Spring, O'Brien captures Morocco tourism account

NEW YORK: The Moroccan National Tourist Office (MNTO) has awarded a three-year, $1.3 million contract to Spring, O'Brien, marking the first time in more than 20 years that the organization has hired a US firm.

Honorary Consul to Morocco arrested

Friday, October 27, 2006
THAI Police last night arrested Malaysian national and honorary consul to Morocco Tan Tek Hai, known better on the island as “Valentino”, 56, and his wife Suwaphat Kheereephon, 41, who is an honorary consul to Djibouti.

The couple were arrested by Department of Special Investigation (DSI) agents at their home for allegedly encroaching on a large plot of public land on Koh Yao.

Both denied the charge.

Police are waiting for three Thais, including a land official based on Koh Yao, to turn themselves over to DSI agents next week.

So many ways to offer praise
By Don Heckman, Special to The Times


The Fés Festival of World Sacred Music — which annually brings musicians of every imaginable religious background to Morocco for a transcendent spiritual and cultural get-together — seems like a virtual anomaly at a time when much of the world is ablaze with confrontations between differing forms of religious fundamentalism, more eager to emphasize differences than share common ground. But the touring mini-version of the Festival, "Spirit of Fés: Paths to Hope," at UCLA's Royce Hall on Thursday offered a very real image of the warm, integrative qualities of music.

The opening half of the program was dedicated to ancient Hindu and Christian music, as well as material from the Andalusian Jewish tradition. Each song represented a different cultural vision of spirituality, from praise for the Universal Master in a 300-year-old Tamil work, "Satileni," and a Latin tribute to God by Hildegard of Bingen to a Ladino "Shalom Alechem" and the 13th century Galician-Portuguese "Des Oge Mais."
The music was performed by an ensemble that was similarly diverse. American singer Susan Hellauer, a founding member of the vocal ensemble Anonymous 4, applied her luxurious timbre to a lovely "Ave Maria." Moroccan-born guitarist-singer Gerard Edery found the inner depths of the Abrahamic song "Kochov Tsedek." Lebanese American oud-violin player Zafir Tawil and Palestinian American percussionist Jamey Haddad provided authentic support across the many musical styles, with Haddad contributing a gripping, Sufi-style frame drum solo to open the second half of the concert.

Best of all, there was the gifted South Indian singer Aruna Sairam, singing with a mesmerizing combination of sheer inventive abandon and virtuosic musical precision. Her solo on the seven-beat pulse of "Satileni" was an astonishing display, its passion and probing intensity reminiscent of the penetrating, exploratory improvisations of John Coltrane.

The program's second half was largely devoted to a collection of pieces by the Daqqa of Taroudant, a Sufi ensemble. Using a collection of small percussion instruments, a pair of double-reed neffars and their own collective vocals, the nine male members of the Moroccan group performed a group of numbers convincingly illustrating the ecstatic, trance-evoking music of the Sufi tradition. Joined onstage by the other festival participants, they performed a climactic "Sidi Habib/Eli Sh'ma Koli," a Judeo-Muslim song used in both communities, here serving as a spreading tent of musical and spiritual togetherness open enough to include Sairam's tribute to the god Muraga and Hellauer's traditional ballad, "Wayfaring Stranger."

Top-Rated Hotels:
1.Riad Kniza, Marrakech, Morocco
2.An African Villa, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
3.La Villa des Orangers, Marrakech, Morocco
4.Dar Silsila, Marrakech, Morocco
5.Four Seasons Resort Sharm El Sheikh, Sharm el Sheikh, South Sinai, Red Sea and Sinai, Egypt
6.Beau Rivage Hotel, Belle Mare, Mauritius
7.Renaissance Golden View Beach Resort Sharm El Sheikh, Sharm el Sheikh, South Sinai, Red Sea and Sinai, Egypt
8.Heritage Golf & Spa Resort, Bel Ombre, Mauritius
9.Dar Seffarine, Fes, Morocco
Top-Rated B&B:
1.Riad Azzar, Marrakech, Morocco
source :http://www.tripadvisor.com

