Location
We are located in the south east of Morocco, at the gate of the Sahara desert. After a six hour long drive from Marrakech, crossing the green high Atlas mountains and the canyon mountains of Ait Saoun below Ouarzazate, you arrive into the Daraa valley. Then continue driving for another four hours and you enter into the Ktaoua valley, in the small town Tagounite, one of the last villages before the Sahara desert starts.
History
The small village Bani Hayoune is one of the oldest Jewish villages in the Daraa Valley. It was discovered by Ishak Aquim around 2500 BC. Bani Hayoune is - like many old and more rural villages - still containing a traditional amazigh lifestyle that has been preserved for centuries by its community. In the past, the village has been used a lot for crafting traditional products and for trading food and goods. It used to be a very important place where many nomads passed through to trade while on their way to Timbuktu, Mali.
Nowadays a few of the people who live in this region are farmers, some of them own a shop or are construction workers. Several people own a small piece of land - inherited from their ancestors - trying to grow grass, wheat, herbs and salads. Many depend on the support of their children, as there is no pension or insurance provided by the government. A lot of the people living here have no work at all and try to survive from some produce of the land or from helping others on their land, for which in return they receive a few dirhams or can collect food for their animals.
We are located in the south east of Morocco, at the gate of the Sahara desert. After a six hour long drive from Marrakech, crossing the green high Atlas mountains and the canyon mountains of Ait Saoun below Ouarzazate, you arrive into the Daraa valley. Then continue driving for another four hours and you enter into the Ktaoua valley, in the small town Tagounite, one of the last villages before the Sahara desert starts.
History
The small village Bani Hayoune is one of the oldest Jewish villages in the Daraa Valley. It was discovered by Ishak Aquim around 2500 BC. Bani Hayoune is - like many old and more rural villages - still containing a traditional amazigh lifestyle that has been preserved for centuries by its community. In the past, the village has been used a lot for crafting traditional products and for trading food and goods. It used to be a very important place where many nomads passed through to trade while on their way to Timbuktu, Mali.
Nowadays a few of the people who live in this region are farmers, some of them own a shop or are construction workers. Several people own a small piece of land - inherited from their ancestors - trying to grow grass, wheat, herbs and salads. Many depend on the support of their children, as there is no pension or insurance provided by the government. A lot of the people living here have no work at all and try to survive from some produce of the land or from helping others on their land, for which in return they receive a few dirhams or can collect food for their animals.
