Some weeks ago, I was fortunate to have been given the support to attend a conference in Marrakesh, Morocco. It was an extremely long trip and one that I did not particularly look forward to since I had read on the Internet that one had to be careful of pickpockets. In other words, the place was rough. I was extremely surprised, however, at what I actually saw and experienced. Marrakesh, in many places, is merely a desert; complete with sand, cacti and camels. Yet what greeted me was amazing. One part of this old city seems to have been reserved solely for hotels.
A person who has never visited this ancient land cannot imagine the sight of tall, pink buildings-hotels and spas-with lined avenues of roses, roads that are paved, fountains in the middle of the roadway with benches and rose gardens where visitors can walk or jog. Opposite to these line of hotels is of course easily accessible cambios complete with linx machines. After this shock, one is ushered into a resplendent hotel lobby. Picture marbled floors, ceilings with glittering chandeliers, luxurious seating hidden behind sheer, heavily tasselled curtains. The smell of roses and lilies permeate the air. Handsome bell-boys run to receive your luggage and even the chamber maids seem to be beautiful princesses out of an Arabian nights' story book.
A taxi is always available to move from one area to the other in roads that are immaculately clean, with drains where water actually flows. There is no break in the footpaths, no WASA it seems operates in the area, and there is no unsightly cables overhead, or leaning poles. At the city centre there is an old, fortressed wall enclosing 22 miles of market stalls. A scene directly out of the Arabian nights-snake charmers, monkeys, trestle tables lined with food come out at approximately four in the afternoon and the drums start a haunting tune that is irresistible. It is a resplendent scene that is vividly etched on the memory of any visitor. Yet, apart from the beauty there are lessons that can be learnt from this city.
In this city approximately 40 per cent of its citizens are unemployed. It is evident that the state is not the largest employer but rather a lot of the revenues of the country are derived from agriculture and more recently, as can be expected, from tourism. The people as a whole, too, seem to be self sufficient and certainly seemed to be engaged on a number of activities-the preparation of clothes, handmade shoes, shawls, bags, jewelry-it is indeed a shoppers' paradise.
In the square every day, thousands of people converge. What was amazing, though, was that I saw no vagrants, witnessed no crimes, no expected pickpockets and every where the people were friendly and engaging despite the language barrier. One day, I threw a 'date' pit on the ground and immediately about ten people turned around and insisted that I pick it up and walked me to a bin. It was a lesson for me well learnt. Marrakesh, to my mind, seems an experiment-a country that may provide many countries around the world with a number of lessons. These include:
• that people, no matter how poor, can be taught to be self sufficient and they could do this without state intervention;
• that amidst the diversity of races people can co-exist and contribute towards a society;
• that the impetus for a country to go forward is heavily dependent on the culture of its people and the pride that they have in their surroundings;
• that people can be discouraged from illegal activities. In the case of Marrakesh, I was advised that in the market place there were a number of police officers and the law delivered harsh penalties on pickpockets and those who engaged in criminal activities;
• with the expansion in the number of tourists coming into the country, all members of the society perceived this as beneficial to them-creation of jobs and other opportunities-and they tended to embrace these opportunities and embrace the tourists as well;
• that adversity can be turned into strength-indeed, a much sought after tourist trip-is one to the deserts surrounding the city. A camel drive is also something to capture the imagination.
As I left Marrakesh, I could not help remembering the little poem I had learnt as a child:
"I lived first in a little egg and lived there very well,
The world to me was small and round and made of pale blue shell
I lived then in a little nest- it was made of straw and covered by my mother
At last I flew beyond the trees and saw the sky so blue
Now how the world is really made
I cannot tell, Can you?
Marrakesh has certainly changed my view of the world and of Trinidad and Tobago. The bickering of politicians pale when comparing countries through a world view. The dependency of people no longer invokes sympathy. I have learnt from a country, who like the little train said: "I can" and am going forward.
