Featured in this short video interview, is Mr. Ammar Belghith, who owns and operates "La Grotte d'Althiburos" - a small art grotto ("grotte") on the outskirts of Dahmani, Le Kef, Tunisia. I, along with the other members of my American research team, visited the grotto this past week as a part of our assessment of the business opportunities in Dahmani, a small city in the northwest region of Tunisia. While the city has historically relied upon agricultural for its survival, we found that many other SME (small to medium enterprise) opportunities exist that would help Dahmani and the surrounding region develop further. For example, in our final report, we promoted the creation of a public swimming pool, a honey bee raising for the production of honey, and the installation of a general store. In addition to these ideas, however, we also identified the possibility of expanding "cultural tourism" in the region. I have written before about the important role that tourism plays in Tunisia's economy, but I return to this topic again, as I was thoroughly impressed with Mr. Belghith's grotto. Mr. Belghith is a local artist who has studied in Saudi Arabia and France, but has returned to Dahmani to promote the cultural richness of his home region. As he explains in the video, the area on which the grotto was built belonged to his family, but by installing the grotto, he hoped it would play a role in preserving the culture of Tunisia's northwest region. For example, both outside and inside the grotto, Mr. Belghith has preserved artwork of the area as well as displayed his own work depicting recent and historical events in Tunisia. He hopes that this grotto will eventually expand into a cultural site that allows tourists to better understand and appreciate the artistic and historical value of Dahmani. While this is a great idea in theory, the area not only needs a better reputation of security, it needs to be advertised to the outside world. So, here is my part. Without being solicited by anyone in Dahmani - not even Mr. Belghith - I just want to say that not only Dahmani, but Tunisia as a whole, has a rich culture and history that is worth exploring. The people in the northwest and the south have not quite benefited from the success of the recent revolution, but they are alive and well and ready to share their story with the world. While these somewhat forgotten regions maintain problems of unmotivated youth and high unemployment, many people in these regions are working to survive in the tough, post-revolution economy. So, if you find yourself in Tunisia, and make your way to the northwest (where the revolution started!), I recommend you check out the cultural tourism that La Grotte d'Althiburos offers. It is a diamond in the rough economy of Tunisia, but one whose sparkle could shine light on the cultural richness of the region!
Here is another video of my work with women in Tunisia. As described in the last post (in Tunisia Women 1), my team and I distributed surveys to women in the city we were researching in southern Tunisia, (Beni Khedeche). After meeting with many local associations and business leaders, we wanted a chance to hear from the less vocal personalities of the village; we wanted to hear from the women. We formulated a short survey that attempted to better understand how women viewed the opportunities that their village offered. The video shows our Tunisian counterpart speaking with several women while they take a break from weaving traditional wool rugs. These women make their living by weaving rugs and blankets and selling it to the Maison d'Artisan, which then sells them abroad. The interview is in Arabic, but below are the interview questions. You may be able to tell that the two women have trouble deciding which sector provides the best opportunity for youth in their village and which city they would work in if they didn't work in their native town. Most respondents said that tourism provides the best opportunity for economic development in Beni Khedeche but that agriculture now provides the best opportunity for youth. Most also said that if they did not work in Beni Khedeche, they would work in either Tunis or Sfax. Furthermore, the majority of women said that their education in Beni Khedeche does not prepare them to enter the workforce. Again, it became clear that empowering these women will be key in developing Beni Khedeche and the surrounding region. Enjoy the video!
