A Diamond in the Rough (Economy)

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!

Weaving Through Life

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!

Empowering the Women of Beni Khedeche

On the first day we arrived in Beni Khedeche, we met at La Maison de la Culture and were greeted with a display of a variety of traditional gifts and crafts. In addition, La Maison de la Culture presented several cultural practices so we could get an idea of what Beni Khedeche was all about. One of the most interesting traditions was a performance of a traditional wedding song. I have included the footage below and hope you enjoy it as much as I did. It is certainly haunting and intriguing and displays how Beni Kheddeche values its traditional ways. As you can tell, the woman is very humble but possesses impressive talent...this is quite typical of the women of Beni Khedeche! Meeting with many of them throughout my time here, I have been thoroughly impressed with the amount of work and dedication they put into their town. The women pick the olives, clean the house, cook the food, take care of the children, and excel in school! During my time here, I also met with women who weave wool rugs and blankets in Beni Khedeche's Maison de l'Artisan. This Maison helps the women sell their products abroad, but the work is still taxing and time consuming. Meeting with these women, they displayed not only their hard work but their gentle spirits as they took time to placate my friend and I as we administered surveys on employment opportunities in their city. From their responses we learned that most women (nearly 76%) believe their education in Beni Khedeche does not prepare them to enter the workforce and on a scale of 1-5 (1 being poor; 5 being strong), the majority of women chose 1 to represent the opportunities for youth in their city. Given the perseverance, hard work, and intelligence of the women we surveyed, perhaps the key to the development of Beni Khedeche is the empowerment of its women! Hmmm...:) Enjoy the video!

May the (truly) best win

The past few days here in Beni Khedeche have been...difficult. Without going into too much detail - because I truly do respect the village and am honored to be here working - I would like to use my recent experiences to comment on the nature of anarchy and the inevitable (healthy yet complicated) power struggle that emerges from it.

Realist international relations theory holds that the international system is characterized by anarchy. That is, no (legitimate) governing power exists to organize or control states so states are left to act as they see fit for survival. Typically, this need to survive translates into a pursuit of power. As each sovereign state seeks to increase its own power in order to secure its existence, conflict becomes inevitable. Just as this power struggle occurs at the international level, so it occurs to some extent (as has become apparent to me) at even the smallest level of political interaction. Perhaps, it even occurs to a more intense degree.

Usually, political systems are organized in a way so that power struggles are executed in an electoral or orderly fashion in which the strongest, most capable candidate emerges victorious. When the political system is insufficient or tainted, however, IR anarchy becomes a palpable element of politics that drives an inevitable power struggle of behind-the-scene deals or even over-regulation. As a result of several factors - including the fact that Tunisia's own federal government is in a post-revolution, transitional phase and Beni Khedeche is not at the top of the federal government's list of things to do - Beni Khedeche's political power status is in a state of anarchy. Though this anarchy is not derailing the community, it is certainly not helping the community develop. For instance, there is no mayor, the municipality is run by a volunteer secretary general, and a number of associations exist for developmental purposes but lack the ability to actually achieve their mission statements. Within this state of anarchy, as in all states of anarchy, actors are struggling to define themselves, preserve themselves, and therefore gain power.

We have certainly experienced a little bit of this power struggle during our time here in Beni Khedeche but, in all honestly, this type of power struggle politics occurs everywhere. In fact, such power struggles through which the strongest most capable actors emerge on top is healthy! But, the problem is when the strongest most capable actors do not emerge on top because behind the scene, small-town deals ensure that those who are connected emerge victorious. This issue is not likely to disappear in the near future, but it is food for thought (even for my own country). The power struggle that results from anarchy is not the problem. It is when the pure play of this power struggle is impeded that the problem arises.

Tourism

Salaam wa laikum! Le bes?

The past few days in Beni Kheddache, my team and I have been meeting with various members of the town with small businesses or small business ideas. As of now, we have heard proposals for olive plantations, fig drying, goat cheese processing, and many other agricultural ideas. One theme which has pervaded these small business brainstorming sessions is the potential that Beni Kheddache has to enter the tourism industry.The problem, however, is that for tourism to work, tourists have to come. Tourism has been one of Tunisia's largest sources of income, but since the revolution, the number of tourists in the country has drastically declined. This became obvious to me today...

This morning my team took the day to travel to Ksar Ghilane in the Sahara desert. After an hour and a half drive, we arrived at the desert frontier, mounted camels, and went on an hour camel ride through the sand dunes. (If you are indeed considering visiting Tunisia, I highly recommend this!). Afterward, we went to the hot spring oasis to rest and eat lunch. While we found the facility to be very welcoming and well-maintained, we were all surprised by the lack of other tourists. Granted there were a few French and probably Swiss travelers swimming (in their speedos :) in the hot spring, but the restaurant in which we ate was nearly empty.

I wanted to bring the topic of tourism up for two reasons. First, tourism gets a worse rap than it deserves, and second, tourism is a practical way for the world to support the current political progress that began in Tunisia and has spread to other countries of the Middle East/North African Region.

