5 Dirham per head
When did this one give birth ?
Yesterday
We can see you !
We can see you by the fire !
Come and see!
Come to see the fire !
The smoke is making me blind !
I'm wondering when the bread will be ready !
If I had known that it would be so long, I would have done it earlier !
Oh my God !
Look how the fire is igniting !
Earlier, we could see you by the fire !
Really ?
You were just next to it.
Do you see what the wind does to the fire ? We can see the oven over there.
This is weird !
You are happy !
It's strange that the smoke does not bother them.
Put it there.
There will be too much wind there.
There are three left.
Five.
There are fifty right ?
You did not put enough pieces of spleen.
He is running here.
Quoi ?
He is running here.
Go get them.
Where are your shoes ?
They are here.
Take the animals to drink.
Do you own all the animals ?
No.
Some belong to other people.
We take care of them for them
And you, how many of them do you have ?
I own 150 or 200 of them.
When the kids have started to grown up, they have begun to help me.
Around 17 years old, they started to do it by themselves.
Get the flock back together !
For how long I have been a shepherd ?
4 years.
Are tou taking care of the livestock every day ?
Yes.
Tell me what you do every day.
I do my ablutions
I wash my face,
I drink some coffee.
I help the rejected babies to suckle their mother.
Then, I take my breakfast.
Then we separate the mothers from their babies.
Then we take the adult livestock to drink water.
While the animals are grazing, we drink our tea.
And that's it.
When the day is over, we go back home
we help the babies to find their mothers so they can suckle.
We milk the goats.
That's it.
After that, we get ready for dinner,
and we go to sleep.
He is going first,
and I stay behind, to carry the babies which are just born.
Why does Mohamed go first ?
To hold the livestock back.
I take care of the livestock waiting for her to come with the bag of supplies.
Why do the adults go away while the babies stay ?
The babies cannot follow and they don't eat grass yet.
They go with the livestock once they have grown up.
We are gone all day,
then we come back to give the babies to their mothers so they can suckle.
So, they are satisfied.
We make sure that each mother finds its baby.
If a mother rejects its baby, we tie it up so it can suckle.
How do you recognize the mother of each baby?
We just do recognize them.
How ?
We recognize them since they're born.
We know which baby belongs to which goat.
When we go back to the tent we give each baby to its mother.
Is it hard to be a shepherd ?
Yes, it is !
You have to run everyday to take care of the animals.
You don't have any time to rest.
When it's raining, the water comes in the tent and we struggle.
Despite the bad weather and the cold we have to take the animals to feed them.
Even if it's very hot we have to follow the animals but also when it's raining or freezing.
When the females give birth we have to carry the babies until we come back.
When the animals move quickly, we have to chase them and hold them back. When the females give birth we have to carry the babies until we come back.
When the animals move quickly, we have to chase them and hold them back.
When we move away, we load the donkeys and the mule up,
we put the baby goats in baskets too.
Then we go with them and the animals.
The distance is big, we have a long way to go.
How many hours ?
Almost 6 or 7 hours.
It's hard to walk sometimes.
It's a lot.
What do you eat all day ?
We have some tea, bread and dates.
Some sugar too.
We walk until the payer of midday.
We drink tea and then go back with the livestock.
Later, I won't be a shepherd anymore.
I will go in town and find a job too !
I won't do this anymore.
This is it.
You want to go in town and win some money ?
I will send the money to my father
even he is still taking care of the animals.
What do you want to do ?
In the building construction, anything !
Where there is work to do !
It's enough ! The youngest needs to take over.
When do you plan to go in town ?
Maybe next year.
I would like to live in a house at the village.
I can't live in the countryside anymore.
I want to know how to cook, do the dishes, wash the laundry.
Why do you carry this baby goat ?
Why do I carry it ?
Because, it can't walk.
He was born a few hours ago.
Its mother fed him, I carried it and its mother followed the livestock.
Do you have what you want ?
Yes, I do.
I don't need anything.
Sit down, sit down. Come on.
Look how it is like.
Drink your soup.
A spoon.
A spoon ? There is no spoon.
Drink it like this.
Is it good ?
Where are they gone with the animals ?
To the river.
They went to drink water ? To the river.
They went to drink water ?
Are they going to drink and then go away ?
How many years have you been a shepherd ?
How many years ?
About 36 years.
When you were young, who told you that you were gonna be a shepherd ?
My parents.
Go away, go away.
Abdelwakil, get the mule back !
You have not seen the river yet, it used to go further away.
Get the mule back and come here !
My big brothers were working in town.
My big bother Brahim, they asked him to take care of our lands in Tamslit.
They said to me to be a shepherd in the countryside.
I was running away, I told them i did not want to do this anymore.
But my dad told me that I needed to do it. So i did it.
Hold it with the stick !
Get me on its back !
Put your foot on mine to go up.
Take off the saddle.
Come to eat !
This is the olive oil.
Some fresh goat cheese.
We don't have hoofs for her.
They are broken.
Come here !
You're changing the hoofs for tomorrow ?
Yes.