Raising a Moroccan-American child: Panel on approaches to nurturing successful multi-cultural Moroccan-American children
@ John Hopkins University

Organized by : Friends of Morocco
Tangier American Legation Museum Society
American Moroccan Professionals Association


Moderator is Norma McCaig, an intercultural specialist and the founder and current chair of Global Nomads International, an organization serving those who have lived abroad because of a parent¹s career choice. She specializes in programs for raising awareness of the dynamics of the internationally mobile family, the lifelong impact and uses of a globally nomadic childhood, cross-cultural transition and intercultural communication. In addition to her work with GNI, she is an affiliate faculty member of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, coordinating Global Nomad Programs and Services through the Multicultural Research and Resource Center (MRRC). Ms. McCaig¹s work has been highlighted in a number of articles and books, most notably Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds, by Ruth Van Reken and David C. Pollock , and the Foreign Service Youth Foundation¹s book, Notes from a Traveling Childhood.

Panelist Myriam Fizazi-Hawkins spoke about her experience growing up to a Moroccan father and American mother in Morocco. Bill Lawrence spoke about his experience of being married to a Moroccan woman and raising a child together and Samir Labriny spoke about his experience of being married to an American Woman and raising two children together.

Event ended with an a debate among attendees with different experiences of growing up in multi-language and multicultural households.

Nawal El Moutawakil was added to the hall of fame by the Women’s sports foundation in USA .
By MarocPost.net
October 21, 2006 12:00 AM

In a ceremonial atmosphere Nawal El Moutawakil was honored by the Women’s sports foundation and was added to the hall of fame of this prestigious organization.

Marocpost.net was present to witness this event and to talk to our champion about her impressions pertainign to her honoring and to ask questions about her career and projects.

Marocpost :“Nawal El Moutawakil, thank you for accepting to have this interview with us. Do you see progress being made in Moroccan sport and especial women’s sport since your achievement of 1984?”

Nawal El Moutawakil: “Yes and definitely, take for example the participation factor, in 1984 I was the only female in the Moroccan Olympic team but things have changed since then, after winning the gold medal in Los Angeles 1984, and immediately, Moroccan women’s participation became higher and higher each games. For example 1988 in Seoul there were 5 or 6 female participants. In 1992 we started to bring medals and we have been doing so since then, we reached a point where we have a variety of participation not only in track and field but also in wrestling, swimming, judo, Take wondoo and weight lifting. This shows that there is openness in regards to women’s participation because of the 1984 success and the political will in Morocco.”

Marocpost : “your experience and expertise belong to you but also to the Arab, Moroccan and African women, do you see yourself actively helping these women to perhaps follow your footsteps or to use you as role model.”

Nawal El Moutawakil: “I am currently active in this capacity with Moroccan organizations such as “l’association Marocaine de sport et developement” I do this because sport gave me a lot and I believe that as a citizen I need to give back, nowadays many ex-champions are doing the same thing, giving back to their country in order to complete their mission and I do so on a daily basis.”

Marocpost : “Football is number one sport in Morocco, although it did not reach the level of Moroccan athletics with world championships and gold medals in the Olympics. Do you believe that athletics is not getting its fair share and what can we do to even the balance?”

Nawal El Moutawakil: “Football is morocco’s number one sport and athletic is number two; this is the reality in morocco. But athletics in morocco is receiving more and more respect in morocco and if you compare the 1984 budget of $60,000 allocated to the Athletics federation with today’s budget, you’ll see that Athletics in morocco are much more important now than before and my personal opinion is: athletics is number one sport.”

Marocpost : “Your experience as head of the Olympic Committee for the 2012 games is tremendous and especially that it was a successful campaign, do you think that you can help Morocco with your insight in this field to perhaps organize major international games.”

