Upon learning that our backpacks full of school supplies would not be allowed into Morocco because we lacked approval from the Ministry of Education and a Censorship Visa from the Ministry of Information, we unpacked all the books and repacked the bags. We sent them off to Morocco again with a heady mix of desperate prayers and abundant hope. I landed in Morocco only to learn that they had been seized by customs officials. Despite a promise to "name their price" within 48 hours of seizure, we spent the next week on a wild goose chase of phone calls. That time was passed prepping crafts for the kids that I had hand-carried into the country and speaking with the local school teacher to nail down a distribution plan.

There was some discussion over the course of a few days as to whether or not we should seek permission to distribute from local government officials. There was further discussion as to whether or not the school director would allow us on property, despite his earlier promise, once he learned we were American. It seems somewhat ludicrous to me that the government makes it so challenging to help their people who so obviously desire the assistance, but such is life in Morocco. At the end of the day, the local school director acquiesced and Hafida, the teacher we were coordinating with, asked us to speak with the local government, so off we went. We arrived at the offices of what is, in effect, the mayor of the region. He was smartly dressed and generally welcoming.

Nine of us (NINE!) streamed into a conference room for a marathon meeting: passports reviewed, relationships clarified, itineraries and histories of our Moroccan travels detailed, addresses collected, personal information phoned into the embassy in Rabat, school supplies examined. There was much back and forth in Arabic, most of which was spoken too quickly for me to sufficiently digest. There were definitely allies and foes in that room. Stephanie and I did our very best to appear at ease and friendly while studying Hafida's tense face for signs of how this was all proceeding. Files presented, documents signed, faxes sent and received, more phone calls. Ninety minutes later, the official looked at us and said "Welcome to Morocco...we're happy to have you here." Stephanie and I looked at each other as if to say: "Is that a yes?" Upon the exchange of a few more pleasantries, we piled into the car and headed to the school, severely delayed and having received word that most of the children had headed home after waiting outside the gates of the school for the entire morning session.

All hope was not lost...tomorrow I'll detail how this effort came full circle. It was a very, very good day.

The Moroccan flag flying high

However, the streets are pretty filthy. Yes, I know this is Africa...I’ve spent time in North African, West Africa and the East as well. I have always noted a substantial difference in the level of cleanliness in the streets between North Africa and the Sub-Saharan countries, but that line seems blurred this trip. To be certain: Marrakech is faring better than Essaouira, but there’s a marked amount of trash in the streets everywhere I look. The fact that almost the whole of the Essaouira medina is being outfitted with new water/sewage channels probably doesn’t help matters, as the streets are a collage of busted pavement and beds of sands at the moment.

The seas of Essaouira are as beautiful as ever

Another visual change of note: there are street vendors everywhere and the police don’t seem to even take an interest in them. In the afternoons, men stream into the Essaouira medina and lay down tarps that they fill with clothes and shoes, fresh fruit, trinkets and cheap knockoff sunglasses. I have always loved Essaouira because it’s been largely devoid of these dealers and their aggressive sales tactics, but they seem to be everywhere this visit. Hassane and I had an interesting conversation- he attributes the flood of vendors (and willingness of the authorities to overlook it all) to the self-immolation of a Tunisian man who was selling fruit. That single action kicked off a movement that has consumed the governments of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya and caused dangerous unrest in Syria, Bahrain and several other nations (Morocco among them). Hassane believes the police will continue to look the other way, lest they risk protests on a massive scale here locally.

Sweet puppies in the streets of Essaouira

Tourism is most certainly down this year. The congestion in the medina streets is noticeably lighter and the vendors we’ve spoken with (from cyber cafe keepers to carpet dealers) note depressed profits. I think the decrease in international tourists is attributable to several factors: a global economic depression among wealthier nations that has left far fewer dollars in Western pockets for exotic travel, coupled with the general unrest in the region as the result of the Arab Spring movement. That little bombing in Marrakech last spring didn’t help either. Sixteen people dead in a café blast in the biggest tourist destination in Morocco’s most popular city... that never fares well.

Cafe Argana is still under reconstruction after the bombing last Spring

In better news, wages for government workers are up: my friend who teaches elementary school locally is earning about 10% more than last year. Everyone concedes it’s a bid to keep the people pacified and quiet, but the money is desperately needed and is having the desired effect.

The local school house in Taftacht

Almost a quarter of our Arabic storybooks turned up at our house, though I cannot confirm nor deny precisely how they managed to arrive. Our backpacks full of school supplies have once again been snagged in Casablanca and I should have news on whether or not I can free them by the close of the day tomorrow. Please, please, please cross your fingers. I met someone who is friendly with the former president of the local community where the school we’ve “adopted” is located and we have requested their help. If we secure an escort to the school, our efforts are more likely to be successful. Insh’Allah.

Two days have been consumed by chasing down the lye necessary to create cold-processed soap. We actually made a failed batch of soap after thinking we might have succesfully sourced the lye we need to make soap, only to discover that we had potassium hydroxide, which makes liquid soap. A renewed search today turned up what we believe is lye and a batch is on the stove as we speak. We have spent some time chatting with various local herb shops in both Marrakech and Essaouira to gain a better understanding about the local selection of essential oils, clays and pigments we have at our disposal. At this juncture, we’ve decided our best chance of success is to teach my local staff to create soap from scratch and entrust them to pass on the knowledge to local Berber women in more rural areas who can create it for themselves as a means of improved health and potentially self-sustenance.

In other news, Essaouira is as beautiful as ever. Daytime highs are in the mid-70’s with a gentle ocean breeze and nights are downright chilly. The people moving about the medina are as friendly as I’ve ever recalled and we’re all in good spirits. I managed to do some shopping for the nonprofit and have secured a fresh supply of Essaouira earrings and a few other goodies as well. Lots of Moroccan goodness will be hitting the From Morocco With Love website in early October. Stay tuned!

