A day of sharing and solidarity Eid Al Adha in poor Moroccan neighbourhoods

[LalaMimi]

By Karima Rhanem

Rabat --- Eid Al Adha in poor neighbourhoods is special. People show their support and solidarity towards their neighbours. Unemployed young men, kids and teenagers find a way to earn money through grilling the sheep heads and legs. Kids are rushing everywhere in the courtyards of homes, whose doors are widely open for neighbours to exchange El Eid greetings.


Bouâza, 57, accompanied by his younger son Mustapha (10 years), came back home from Al Adha feast prayer around 9.30 am on Jan 21. His wife Khadija and his four daughters were preparing breakfast and arranging all kinds of kitchen appliances used especially for this occasion.



Their neighbours’ children were rushing in and out of the house as the door was wide open, looking at the small sheep tied to the window in the corner of the courtyard. The children could not stop imitating the sheep bleating.



“Baaa, baaa, hi Masoud, baaaaaaaaaa,” said a kid, calling the sheep ‘Masoud’. Another kid took the hay trying to feed Masoud.

The house was full of visitors who came in to exchange El Eid greetings. Following a late breakfast, the house became, eventually, calm as all the neighbours went to slaughter their sheep. You could barely hear Khadija asking her husband “now, who will slaughter our sheep?”



In front of the house, neighbourhood boys, who had spent the whole week selling packs of hay to feed sheep for their final days, were now supervising the barbecue charcoal, used to grill the sheep’s heads. Knife-sharpeners had joined the butchers and the neighbouring volunteers to slaughter the sheep.



By midday, Bouâza managed to find a volunteer neighbour, who offered to slaughter his sheep. Bouâza’s daughters, aged between 15 and 20, were struggling with housework and cleaning the sheep’s liver in preparation for a barbecue “Boulfaf”.




Bouâza and Khadija’s family live in one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Rabat. Though poor, neighbours show great solidarity to one another, helping in sheep slaughter, distributing meat to those who couldn’t afford to buy a sheep.





The neighbourhood was lively as the teenagers supervised the barbecue on the sounds of Eminem and Jazzy music.



As usual Khadija wasn’t happy with El Eid. She certainly missed her eldest son Hassan who was still in Casablanca’s Okacha prison.



“I can’t enjoy El Eid while my beloved son is away from me,” said Khadija. She added that her son was caught last year while stealing a car, and that he was sentenced to three years prison.



Many teenagers in the area are juvenile delinquents, either because of poverty, or lacking parents’ control. These poor teenagers found a refuge in El Eid to forget the harsh realities of their lives.



Jobless, Yassine, Hassan’s friend, switched from selling loose cigarettes to packs of hay during this occasion.



“I made enough money during El Eid, as many people come to buy hay. Can you imagine that I am selling them hay, instead of taking it home to our own sheep?” said Yassine.



“Do you know why?” He added: “Simply because we did not buy a sheep, although I would have liked to make my younger brothers and sisters happy. But as you see, ‘Allah Ghalab’. I am a mere loose cigarette seller”



Yassine continued with his strong street accent “Al khout Allah yaâwanhom dabrou âalina bi chi chwiya dial lham (O, brothers, may God help them gave us some meat).”


Many people in the area, like Yassine’s family, could not afford to buy a sheep. However, some of them borrowed money from their relatives or friends. For them, not buying a sheep is shameful; others think it is not compulsory to buy a sheep when you do not have money.




The smell of “Boulfaf” pervaded the whole area. The streets were empty; not even a single man was hanging around. Late afternoon, families were already preparing for every year’s traditional spicy dish “Tkalia”.



“Tkalia” or, as some call it “Chkanba” or “Kercha”, is made up of the sheep stomach, intestines, heart, and liver. This special dish is either served with tea or with coke.



The next day, early in the morning, people slice up their sheep, and put the meat in plastic bags and stow it away in the refrigerator.


After the slaughter, people in poor areas usually keep the rest of the sheep for at least a fortnight. Normally people should only keep 1/3 and give 2/3 to the poor. But how can you expect an already poor family to give to the poor?

[HOUDA-K]

Nothing beats celebrating our festivals in Morocco. The whole ambience, the family, the happiness………………I sure miss it

[LalaMimi]

me to, the atmosphere in Morocco is lovely when there is Eid.. but over here it's not the same

[HOUDA-K]

When I was younger, my mother use to dress us up in the traditional gandorra and belgha. She would make endless types of Halwa ~ which I loved doing. I can't say it helped now though ~ LOL.

She also use to decorate our hands and feet with Henna {{sigh}} I miss those days………………

[LalaMimi]

I spent Eid Saghir in Maroc, that was nice - on Lila El Qadar we went to a place in Rabat.. which is like a small, but sophisticated Souk and they had the whole kiddies mock wedding stage and tent, which looked so posh and there was a horse, where children were to be photographed on.. I heard there were also little boys who were being circumcised, but I kinda kept clear of that part of the precinct (I'm squimish)... in Hassan, there were loadsa kids with their parents being filmed for home videos and present during the Tarawi7.. I remember seeing a little girl dressed as a little Shel7a and she was teamed up with another little girl, who was in her 3rosa garb and their parents were getting them to kiss and give hugs to each other, so they could film and take pics.. they looked sooooo cute, I wanted to have my pic taken with them to! but I did take a picture of them, to keep as a momentum of that night.. cos I had never seen anything like that in my life and it made me feel really good, to see children having so much fun and being so happy... everyone out there was happy and cooing..

[Ma_Li_Ka]

3id is great when celebrated with the whole extended family . But in one way I am glad I am not in Morocco any longer. Since I was a kid, couldn't stand the smell of the 7awlee's innerside cookin' on the stove. And I sure dislike cutting up the animal after nisbia. Makes me gag and makes me wanna be a vegetarian

[LalaMimi]

you're not the only one who is intolerant to Kursha, Masaren, DAWAR - yeeeeekh