The Friends of Iligh and the Governor of Tiznit

Once in Tiznit I became aware of the enormous achievement that Aisha and Bert had brought about for the comfort of the Friends of Iligh. They had persuaded the Directorate of the Province of Tiznit to rent the Tiznit Hotel for our group for three nights including breakfast and supper. Not only that but the Directorate also provided transport and lunch. They had taken care of the design and printed posters and a folder with relevant information. Of course the Aboudmiaas were once a powerful family in the region and their history is closely tied to that of the Province, but still... Bert is a total stranger without any connections whatsoever. She is not sponsored or endorsed by a government, university or organization. I'm totally impressed! After checking in and dropping off the luggage in the hotel, we were taken to the palace of the Governor to be formally introduced. That happened in one of those great reception rooms that you see all over the Islamic world: seats along the walls, little tables close to the seats and a great big empty space in the middle. The Governor who was accompanied by the mayor of the town and a secretary general was affable and vaguely interested. I didn't get the impression that he exactly knew what he was in for. But his interest became peaked when he realized who was in attendance. In the meantime servants were offering a variety of drinks and sweets. I'm usually all for it, but now I felt that it was more for the intent than the partaking so I did take a bit but left it on the plate. After the introduction Aisha gave a short presentation. The Governor then mumbled some politenesses and that was it.