Avuncular American

Cherry Blossoms and Clivia, Washington and Tangier

This post has no purpose other than showing pretty pictures.  The first, thanks to a visit to the Legation garden by Europa Nostra.  Europa Nostra is a Netherlands - based group dedicated to the preservation of historic buildings.  As you can see in the background, we have plenty of restoration work to do at our Culturally Significant Property, but at least our garden now has an orange tree in each of the four parterres around the central fountain.  Along with the clivias.  Very peaceful.

The bright orange flowers may be gone by the time I return to Tangier - they only last a matter of weeks.  Clivias were unknown to me before my arrival in Morocco, and I note that there is an American Clivia Society.  At first skeptical about these large, fat plants, I was enchanted by their bright blooms.  I will await patiently until they blossom again next spring.

Washington too will have to wait another year until it's Cherry Blossom time again.  My arrival here last weekend coincided with the annual parade, with locals and tourists alike relieved that it was not cancelled by a feared Federal Government shutdown.  The show went on.

I caught the last of the blossoms on Lafayette Square, across from the White House.  Glad to see that the Marquis is properly honored looking over the Square to la Maison Blanche.

Gerald Loftus

Open for Business, In Tangier and Washington

Have I become accustomed to living in historic landmarks?  En route to a week in Washington for meetings, I have decided to set up shop at DACOR Bacon House, one of Foggy Bottom's few remaining historic homes, now the home of DACOR, which organizes a lively calendar of activities for foreign affairs professionals.

I've stayed at Bacon House before, and wrote about their display of one of the Tangier American Legation's cedar gates.  You can see it at their museum dedicated to American diplomacy.  One of the reasons I feel at home there.

So I was relieved, jet-lagged and watching the breaking news from the US in the wee hours of the April 8/9 European morning, that Congress and White House managed to avert a shutdown of the United States Government.  Which for me would have been inconvenient, given that TALIM's landlord is the USG.  Now I can meet our landlord's representatives and discuss the many important historic preservation initiatives that depend on the State Department's office of Culturally Significant Properties.

Anticipating the now-averted government shutdown, I had already begun to concentrate on arranging appointments with a number of non-governmental organizations in the many areas that TALIM is active.  A good number of these organizations are headquartered in Washington.  Perhaps a reflection of the fact that many depend on government funding, but also simply because proximity to the Federal government is essential for organizations active in education, historical preservation, and international exchanges.

Washington.  Where the money is.  Which is why I'm going there, but also because lobbying shouldn't be left to the lobbyists.  There are programs to learn about, grants to be pursued, and people to meet.  Every day in Washington creates a multiplier effect for our operation in Tangier.

Meanwhile, TALIM is very much open for business.  Coming to Tangier in May?  Check out the Legation stand at the International Book Fair, our second foray into the world of book fairs in six months.

In D.C., as President Obama just reminded us, the Washington Monument will be open.  Maybe I'll go check out some museums.  Washington is a museum Mecca, and most of them are not only free but world-class.  I'll have to check out those display cases...

Gerald Loftus

Le-ga'tion, Defined

People often ask "what is a legation?"  So I provide the above photo of a page from a dictionary that was published when countries still had legations.  And ministers, the people (well, at the time, the men) who headed them.  Wikipedia has a limited or stub page on legations.

In Tangier, the American Legation and all the other legations ceased to be in 1956, the year of Morocco's independence.  The buildings continued, usually reverting to the status of consulate or consulate general (the case of the US ConGen).

Over the years since Moroccan independence, the old legations and the consulates that replaced them gradually faded away.  Just like the Dar Niaba, the office of the Naib or representative of the Moroccan foreign ministry, now a dilapidated administrative building for local government, whose occupants may be unaware of the fact that they are in a historically valuable building.

The American Legation, circa 1976. could have gone the same way.  Fortunately, far-sighted people saw the significance of our building, and our current status as a US government-owned but privately run institute seems to be the kind of public-private hybrid that works.

Gerald Loftus

History Detected, Flag Restored

Okay, folks, I think we have solved the mystery of the American flag carpet, or at least placed it in time.  First, the link to our plea to readers for photo interpretation of this picture:

Now, analysis provided by Mark Smith, architect and former Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco (and former resident of the American Legation in Tangier!).

It’s possible that the gentleman standing behind the star field is Cavendish W. Cannon who was ambassador to Morocco from 1956 to 1958.  He is the person on the left of the photo I have attached.

Other than that I note that the flag has 48 stars so probably predates the change in our flag to 49 stars when Alaska became a state on January 3, 1959.  I also note that the person third from the left has a hair style that places this photo after about 1953.  Also, several Moroccans are in the photo which implies to me that it is at or after the time of independence in 1956.

Mark gets 10 out of 10 for his keen analysis and identification of Cavendish W. Cannon, the first U.S. Ambassador to Morocco after its independence.  CWC appears in this 1948 Life/Getty photo, and is listed thus on the State Department's roster of Chiefs of Mission to Morocco:

Name: Cavendish W. Cannon
State of Residency: Utah
Foreign Service Officer
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Jul 21, 1956
Presentation of Credentials: Oct 6, 1956
Termination of Mission: Relinquished charge, Jul 1, 1958

Okay, now that we've established that our flag is from the Eisenhower - Mohammed V era (both leaders met in Morocco in 1959), we can show you how the flag looks today, after its recent refurbishing:

Though the colors have faded a bit over the years, it's cleaner than it's ever been since Ambassador Cannon's time, and it has taken pride of place in a part of the American Legation that is closest to the spirit of its Moroccan weavers, flying over the classes of women learning to read and write, so that they can take their rightful place in Moroccan society.

