and always ask after me, there is nothing that is truly pleasing

Are you part of a Cooperative?

they buy milk from us at a very low price. But it let’s us survive. We are from the douar… we just live like this. We manage day by day, just trying to survive.

How important is water in your work?

We bring water from the nearest house. From the neighbours water well. They told us that the state is going to find a solution, but we are still waiting.

Is a formalised job a possibility for you in Morocco?

I never taught of working elsewhere i just couldn’t, the only work available here for men and women is going to others field to collect fruits or vegetables, i heard that olives pay good this year