This native of Ait Braym, near Tiznit, who lives in Agadir, has a very particular process so that his action has the optimal effect, without having to move a large quantity of books, or to crisscross the streets to distribute them. He approaches universities and libraries to offer them his batch of publications speaking, in different languages, of Morocco.
“Since I travel a lot to support the national team, I thought about carrying out actions to promote Morocco in the countries I visit,” Abdellah Sadik explained to MAP.
“So, I bring publications that deal with Moroccan Amazigh culture and the tourist attractions of our country, in addition to postcards, to distribute them in the countries I visit,” says this music enthusiast.
This is precisely the “mission” he had just successfully accomplished in Bukhara, on the eve of the round of 16 match between Morocco and Iran. Wearing the national team jersey with the inscription “Agadir” in Latin letters on the back and his nickname “Azenzar” in Tifinagh, and wearing a taraza, the typical Moroccan straw hat, decorated with the national colors, Abdellah Sadik headed to the State University of Bukhara armed with his few books and postcards, his good faith and his passion for the culture of his country.
Despite the language barrier, Azenzar manages to establish a beginning of contact with the university officials who show a real desire to open up to this unusual visitor. The arrival on the scene of a professor who speaks Arabic makes things easier and what would have seemed at first, for many, an unrealizable idea, almost without any real effect, has started to take on the appearance of a real event within this establishment.
The initiative seems to be appreciated by the university officials who give him a warm welcome, with an impromptu guided tour of some of the university’s facilities, including its museum exhibiting the history and culture of Bukhara and the library, where he hands over his precious treasure to the head of this department.
The “event” does not pass without traditional Uzbek tea and sweets, with a relaxed exchange about Morocco, Uzbekistan, futsal, music and other topics and, of course, the souvenir photo session. Upon his departure, Azenzar was given a gift in return, a book about the city of Bukhara, which he promised to give to a library in Morocco.
The mission is therefore well accomplished for this 47-year-old supporter of the Moroccan football team, who claims to have attended “the football World Cups in Russia and Qatar and the African Cup of Nations in Gabon, Egypt and Ivory Coast and the last Olympic Games”.
It was in Russia, during the 2018 World Cup, that he first had this original idea to promote his country, Morocco. “I did it for the first time in Russia in 2018, then I repeated the experience during football events that I attended to support the national team,” he stressed.
“In Russia, I started distributing postcards when I was playing with street musicians. I also had the idea of putting my publications, written in Russian, with the books that subway users borrow to read during the journey and drop them off when they arrive. Like that, these publications went around the city without much effort on my part,” he said, satisfied.
“Then, during my travels in Africa, I began to target universities, particularly during the last edition in Ivory Coast,” which he reached by land.
During this trip, he says, he took initiatives in Nouakchott, Dakar, Ziguinchor, in the south of Senegal, Bamako and Korhogo and San Pedro in Ivory Coast.
“In Uzbekistan, I have already distributed publications on Morocco at the national library in Tashkent,” said Abdellah Sadik, who expressed the hope that his fellow citizens would follow in his footsteps, so that everyone could make their small but precious contribution to promoting Morocco.
“This is a message to people who travel, whether to encourage the national team or as simple tourists, to bring with them objects that promote our country and distribute them, so that each of us is an ambassador of Morocco in the countries we visit,” he said.
Regarding his nickname, he confides that “it was my friends who gave me this name at a young age, because I played songs by the group Izenzaren (plural of Azenzar) on the harmonica, which I admired a lot.”
With age, Azenzar has matured and wherever he goes, he sows along the way the love of Morocco and the desire to make it better known, as was the case that day at the State University of Bukhara.
2024-09-26 10:46:33