The Dutch presentation

After Paul Dahan's presentation it was the turn for the experts from Holland to say something. The Dutch delegation consisted of Herman Obdeijn and his wife, Mohammed Saadouni and Leon Buskens of the NIMAR in Rabat. Also part of the NIMAR group were Sarah Michiel from Belgium and from Morocco educator Omar Zkik and driver Ahmed Chenouni. Herman Obdeijn took it upon himself to say something about the Dutch connection with Iligh. For us Michiel de Ruyter is of course the most striking connection. However even for the Aboudmiaa family De Ruyter is an unknown factor. They had never heard about him till Bert told them. Herman set things right by quoting from De Ruyter's diaries about his visit with Ali Ben Mohammed Ou Mousa the then ruler who was the first who took the name Aboudmiaa to distinguish himself from the other descendants of the Sufi saint. De Ruyter called him 'Sant' in short. During the presentations Imam was in the room restlessly moving about at first but when he saw that I was sketching he settled beside me. As always I think partly because he want to protect me because he considers me his guest, partly out of affection I think. Of course he knows that when I'm around he gets his portrait taken. After the meeting we went back to the Zaouia were the lunch was served. The students from the driving school joined us and this time men and women mixed around the three tables. Remarkable was that the dignitaries of the Zaouia shared a table with the girls from the hairdressing course and partook in their enthusiasm. It was a heartwarming sight. Maybe the girls were the granddaughters. Who knows.

After supper in the Tiznit Hotel

In the afternoon of the first day of the 'Reunion des Amis d'Iligh' the group was taken to meet Tiznit's famous resident architect Salima Nagji. I went back to the Tiznit Hotel to take a rest in my room. Although the hotel is situated on the corner of the busiest roundabout in Tiznit I didn't hear the traffic in my room at all. The rooms of the Friends of Iligh were all situated around the landscaped and shaded court with at its centre the swimming pool. A typical three star hotel the Tiznit had an alcohol license and a bar where the local drunks and as far as I could see prostitutes gathered. Right across from the window plus balcony of my room an old gent sat during the day in the shade of a date palm. I soon discovered that he had a great view of what went on in the rooms. I slept till evening and joined the group for supper in the hotel's dining room. Of the experts who met Aisha in Leyde in October only one was in Tiznit: Herman Obdeijn. He was accompanied by his wife Louise (Wies). Poor Harry Stroomer who had wanted to come had had a minor stroke on the day before coming here. Fortunately it wasn't crippling and the prospects for recovery were good. It brought home the fact that it was 5 to 12. Harry's right hand man Mohammed Saadouni was with us. And a good thing it was. During the day there had been a lot of local luminaries that had tagged on to the group, but back at the hotel the group had thinned out considerably. Aisha, Annie and Bert were still staying at Fatima's. After supper the 5 strong delegation of the NIMAR had also gone to the rooms. Left were from left to right Paul Dahan of the Jewish Museum in Brussels, he was accompanied by his Belgian wife and 4 year old son, Herman Obdeijn, retired diplomat and Morocco specialist, Wies Obdeijn, retired medical doctor, Mohammed Saadouni and Abdallah Al Moutassir the history professor with whom Aisha was doing her phd. Paul Dahan, who cherishes his Moroccan passport, was a lively fellow who got a discussion going and who held some outspoken views that he didn't suppress. Around him it was never dull.

Aicha meeting the Dutch experts

Aicha Aboudmiaa met the experts on Iligh, the history of Morocco, the Tashelhyt language and the former students of Paul Pascon in Leyden University. She gave a talk on the history and heritage of Iligh, the family's documents and the need to have them preserved. Her presentation was very well received. The gentlemen, most of whom were retired from active work reacted positive to her invitation to come for a reunion to Iligh. Paolo de Mas and Herman van der Wüsten were with Paul Pascon in Iligh in the early eighties. Herman who became Professor Social Geography at UvA, Amsterdam University admitted that after his adventure in Iligh never did research on Morocco since. Paolo de Mas on the other hand became director of the Dutch Institute in Rabat and had visited Iligh with a TV crew as recent as 2011. He also wrote a book about the history of Morocco with Herman Obdeyn. Herman Obdeyn a retired diplomat still publishes about Morocco. He also was friends with the Moroccan scientist who died in the car crash with Paul Pascon in 1985. Recently he wrote a history book about 400 years relationships between the Netherlands and Morocco together with Morocco Dutch publicist Abdelkader Benali. Harry Stromer also retired is an expert on the Tashelhyt language that is spoke in the region of Iligh and has published and impressive library full of literature in the language and in translation. His life's work is a dictionary and grammar of Tashelhyt. He took us after the meeting to his home to view his work. On the way back to Amsterdam we were very conscious of the pressure of time as people with knowledge are getting very old and the state the documents are in is deteriorating.