Poverty and begging

Beggars are everywhere in Morocco, either reserved, when begging from other Moroccans, sometimes too strong or aggressive towards tourists. It is probably the tourist’s most common complaint, the feeling of being chased, perhaps assaulted, mainly by groups of children, but also by adults. One common trick is to offer to guide you, and then claim payment.

What should be clear is that begging is not targeted only at tourists. Almsgiving, or zakat, is one of the pillars of Islam, a holy duty for any Muslim. This charity is distributed through mosques, through shoura (or dime, the redistribution of one tenth of the profits), or simply by giving in the street. It means that a beggar asking a Moroccan will easily receive one or two dirhams, or at least a blessing when one does not want to give. When the European passes by, saying nothing, the response may be uneasy – as it may be if you give, but too much.

Yes, it is possible to give too much, or not to give in the right way, or to the wrong people, and support begging. This is what triggers abuses, concentrated where tourists are.
It is unfortunately true that begging is becoming a profession for many children, or at least a recurrent activity, because the tourists don’t hesitate to give a euro, simply because they are “cute”, because they ask for it, or even just to get rid of them. When people refuse to give money, children will ask for a pencil or a school notepad. Most of them will be sold. Tourists distributing such things to children, encouraging them in this activity, disrupt the traditional family and its values.
The man who offers to guide you is working. He expects a little money, a few dirhams, even if he is totally useless. That’s what he would receive from a Moroccan. If you don’t want him to guide you, be clear and strong from the beginning, don’t let him follow you. Say, "Allah y thel" (Allah will provide), “Je ne te donnerai rien”. Or the magical word “Sir, sir”….

When you want to give something, remember that a manual worker earns 50 dirhams a day, and make your donation consistent with this salary, not with your own standard of living.
You will often see poor people, men and women, pass by restaurant tables, with one or two plastic bags, and ask for leftovers. It might be shocking to your eyes, but what is really shocking is that are so poor they need to do that, not the fact that they collect food. Once again, food in Morocco is quite holy, and never thrown away. You can give them your bread, or the meat you have not eaten: if you don’t, the restaurant owner will do it for you.

You can also contact the school teacher, the cadi of a village, and trust them to distribute what you brought. They know who needs what.

To make a short summary, you should :

• understand that begging is everywhere, and not a special treat for tourists only
• keep small coins with you, 1 or 2 dirham, to be able to distribute them in the street
• not hesitate to give food when you’re in a restaurant
• never give to a child (except in payment for some work, like car-washing), but always to an adult.

The Mezgarne Oasis has founded an association, Ayour de Mezgarne (the Moon of Mezgarne), which organizes distribution of food and clothes to the nomads in jebel M’Goun, Kissan and Sagro, and supports the school in the nearby village of Timganine. If you wish, you can take part, during a tour, either by bringing clothes, books or school material, or buying food in Morocco.

Photography

Taking photos of people, especially women, can be difficult, or very easy. There is no rule about it. Islam forbids representations of the living, to avoid any risk of idolatry. This ban is followed only loosely (after all, everyone watches TV, and every shop has a portrait of the King), and what you can do depends on where you are, who is looking at you, how old are the people you want to shoot, what gender, and, of course, how you interact. A young girl may happily let you shoot her when she is with friends, will even ask you to, but would refuse in front of her parents.

A little bit of common sense: would you like a stranger to appear, when you’re sitting at a café terrace, or waiting for the bus, say nothing, but take a photo of you and leave?

So, don’t behave this way. Take time to talk with people, ask them if you can take the photo, accept their refusal, and you’ll be able to have beautiful portraits. If a woman does not want to be taken in a scene you’re shooting, she will turn or cover her face. You can take your photos, she will patiently wait for you to finish.

To pay or not to pay ?

You have to pay dancers or water-sellers on Jemaa El Fna square in Marrakech, no choice. They will pose a few seconds, and ask strongly for their 5 euros (which is a racket), and hearing their voice, you’ll discover these tall and beautiful women are men. And the supposed water-sellers are selling their image only.
You can also give something to the earthenware trader who has displayed a wonderful assortment you have turned around for 15 minutes without buying anything; the man with a snake or monkey, who let you take photos (the problem there is more of protecting animals, and supporting not such displays), or the goatherd who did his best to have the beast climbing at the best place in the Argan tree. They will ask for it, why not? They are here to work and make money, not just display things to make nice pictures. The goatherd is not obliged to push the goats for your convenience (if he didn’t, don’t pay him), and what kind of pictures would you have had without the pottery? But a few dirhams are enough.
Give money to the same water-seller in a small market in the south, the child who demanded 1 euro one minute before, the woman driving her donkey and shouting at you because you did not yet pay her is another thing, that we personally refuse. It is a kind of begging. But you can always offer to take their address, and send them the picture – that will be highly appreciated.
And if you want to sell your pictures, don’t forget to ask permission. The right to one’s image exists in Morocco too, and there have already been a few disputes.

Taking care of your material

When going to the desert, the best way to protect your gear remains gaffer or duct tape on all openings. And a turban, wrapped around your camera when you’re not using it, or to protect it when changing film. Warning – zoom lenses are real dust-catchers! When using re-usable batteries or digital gear, take an electrical adapter with you. In some places, inns have power for only a few hours a day, and it’s nice to be able to charge up all your batteries with the only plug in the room. In such case, power is provided by an electro-group. At the beginning the power provided wan have great irregularities, so wait a quarter of an hour before using it.
If using roll-film, you can get it processed without too much risk in the big cities, choosing shops with express-delivery machines. Be careful of the small ones, and also if you need to buy more film. It may have suffered from the heat, and have colour shift even when the expiry date is far in the future.
At the airport, never check in your exposed film, always take it as hand luggage. The scanning of hand luggage is not risky for film under 1600 ISO, even if put through two or three times. If they have to be scanned more often, ask kindly for a hand search, explaining why.

A Few Words

Three languages are spoken in Morocco, Arabic, French and Berber. Here are few useful words :.