Regarding the first point, the idea of tourism is often associated with a bad reputation. Some locals see tourism as a gateway to the slow, Westernization of their community and a gradual destruction of heritage. Too many speedos, too much cultural insensitivity, and too much foreign language butchering, has caused tourists to connote imposition, ignorance, and entitlement. Furthermore, tourists themselves have started to loathe this bad connotation of tourism. For instance, nobody wants to go to a "touristy" place anymore. While these things carry weight, tourism is actually much less of a gateway to cultural destruction than it is a gateway to cultural understanding. Although many of the stereotypes of tourists are true (and for a reason), but they fail to capture the value that tourism can play in exchanging customs and traditions that otherwise would remain unknown. For example, yes a tourist may insist on buying some silly key chain of Tunisia's flag (made in China), but, in the process, he or she may also learn that the Muslim vendor selling it to her descends from a line of Berber tribes that settled on the edge of the Sahara and continue to practice a semi-nomadic lifestyle. This is something that staying home in Switzerland he or she would probably have never learned. Likewise, some locals may resist the idea of tourism, but others, such as those of Tunisia, actually say quite frequently, "bring back the tourists!"

This brings me to my second point. Tourism not only promotes cultural exchange, but it is promotes economic development. While walking around the large empty oasis facility today in Ksar Ghilane, I was almost frustrated that tourists were not there enjoying the wonderful experience and supporting what these Tunisians were offering. I am certainly not saying that this is an obligation of foreigners, but I am saying that is an opportunity - an opportunity for foreigners to learn about Tunisia and to support a country that is attempting to revive itself after a double-wammi of the 2008 economic downturn and the subsequent revolution.

I suppose what I truly want to say is this: If people honestly want to help Tunisia right now, then stop being too good for touristy places and come see something that just might surprise you. Yes, a few Tunisians might try to sell you a cheap key chain or get you to ride a horse for 10 seconds for 5 dinars, but perhaps, somewhere in between you might learn something about Tunisia - maybe that it is NOT the same as Indonesia - that you otherwise would have never known. So, book your flight and come to Tunisia! Or, better yet, come to Beni Kheddache! :)

 Hello all! Here is a brief update on my travels in Tunisia. (Due to a poor internet connection I will be brief and will be unable to post any photos or videos until we move sites).

Currently, I am with a team of three other Americans in Beni Kheddache, Medenine, Tunisia. It is a very rural village, but the people are incredibly sweet and hospitable. Our project is to evaluate the business climate in the village and try to propose a feasible suggestion for a small enterprise that would improve the quality of life in the community. We are planning on meeting with as many locals as possible, and intend on interviewing local business and association leaders. We hope to gather firsthand knowledge about potential small-market opportunities and will compile our findings into a final report. This report will serve as the first phase of a three phase effort to research, plan, and implement a small enterprise in the region.

Today was the first day on the job. We mainly passed the day by meeting with different local leaders. Introductions and tea are very important here! My initial observations are that the region certainly has potential for some profitable businesses..perhaps even tourist or some small export potential. The region cultivates a small amount of olives and figs, and boasts some pretty amazing trails and camping locations. Unfortunately, it seems that efforts similar to ours have been attempted before but with few long-term results. A dearth of sustainable funding, followed by disappointing results, followed by a decrease in motivation seems to be a consistent story from today. I will, however, continue to (try) to keep you posted on our findings. Perhaps Beni Kheddache is Tunisia's diamond in the rough!" 

Yes We Can...Do What?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/tunisian-court-case-exposes-rift-over-free-speech-in-new-democracy/2012/05/02/gIQAj4cexT_story.html?hpid=z3

Tomorrow, I return to Tunisia! During the month and a half since I was last in the country debating with students about the future of their nation, Tunisians have been debating among themselves about the details of that future.

The Washington Post's recent article (see link above) highlighted some of the major sides of this debate. The article describes how a Tunisian man was recently prosecuted, (and since fined), for displaying a movie named Persepolis, which depicts a young girl speaking to God. In Islam, the depiction of God is forbidden, and some in Tunisia thought this free expression of the media went too far. Put simply, Tunisia is now faced with having to balance freedom of expression with freedom of religion. Does freedom of expression allow for expression that is offensive to Islam? Does a new freedom of religion mean that Islam should have a role in government? After the "RCD Degage - out with the RCD" campaign, Tunisians are now grappling with the decision of what should replace this new void. And with the "Yes we can" mentality, Tunisians are dealing with what comes after that phrase: yes we can...do what?

These questions in particular can be answered by no one but the Tunisians themselves, but they are questions that members of all democracies should consider. Namely, what does freedom of (fill in the blank) truly mean? Though America is the "land of the free," she might benefit from a reminder about the importance of protecting freedom - an ideal that can easily be corrupted, overused, or even erased. As I prepare to return to Tunisia, I look forward to learning how Tunisia's debate about freedom can remind America about her own need to cherish the freedom upon which she was built. I'll be sure to share my findings :)