Driving from Sidi Ahmed Ou Mousa for the first time, it takes a long time before you see Iligh. The winding road first dips down into the local Oued. The Oued is green with trees and gardens. A number of water wells of different ages are visible. All are abandoned. If you stop the car you can hear the put-put of the diesel pump that brings up the water for irrigation. After crossing the Oued the road rises amid undistinguished ruins. On the right are the ruins of Old Iligh and an old Souk to the left the extensive ruins of two mellahs. A bent in the road and suddenly the village is there: blocks of houses carelessly thrown down on a plain. The casbahs with their towers and fat bellied walls that make up the fortress are on the other side of the village. They are still invisible. The sketch is made from in front of the village school. There are no other amenities in the village except a dusty football pitch and a tiny little shop in a doorway. For their household and farming shopping the villagers have to go to Tirmigh 20km to the north. For other things like banking, and medical care they have to go to Tiznit 60km to the north-west. In the daytime there will be not many people around as they will be working in the fields and gardens. Some may be employed elsewhere. There are some new houses made out of concrete, but on the whole the village doesn't look prosperous. The people you'll see are all black African. There seems nothing else left of the glorious past but ruins and descendants of slaves that have made Iligh their home for the past 300 years.
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten