In a sunny courtyard at Amal Marrakech, the smell of simmering prunes and cinnamon, mixed with savory beef, waft around me. I repeatedly compress the bellows, which blows hot air to stoke the fire beneath my terracotta tagine pot, whilst a kindly Moroccan woman in a bright orange apron instructs me.
I’ve spent a while exploring Morocco – I’ve seen the crowded and colorful souks and the blazing milky way that lights up the Sahara Desert at night. But I didn’t expect my favorite – and most impactful – experience to happen at a simple café in Marrakech. Amal Marrakech is, however, more than a simple café… it is a nonprofit that is creating new frontiers for women’s empowerment in Morocco.
Purposeful Nomad and Amal Marrakech
At Purposeful Nomad, we champion responsible travel. That’s why our trip itineraries stand out from your classic group tours. Not every group tour will have you protesting alongside locals, getting dirty at a farm, or digging in for lunch at a nonprofit. In fact, each aspect from where we sleep at night to where we eat our meals is carefully thought out from how we are impacting the local community, to how we can actively help the places we travel. The Purposeful Nomad Morocco trip is no different.
As part of the Morocco itinerary, we visit Amal Marrakech – a café that not only serves up the best tagine you’ll ever taste, but is a force of good at the same time. Let’s dive in and see why Amal Marrakech is worth a visit.
What is the Amal Center in Marrakech?
The Amal Center is a non-profit association in the Gueliz quarter of bustling Marrakech. The non-profit uses its front as a café to train Moroccan women from disadvantaged circumstances. Women are welcomed from difficult situations, such as being child maids, orphaned, single mothers, divorcees, living with cognitive or physical disabilities, and more. At Amal Marrakech, the women undergo an intensive training scheme in culinary arts and hospitality. The goal is for these women to become financially independent and graduate from the program with a job waiting for them – a difficult feat in a male dominated culture.
How does Amal Marrakech empower women?
Difficult though it may be, since its founding six years ago, over 290 women have graduated from the Amal Center’s training scheme. The training, which is provided for free to the women, includes six months of instruction followed by an industry internship in businesses such as riads or cafes. Regular evaluations are used to progress the women through the training, offering feedback along their journey. The women receive lessons in kitchen economics, culinary techniques, hospitality, and complete courses in French and English language. Some women who arrive at Amal are illiterate or never attended school, and for these women reading and writing lessons are also provided.
The premise behind the Amal Center is simple: if you just give women money, they become dependent. But give women a skill, and they gain the power to create their own independence. Beyond culinary and hospitality skills, though, Amal gives their trainees hope. In fact, founder Nora Belahcen Fitzgerald chose the name Amal because it is the Arabic word for hope.
What does Amal Marrekech offer?
When you eat lunch or take a cooking class at Amal Marrakech, you become an active and integral part of this non profit’s work. Amal Marrakech is able to sustain its training program by providing paid services to the public, including breakfast and lunch at their cafes, communal dinners for large groups, and their famous cooking and baking classes. Prices are reasonable and it is widely known in Marrakech that the city’s best couscous can be found at Amal.
In addition to the café and cooking classes, Amal Marrakech has its own ways of giving back to the community. The center provides daily lunch catering to over 180 school children in Marrakech. This is a boon for the schools, and another great education opportunity for the Amal trainees who mostly serve and prepare food for small groups at the center’s cafes.
Eating lunch at Amal Marrakech with Purposeful Nomad
Back in the Amal Center’s Gueliz courtyard, the terra cotta tagine pots are laid out on the mosaic patio table. A smiling trainee in her signature bright orange apron gracefully lifts the lid off the pot, and steam billows up into the afternoon air. The scent of tagines – chicken, vegetable, and beef – are at once rich, sweet, briny, and cinnamon. A strange combination but delicious as I take yet another bite. I’ve eaten a lot of tagine in Marrakech but the Amal tagine is definitely the best – I would say it tastes better for the hard work or the charity that has gone into it, but the truth is that the Amal women are just really good at what they do.
I will remember that simple afternoon meal at Amal Marrakech for years. Travelers with Purposeful Nomad are lucky enough to also experience a meal at the Amal Center. On day nine of the Morocco itinerary, the group will wake up for their first morning in Marrakech. Following a morning of exploring the city’s sights – such as the Jemaa el-Fnaa square and market, the bright Jardin Majorelle, the gorgeous Ben Youssef Madrasa, and more – you will be led to the Amal Center for lunch. After the hectic energy of Marrakech, Amal is an ideal oasis. Here, you can relax, chat with your travel group, and connect with Moroccan locals, all while knowing that you are contributing to an important women empowerment project.