We've already initiated several orders for handira blankets and pillows and leather poufs
through the network of artisans we’ve established and I’m eager to peruse the jewelry souks of Marrakech and Essaouira for new treasures. I have no doubt that we’ll have a lovely shipment of Moroccan goods in our South Carolina warehouse by late September.

I wish I could say that I am as confident about our plans for aid distribution. After assembling backpacks for 200 children at the local school, we’ve learned that we cannot import the reading books we purchased until we have authorization from the Ministry of Education and a Censorship Visa from the Ministry of Information. It will be impossible to secure those clearances in advance of this trip, so hundreds of books will have to go undistributed, at least for the moment. I have engaged help from the embassy and we are filing the paperwork needed to clear the path for that distribution at a later date.

I remain optimistic that the balance of our supplies (backpacks, crayons, pens and pencils, writing tablets, toothbrushes, toothpaste and soap) will be allowed entry into the country and we look forward to using those materials to help support the children at a rural school. We also plan to photograph each child (a first for many of them), giving them an instant picture to take home and share with their families. I will also be shopping for a few hundreds pairs of shoes once I land, as many of these children walk between 2-4 kilometers each way to school and the lack of quality footwear can literally be the determinant factor as to whether or not a child can attend school.

I’m very grateful for the companionship of two dear friends on this journey: Stephanie Craig of Honey Bee Soaps and Melissa Flick of the Nourish Collective. Melissa’s nonprofit is committed to hygiene instruction in developing areas while teaching women how to start small soap businesses as a means of self-sustenance and financial independence. She has just completed the soap manual and my staff in Morocco has begun the translation into French and Arabic, Morocco’s native tongues. Because of cultural norms, it’s extremely challenging to obtain permission for us to assemble a group of Berber women to be taught skills by Westerners. Nevertheless, we’re crossing our fingers and saying a prayer that conditions will come together once we get on the ground and that we’ll be able to assembly a class. At a bare minimum, we’ll be teaching my local staff to make soap so they can potentially transfer the teachings, and Melissa will be doing to community assessment to explore other aid opportunities we can develop.

We need all the good juju you can spare- this is unchartered territory for all of us and we’re attempting several tasks which carry some risk. But if three girls could possibly get this done, I am confident that Stephanie, Melissa and I have a fighting chance. I invite you to follow along on Twitter for real-time short updates and photos. We’ll also be sharing some tidbits on Facebook as well. I am eager to see this journey come to fruition and look forward to sharing our results with you!

We worked assembly-line style and Twila was the engine of our train...unpacking and unzipping each empty backpack and passing them on to be stuffed.

As the backpacks moved down the line, they were filled with soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, pens, pencils, crayons and two Arabic picture books.

Celie and Zoe add dental supplies to each backpack. We'll teach the kids how to brush once we get there!

Christina and Chloe are the caboose- they zipped each backpack once they were filled and packed them into shipping boxes.

Ta- Da! The kids were super efficient and packed out 200 backpacks in about 45 minutes!

Once we finished the packing, we had a quick lesson about what life in like in rural Moroccan schools and learned a few easy Arabic phrases. Riley and Twila made cards for the kids wishing them a happy school year!

Heather and Chloe putting the finishing touches on more cards.

Success! I can't wait to distribute these backpacks in Morocco next month.

My deepest gratitude to Shana, Christina, Christie, Heather, Jamie, Riley, Zoe, Celie, Twila and Chloe for spending the morning in packout. Special thanks to Melissa Flick of Body Balms for donating 200 bars of handcrafted soap and Ballentine Dentistry for arranging the donation of hundreds of toothbrushes and toothpaste. My dear friend Brooke at Villainess graciously donated 250 instant film exposures so that we're able to provide each child with a photo of themselves- which will be a first for the vast majority of these kids.

The project has been near and dear to my heart for a very long while and I am so excited to see all the hard work and effort of so many come full circle and take wings. The journey to distribute these supplies and provide other aid to the Berber people of Morocco begins September 9th. I do hope you'll join us here to watch it all unfold. If you'd like to support our work, please stop by our nonprofit From Morocco, With Love to shop a dizzying array of handcrafted Moroccan luxuries, many of which are currently on sale (up to 56% off!) during our first-ever Clearance Event. I can personally assure you that 100% of the profits from those sales are reinvested directly for the betterment of the Moroccan people.

We encourage you to act quickly, as our stock is very limited. Some of these items will be restocked once they sell out (though they'll return to the website at their original prices) while others will be discontinued...so if you've been craving something in particular from our website, I can assure you that this is the very best time to make that purchase. Once the "add to cart" buttons disappear, the item is officially sold out. Please note that all sales are final.

We'd love it if you'd blog, tweet, facebook...ANYTHING to help us spread the word. We have lots of shelves to clear and lots of children to help! Many, many thanks for your continued support. Go shopping and start saving!

We need to raise as much money in advance of that trip as possible. And we need to clear our shelves of existing inventory to make room for all the shiny new things we're bring in. We're looking to kill two birds with one stone: which means a MASSIVE sale is waiting in the wings. If you've been craving something pretty on our website, please stay tuned. August 1st will bring the lowest prices we've ever offered on a wide selection of our favorite Moroccan luxuries. And your purchase means we can put that money to almost immediate use helping the indigenous Berber people of Morocco.

Please help us spread the word and stay tuned for details

Thuya Wood Chess & Backgammon Set, $95.00

Men's Leather Babouche, $22.50

Cedar BBQ Skewers, $35.00

The best part? You'll be able to positively impact the life of families in faraway lands as you bless your own father. And isn't that that the greatest gift you can give?