Josh and I visited the ancient Chouara tanneries in Fes last Sunday, one of three main tanneries in the old medina or Fes el-Bali. This tannery is the largest of the three, is over 600 years old, and is nearly impossible to find without the help of a guide. After my visit, I came across a recent National Geographic video podcast on ITunes entitled “Toughest Jobs: Tannery Kid.” Its a short clip following the daily life of a young apprentice in I believe the same tannery I visited. I highly recommend watching it.
The Chouara tanneries, like the Guerniz tanneries we also visited, is tucked into a landscape of buildings. A narrow entry leads into an open air area where men wash, clean, and kneed lambskin in a honeycomb of vats. One guidebooks description: “scantily dressed tanners appear like so many human storks...their legs working through the pools, bobbing down to worry a skin and then striding off to wash at the fresh-water standpipes.” The NG documentary describes this as one the “foulest smelling places on earth” because of the skin excrement and pigeon droppings (collected from rooftops and used to soften the leather) in standing water. However, walking around the tannery, I didn’t find the smell that strong; probably because it was not enclosed and the temperature was temperate. A windowless meat packing plant seems worse.
It is a difficult job though. Long hours, physical work, and little pay. While two finished lambskins or a pair of native Babouche slippers sell for around 100 dhms ($12), daily wages start at 20 dhms for an apprentice up to 50 dhms for an experienced tanner. By comparison, construction workers make 50-80 dhms daily and teachers have a monthly salary of around 2500 dhms. Rent in my region is between 400-800, 800-2500 in the cities. The poorest families in my region make 5000 dhms ($600) or less annually. And many of those might never visit Fes, Morocco’s cultural mecca five hours away.
Additionally, the federal retirement fund is not available to those outside of government employment, nor do they pay into it. In a recent survey I read, over 95% of Moroccans expect their children or other loved ones to care for them financially and physically when they are no longer able to.
(The Guerniz tanneries above)
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