SAP Social Sabbatical Journal #3: Lights, Camera, Action!
As-Salaam-Alaikum everyone again from Casa!
This is my third blog post, and I’m really loving writing about our SAP #socialsabbatical experiences in this journal. It’s a great way to reflect on our journey.
The weather here has been very pleasant, with daytime temperatures around 25°C. However, just yesterday, we had a sandstorm, which brought me back to my childhood and the sandstorms we experienced with Sahara Desert sand in Seville, South of Spain. Today, we’re seeing rain for the first time since our arrival, and it seems this might be the only rainy day. This lovely weather is expected to continue until the end of our assignment. Insha’Allah, as they say in Arabic, “God willing.”
What an incredible week it has been! We have just completed the second week of our project, and if we were to sum it up, it would undoubtedly be “Lights, Camera, Action.” Weeks two and three are all about putting our plans into motion, and this brings to mind a famous quote by Tony Robbins: “The path to success is to take massive, determined action!” and that’s exactly what we have achieved.
During the initial part of the week, a significant part of our focus was directed towards the new company website (www.rhea.ma). We worked with Nawal to establish the site’s structure, gathered the content, including organizing the pictures, reviewed various designs proposed by the agency, and offer feedback. I hadn’t fully realized how demanding it could be to construct a website, especially one with e-commerce functionalities, while considering inventory management, pricing, post-sale services, shipping, and more. It’s turning out to be an excellent course in e-commerce.
As we continue our collaboration with Nawal, we increasingly recognize the significance of laying a strong foundation for the company. This foundation primarily revolves around people, processes, alignment, and focus. Last week we began with people and the creation of a clear organizational chart. This means understanding the different roles played by both internal and external stakeholders, as well as the relationships with vendors and collaborators. The primary objective is to provide a holistic view on the individuals within the organisation; and through the use of open ended and what-if questions, she can reaffirm the tasks associated with the assigned roles.
Perhaps the most significant challenge we face is maintaining our role as consultants, which involves supporting Nawal without imposing our ideas or solutions. Instead, our objective should be to facilitate a collaborative process where she can explore, open up new perspectives, and gain insights that lead her to her own solutions. We need to work within the limitations of her resource-constrained situation, so our suggestions must be both practical and achievable.
In keeping with our proactive approach, this week we’ve stepped out of the office to conduct a few on-site visits:
First, we visited the École Supérieure de Design Art Com Sup, with whom Nawal is strengthening the collaboration. This private higher education institution in Design was established in 1988 and has campuses in Casablanca and Rabat. It is the only school in Morocco that is part of the Cumulus network, connecting over 200 design schools worldwide. It’s a highly prestigious institution, and during our visit, we had the privilege of meeting some of the professors, like Mme Berrada, a designer and teacher and Mme Layla, head of partnership. We also attended some classes and engaged with the students.
The day after that, we visited the Academy of Traditional Arts, which was established in 2012 under the guidance of His Majesty King Mohammed VI. This academy is an integral part of the Casablanca Hassan II Mosque Foundation. The foundation serves as a hub for top-tier education in Traditional Arts, emphasizing the acquisition of scientific knowledge and fostering virtuosity development. This has made the Academy of Traditional Arts a unique institution of its kind at the national level.
During our visit, we had an appointment with Abdelillah BOUMARA, a Designer and the Head of the Training and Research Laboratory at the Academy of Traditional Arts. Our time with him was fantastic. His office has a small balcony offering a spectacular view of the interior of the Mosque complex. Abdelillah is a collaborator of Nawal, and he generously gave us a tour of the entire academy. The experience of visiting each facet of Morocco’s artisan heritage, from textiles to plaster, tiles, leather, tapestries, and rugs, was truly remarkable.
On numerous occasions, and this visit is one of those, we have witnessed the immense significance of Moroccan heritage for this country. It constitutes a fundamental element of their national identity and an invaluable source of common values that are being transmitted to future generations.
Following this visit, Abdelillah took us to meet one of the artisans collaborating with them, that works all type of leather including fish leather from Seaskin. We had the opportunity to witness them in the process of creating wallets, bags, card holders, and more. This visit provided us with a more comprehensive understanding of the Seaskin production process, from working with the leather to the involvement of designers and artisans in creating their accessories.
On Wednesdays, we gather for our Casablanca Cohort team meetings to review our projects and discuss life here in Casa. Narjice and Siham, our guardian angels, play a crucial role in taking care of us, supporting our projects, providing recommendations for daily life challenges, and assisting us with anything we need. All our projects are progressing smoothly, and we’re thoroughly enjoying this enriching experience. After this meeting, we typically head out for dinner, which we did to a restaurant close to the Mohamed V stadium.
On a personal note, I have also embraced an action-oriented mindset. Why not? I started working out and have kept it up every single day, which is a great achievement for me — since this is one of my major challenges. I’ve picked up watercolors again, one of my beloved hobbies that I had let slide for far too long. I’m also taking plenty of pictures, providing an excellent opportunity to capture those moments with watercolors. Lastly, I completed reading one of the books I brought along, “Historias de Roma” — “Stories of Rome” — by Enric Gonzalez, a Spanish journalist and writer. He wrote this book during his time as a correspondent in Rome, and it reflects his personal journey through the city. While reading it, I pondered what a similar book might look like if it were titled “Stories of Casablanca.” As a team, we’ve already gathered some interesting anecdotes to share.
An interesting local observation here concerns taxis. We frequently use taxis due to their affordability and widespread availability. In Casa, there are two types of taxis: the small ones, known as “petite taxis,” which are red, and the larger ones called “grand taxis,” which are white. Petite taxis can accommodate up to three people and are primarily for local city travel. Grand taxis, on the other hand, can take you anywhere within the city or outside its borders, with a capacity of up to six passengers. These grand taxis are the backbone of Morocco’s transportation system because public transportation is minimal. So if you want to travel to another city, you can take the bus, but the departures are irregular and slow. There are also apps like Uber or Careem, but it seems that taxi drivers in Casablanca haven’t embraced the use of these apps — we’ve encountered this ourselves.
And to cap off this week, there’s no better way than immersing ourselves in the incredible Maroc Impact experience on Saturday. We were all in without a second thought. Big thanks to Preti, Jens, and Roony for making this happen alongside Saad and the Maroc Impact crew.
Our journey began at the heart of Casablanca’s Medina in Al Makane, a stunning riad, which serves as Maroc Impact’s retail and experiential hub. We started with a delightful Moroccan lunch, featuring traditional recipes.
Next, we made our way to Muhub, another riad located in the Medina, dedicated to training and hands-on experimentation. Here, we spent several hours immersed in workshops that ranged from pottery and mastering ancestral techniques for creating your own textiles to leatherwork, crafting our handmade bracelets. As the day wrapped up, we enjoyed Amazigh music using guembri and other instruments while having some tea. Throughout the day, we met many “muhubers,” young talents at the academy, and had interesting conversations about their personal stories and professional progression.
Stay tuned for the next blog update. In the meantime, I wish you a fantastic week!