Nawal El Moutawakil: “Morocco is bidding for the 2011 Special Olympics “for intellectually handicapped athletes” and I am in the bidding committee and I hope that my expertise and know-how will boost morocco’s chances.
I am also nominated chair person of the Arab confederation of sports supervising Arab games. My experience as head of the Olympic Committee will provide a certain insights to morocco, the Arab coutries and Africa.”

Marocpost : “Nawal El Moutawakil, what is your last word to Moroccans living abroad and especially in the USA and Canada.
Nawal El Moutawakil: “To be the best ambassadors for their country”

Marocpost : “Nawal El Moutawakil thank you for this opportunity.”

After receiving her award, Nawal El Moutawakil gave a speech. “…I would like to dedicate this award to all the girls, women and the children of this world who do not have the chance to play and enjoy sport, who do not have the chance to play and learn to perform and succeed…”

Nawal’s honoring comes in a time we Moroccans need to do more to recognize those who did so much for us as a nation, athletes, artists and activists because people like Nawal gave the Moroccan woman a new purpose in life: to be successful and to be equally as important as her follow man. Morocco needs all of it sons and daughters to prosper. For her inspiration to many Moroccan, Arab and African women we say thank you Nawal El Moutawakil.

Minnesota hounours Morocco
This year, the Minnesota centre, willing to honour an Islamic country, has chosen Morocco, the country considered as “America's friend for forever” and a country of openness, tolerance and dialogue.
Through this initiative, the MIC wanted to celebrate the good relations binding the two countries and peoples, and give the opportunity to the citizens of Minnesota State to closely know an Islamic country renowned for its long tradition of tolerance.

“Morocco, our oldest friend and the first state to have recognised the US after its independence, is a country with a rich history and fascinating culture,” underlined the MIC president, Carol Engebreton.
The event was also an opportunity to celebrate the 30th anniversary of cooperation relations between Minnesota University and Morocco.

“This cooperation has allowed hundreds of Moroccan students to follow their studies in Minnesota and a number of professors of the Minnesota's university to teach in Morocco,” said Engebretson.

“This gala dinner was also an opportunity to honour the relations between Minnesota citizens and the 1,500 Moroccans living in the State,” added the president, underlining that these Moroccans are well educated and occupy important positions in the society and are well integrated into the American community.
She also pointed out that one of these Moroccans, Abdessamad Morabit, professor of mathematics at the university, is a member of the committee organizing the event.
For her part, the president of the gala, Laura Merriam, has underlined that “Morocco is an interesting country that fascinates the Americans,” adding that “Tangier and Casablanca are endowed with a certain romance.”
“Morocco is the first Arab, African and Islamic country to be honoured by the MIC,” she concluded.

“This gala,” Engebretson went on, “is a wonderful experience,” expressing her confidence that the event will contribute to the consolidation of the already-strong relations existing between Morocco and the US.

“I want all Moroccans to know that we are determined to consolidate the bilateral relations between the two countries and work together so that understanding and harmony prevail,” added MIC president.
The Moroccan Ambassador to the US, Aziz Mekouar, who was the gala's president of hounour, presented to the audience the new Morocco.

“Morocco which has launched important reforms in the economic, political and social fields, registering, with the orientation of HM King Mohammed VI, acclaimed achievements in all domains,” said the Moroccan diplomat.
He mentioned the progress achieved in the domains of human rights, state's law and the adoption of the new family code.
In a warm and jovial atmosphere, the 500 attendants who came to celebrate the kingdom enjoyed the Moroccan culinary art.
The gala, which is the most-awaited event in Minnesota, gathered presidents and general directors of Minnesota's biggest enterprises namely Cargill, 3 M, Donaldson, Medtronic, General Mills; members and former president of MIC; members from the Moroccan community in Minnesota and members from Peace Corps who have served in Morocco like Tim Resch, the president of “Friends of Morocco” association.