Rekia, 52 years old,

farmer

Rekia, for her part, lives at 50 km from the capital, she is 52 years old, was born into a family that works the land and owns orchards, she decided to take care of the family forest. This forest has suffered fires since the dark decade (relating to terrorism in Algeria) and although her brothers tell her it is a waste of time because each year the fires destroy everything she has undertaken, she continues tirelessly in this hard work.

Rekia after completing her studies in marketing, devoted herself body and soul to this place, she says:

“it was heaven on earth, everything was growing, water was present, now it’s drought and the support to set up ponds has still not arrived”.

Meriem 40 years old,

pottery maker

In another harsher rural environment, in an oasis, lives Meriem, 40 years old, mother of a child, divorced, her husband repudiated her, she lives with her mother’s family, she must be accountable to everyone when she goes out into town or to run errands. Meriem tries to negotiate her movements somehow, she is often stigmatized by the women of the village. She takes care of her small piece of family land of 10 m² with a simple spade, and lives in precarious conditions, her clay house, is old and is falling apart. Meriem was trained in an association and built a small clay oven, in order to carry out her pottery production, of which she is very proud. She was supposed to do an exhibition in Algiers but she was prevented for several reasons. She specifies:

“no one wants to keep my son; the goats and the chickens have to be fed, I subsist on the eggs of the chickens and the milk of the goats, how could I leave all that and go”.

Nacera, 49,

creator of the brand

-les épices mamie-

Nacera, 49, works with her daughters and sisters to improve the products of their garden, she has decided to create the brand les épices mamie and is waiting to have her artisan card. Nacera works on two plots of land, one where she lives with her husband, who owns 60 olive trees on 10 hectares, and the other is that of her parents in great Kabylia. They are already beginning to package and market their products, a real team effort. Her husband helps her in her travels and her daughters in the development of their activities: spices, olives, oil and cheese preparation, after have undergone training with the organization of rural women.

Nacera and her husband’s fields are generally treated with natural products, but for some crops they use chemicals, which means being well equipped to avoid health risks. A rural unit is also being set up for this purpose to raise awareness among rural women about breast and uterine cancer. Many women in the region, unfortunately, suffer from this ailment.

You can visit the Nacira farm in Seddouk