Gerald Loftus

Tangier's New Port: Let the Water Flow

Engineer and Commercial Director of the Moroccan government chartered company SAPT Hassan Mzerma opened Day Two of the 2011 April Seminar, with the focus on the SAPT project of the conversion of Tangier's city port.  We thank SAPT chief Abdelouafi Laftit and Mr. Mzerma, probably two of the busiest people in Morocco, for their valuable time and their beautiful illustrations.  The Powerpoint slides, two of which we present here with SAPT permission, provided the audience with their first detailed look at what is coming their way.

One thing coming their way is water.  The plan calls for bringing the Strait of Gibraltar's water back to many of the beaches and areas which were paved over in the 20th century.  Original idea, though perhaps risky given Tangier's exposure to rising sea levels due to global warming.

The idea is to bring more people to Tangier's revamped port.  Cruise ship passengers, yacht people, of course, but also internal tourists from elsewhere in Morocco, eager to re-live Tangier's international flavor.  And how about the hundreds of thousands of MREs - Marocains Résidants à l'Etranger or overseas Moroccans - who transit Tangier's ports every summer?  Between Tangier's city port and Tangier Med, some 3 million passengers transit every year.

Thankfully, one of the lifebloods of the current port, not to speak of the city - the fishermen and their trawlers - are to find an improved home in the new port, with their own breakwater (topmost in the second photo above).  There was an unjustified fear at one point that the fishing port would be eliminated in the interests of gentrification.

Tourism, though a potential money-earner for the city, apparently doesn't bring much return to the port authorities (1 tourist = 1 Euro for the port, but Euros 100 for the city's economy).  Job creation, ever important, is a key goal, and the chicken-and-egg nature of port conversion is an essential element in making Tangier more attractive as a port of call.  "Build it and they will come."  The planners' goal for 2020 is 750,000 cruise ship passengers per year.

But what will they see?  Yes, the new port is to boast hotels, museum, shops, esplanades, etc.  But is the human infrastructure - dominated by "unofficial" or faux guides - ready for this influx?  Several participants underlined the importance of training, and involving the city's youth, avoiding a tendency towards elitism - a tough job in a project destined to attract some of the world's wealthiest people.

The port's existing mosque is to be replaced with a larger one, seen by some as an opportunity to build a landmark, with world class Moroccan artisans, and perhaps open it to all.

Environmental impact, as in yesterday's Day One session, is a recurring concern for the city port.  Some fear that the infamous chergui wind might send water effluent back to land or destabilize the planned cable car in the port plan.

Today's session, though it has no official standing, served as a sounding board for Tangier's civil society, and is seen by a number of participants as a way of influencing plans that are not necessarily finalized. A kind of self-appointed focus group.

We all learned much, and to the great credit of SAPT, they took note of all of the constructiive points for future reference.

Finally, TALIMblog received a plug by audience members, who were encouraged to continue the discussion through the "comment" feature at the bottom of this and other posts.  Update: read Mohamed Lamrani's excellent observations, and more great ideas from Bernard Moutin.

With enough ongoing comments, we can have The Never-Ending April Seminar.

Gerald Loftus   

Live Blogging The 2011 TALIM April Seminar

Note: Marking its 10th edition in 2011, TALIM's April Seminars have attracted audiences from Tangier, the rest of Morocco, and beyond.  This year, with the theme of Tangier's Ports: Circles of Impact, we piggybacked on the US Trade Mission which participated in the Med-Log (logistics, with a focus on foreign investment) Conference.

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Day One

Two American researchers open the Seminar, which on Day One focuses on the impact on the hinterland of the construction of Tangier Med Port, some 40 km outside Tangier, towards Ceuta. Research was carrried out in 2006 through 2009.

Little formal education among the population of the hinterland (only 18% had attended school, for an average of 5 years), though the slides show very neat homes. Question: are these homes still perched on the green hillsides?  Many had to make way for the port's construction.

In 2006, more than 84 % of those interviewed wanted to cooperate on hinterland development efforts with TMSA, the Tangier-Med executive agency.

Tan-Med's TMSA Foundation is active in funding training (vocational job training, health, etc.), but many residents didn't qualify for enrolment because they failed to meet the minimum educational requirements.

Companies with best results (e.g., least personnel attrition) paid special care to the interview/selection process, and treat employees with respect.

Corporate Social Responsibility - CSR or RSE in French - has come to Morocco through Transparency Maroc and the Moroccan employers federation, CGEM.

International best practice in ports also includes such concepts as a "port social license," sustainable ports, and of course "green logistics," stressed at this week's Tangier Med-Log conference.

Q & A very lively, especially as the record of employment of the local population has come under criticism, including sit-ins at TMSA by locals unhappy with the employment of people from elsewhere in Morocco.

TMSA, however, has established its Foundation so that development sparked by the new port doesn't bypass the local population.  TMSA very conscious of its social responsibilities, but equally aware that the reality of the informal economy - Ceuta and its ubiquitous "trade" - is a serious competitor for labor.

Suggestion by two audience members, from rural development and university backgrounds, that a follow up study be done on social inclusion efforts by organizations like INDH, the Moroccan national initiative for human development.  Recently, regional authorities have met with leaders from 8 local communities to discuss their needs.

One audience member reminded us that despite its middle name, Corporate Social Responsibility is in fact a capitalist concept, and not selfless charity. Another noted that the direct shipping line US-Tangier Med is at present just one-way (Tangier Med as a drop off point en route to the Middle East), and doesn't provide a route for Moroccan exports to the US.

Looking ahead, not just behind, is essential.  Which is why TALIM plans to look forward - to the Tangier City Port's conversion project, breaking ground this month - on Day Two, Saturday April 2.  Stay tuned.

Gerald Loftus