newsletter

V I R G I N U N I T E

G U E S TS N E W S LE TTE R I S S U E 5 S EP T EM B ER 2007 Compiled by Eve Branson

“WHAT IS VIRGIN UNITE?

WHAT IS ITS AIM?
WHAT DOES IT DO?”
WELL, AS RICHARD HAS ASKED ME TO HELP
WITH THE LOCAL VIRGIN UNITE ENTERPRISE
IN MOROCCO, THIS NEWSLETTER GIVES SOME

ANSWERS TO THOSE QUESTIONS.

VIRGIN UNITE

C O N T A C T

Morocco
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Virgin Unite
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London WC2H 7LT NEWS AND DEVELOPMENTS FROM THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS
tel: + 44 207 664 6161
fax: + 44 207 664 6099
email: sue.hale@virginunite.co.uk K ASB AH TAM ADOT • ASNI • ASSE LDA • TIMZRA • TANSG HART
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Virgin Unite and Kasbah Tamadot
A year ago I started this newsletter at Kasbah Tamadot, and during that
year I would like to think that, thanks to both Kasbah Tamadot and
Virgin Unite, the Virgin Group’s charitable arm, the nearby four villages
have benefited. In case you have not already read the past editions I
will briefly explain our aim, which is to teach skills to the local girls, so
enabling them to generate money for their families and village without
having to rely on charity.
You may well know that the villages of Asni, Asselda, Tansghart,
and Timzra are inhabited by the Berber tribe – different in culture
and religious customs from the Arabs who make up the majority of
Morocco’s population. Having just returned from Morocco I can now tell
you the latest news from each village and my future aim.
A journey through the local villages
The nearest village to Kasbah Tamadot is Asni, where the local girls
are learning how to embroider. Owing to the cramped space and poor
lighting in their current workshop, we hope to re-house the 80 primary
schoolchildren sharing this space. This will leave ample space and light
for the girls to continue their embroidery work on materials that we
hope will be to the Kasbah guests’ liking!
Virgin Unite was recently able to open a shop on one of the approaches
to Kasbah Tamadot, and is already selling the girls’ handmade bags,
knitted hats and scarves, rugs and slippers.
If you continue down past the market in Asni and cross the river,
you’ll find yourself in the simple village of mud-clad structures that is
Asselda. For generations this village was renowned for its carpets, but
they had only one loom which stood in a damp, dark corridor of a kindly
neighbour’s house. Thanks to Virgin Unite, however, you can follow a
steep rough path up to where we have built them a spacious, well-lit
room big enough to take 8 looms where 16 girls can work in shifts. We
are hoping to organise the very best carpet teacher so that in future
you will be able to buy fantastic carpets at the Kasbah gift shop - at
reasonable prices - without the hassle of bargaining in the Souk!
Cashmere goats in England Girls at work on their new looms
Let us continue our journey, travelling along another unmade, bumpy
track where the river gushes past on one side, and where the snow-tipped
mountain ranges are silhouetted below a clear blue sky. We soon arrive at
Tansghart, another mud bricked village which you can see from the Kasbah.
This village had not had help in the past until I started to teach a few girls
to knit, an activity which soon became very popular! But with no room to
sit, save on granny’s dried mud floor, I am having a craft workshop built for
the girls to work in and two bedrooms above for teachers with craft skills
that might want to earn a free holiday.
Another idea I have is to find some young doctors to organise a monthly
clinic in exchange for a free night or two in the Moroccan hills. At present
there is no doctor nearby.
50 Billy Goats Gruff
Forgive me as sometimes my aims get somewhat out of control! My last
wish was to locate a white Cashmere goat herd as well as the land to house
and feed 50 of them, an idea that needed not only money but organisation!
Realising this dream would mean the girls in the workshops wouldn’t have
to buy their raw material from outside the area.
On a recent visit, Brahim, the house manager at Kasbah Tamadot, took me
over the river to a remote hilly area. There, up a steep grassy slope, was
a hand made bamboo hut with a proud shepherd who generously invited
us in for mint tea. As it turned out, yes indeed, he would love to mind 50
Cashmere goats, as at present he only has sheep roaming his land.
I knew I could manage the organisation required to get 50 goats to travel
to Morocco from England, but finding the money was not so easy. Virgin
Unite had generously given me money for improving the local drinking well,
school and carpet workshop, but I wanted to create the foundations that
would make these indigenous Berbers self-sufficient.
As you will see from the next story, everything is now falling into place for
my plan to bring the goats to a piece of land near Kasbah Tamadot.
The finished product
Rockin’ from California to the Kasbah
How a chance meeting I had in Morocco led to a star-studded charity As a direct result of the ‘Rock the Kasbah’ ball, we are forming a trust fund
event in Los Angeles – all for the benefit of the villages around Kasbah that I hope will benefit all the adjoining villages for many years to come. I
Tamadot! hope you are all now able to enjoy the benefits of the Kasbah Virgin Unite
shop. By buying the local girls’ rugs, embroidery and knitted garments,
Some time ago my son Richard was filming the television show
you are supporting the local villagers with well-earned money from which
“Rebel Billionaire” in Morocco, and whilst the dangerous stunts were
they will all benefit.
being performed, the onlookers had time to spare. I got talking to the
programme’s lawyer, who asked me to tell him all about my charitable
work in the area. This must have made an impact, as the result was an
email from Los Angeles. In it was a proposal to organise a ball in my
honour to raise money for what I’m trying to achieve in the villages
around the Kasbah. EVE BRANSON
I had visions of a small party to make a dollar or two and my mind raced
with the thought that, at last, those 50 Cashmere goats and doctor’s
clinic I dreamed of might become a reality. You can imagine my surprise
when on July 1st this year, in the Los Angeles heat, Tim Souris (Chairman
of Rock the Kasbah) and the auction Co-Chairs Fiona Whitney and Nicole
Friedman announced to my husband and I that all 500 tickets for the ball
‘Rock the Kasbah’ had been sold.
An enormous amount of thought, time and work of those three
wonderful people and their dedicated committee members must have
been put into making the evening so amazingly special. How, for instance,
did they manage to produce celebrities such as the Moroccan Ambassador
to the US, the Oscar winner Mariel Hemmingway, and the acclaimed
singer Jewel, the most sparkling singer/songwriter since Joni Mitchell?
Other famous guests included Buzz Aldrin, one of the first astronauts to
walk on the moon, and even my son, Richard, who had flown in for the
occasion.
And so, thanks to the generosity of my American friends in Los Angeles,
and their guarantee I can use the proceeds for my local villages, we will
be able to have our white Cashmere goats after all. And, with a bit of luck,
they will not only provide enough Cashmere wool for my girls to knit, but
also cheese, butter, meat and baby goats (kids) which I hope will be to the
benefit of those deserving villagers who have proudly asked for nothing.
Billy the goat The goat herdsman Perfect goat country Over the river to Tansghart