So she won't hurt herself. Yes.
So she won't hurt herself.
Like that, even if she walks for a long time, she won't be hurt.
Stay calm ! Stay calm !
Go away Abdelwakil !
Do you change the hoofs before each travel ?
We don't change them considering the travels, but when they are wear out.
We put some new hoofs.
You understand ?
It's like a car, when the wheels are worn out, you change them ?
It's the same for the mule !
Tomorrow, if God allows us we will go in the caves near the mountains.
We will rest there a day before we go back on the road to a new place.
We only have the mule and the donkeys to move away.
Give me a bigger bag.
Get it up.
Loosen on your side.
You can't carry them ?
What about this ?
I pull and you pull too.
Well, pull a bit. It's okay.
We got up, we took our breakfast.
Now, we are preparing ourselves to go if God allows us.
We are going to meet Said and Mohammed who are gone with the animals.
Then, when the mule and the donkeys will be loaded, they will find the livestock.
Before, it goes away.
They are taking the livestock to the caves.
Give some water to the little goats.
Go fill in the kettle.
And let the mule eat a bit before we go.
Put all the stuffs in the baskets.
Hurry up !
It needs to be near the vegetables.
Well, put them there. Come on !
Please God help me !
Come on, we're late !
It's full of ants !
Here is some water, if you need some.
Is there water in it ?
We need to set this on fire.
Take all the rocks off.
We will stay 15 days nears the mountains.
All this is hard, but it's our job.
We don't have the choice. That's our work.
We will leave the mountains to settle down somewhere else for a few months.
Then, we will go again in the mountains.
Over there, the road is not easy to take.
The cars can't drive on that road.
Here we are in Lourda.
We came in the caves.
We stay here to rest and so the animals can rest a bit too.
After that we leave.
Why do you always change your location ?
For the animals. If there are no food left, we have to move.
- Do you do the same route every year ? - Each shepherd has its own places.
In each region, we need to settle down at the same place.
If you settle down somewhere, the year after you have to settle down there again.
You can't go somewhere else.
How come ?
If you change your place,
your usual spot can be taken by someone else the next time you will go there.
Each shepherd has his spot, depending on where they're from.
All the shepherds have their habits.
What about this place ?
Here, it's first come, first served.
Nobody will say something.
In the mountains, it's different.
If you take someone else's spot, he will ask you to leave.
During summer, we are in the mountains.
During winter, we are in the countryside.
When it's cold, we settle down at the foot of the mountains.
Being a shepherd, how do you make money ?
Do you think I have a wage ? No, I don't.
The money I make by selling an animal, I use it for our needs.
The ones who ask you to take care of their animals, how do they pay you ?
Every month.
How do they pay you ? With money ?
Don't throw the peeling away !
Yes.
Once a month, 5 dirham (50 cents) per head.
Is it the same amount of money for a big or a little animal ?
Yes it is.
We have to wait for the little ones to grow up a bit.
We wait until they're 6 months or 1 year old and then, I start getting paid.
Before that, I do it for free. We wait until they're 6 months or 1 year old and then, I start getting paid.
Before that, I do it for free.
We rock them for free.
If they could see how hard it is to take care of them,
They wouldn't think that we do it for free !
- We have to take care of them - You did not see how much they screech.
And everything we give to them, they leave it behind.
And you are not use to take care of them.
Are all the shepherds accompanied by their wives ?
No, not all of them.
There was a time, when she was not there yet.
I took care of the animal by myself.
I prepared my food by myself.
Since we are married, she comes with me.
I have been a shepherd all my childhood with my parents.
This, without counting the years that I spent doing it with Salah.
My parents.
My parents asked me to do it.
Do you like this life ? Being a shepherd, a nomadic person ?
Me ?
I do like this.
I prefer this rather than living in Tamslit.
I prefer here.
It's better than being at the village.
Here is better for me.
Even if I wanted to stay at the village, there would be no one to take care of the animals.
There would be no one left to prepare food for the children,
who are gone to take care of the animals.
Would you like Mohamed and Fatima to keep on being shepherds ? who are gone to take care of the animals.
Would you like Mohamed and Fatima to keep on being shepherds ?
If they find something else to do somewhere else, they will leave.
If not, they will still be shepherds until there are no more animals to take care of.
There are a lot of animals,
If the kids are gone, there will be no one to take take of the animals.
If we have had found someone to take care of the animal, then maybe,
but it's not easy.
Poor kids !
They only do this because they have to.
They don't want to do this anymore !
That's what life is asking for, so they do it.
It is because their dad is shepherd, that they are shepherds too.
Now, they don't want to let the animals down.
They can't let the animals down.
And they don't know the city enough to find work there.
He is not there anymore, I think he's gone.
Go away, so they can film me !
What are you doing ?
I am shaking the goat milk to make whey.
If it's warm, it's quick.
If it's cold, it will change only after a while.
It takes time if it's cold.
What do you use to change the milk ?
Some goat skin. We made it.
Like this one.
I scrub it until it becomes smooth.
Then I soak the skin in tannin.
We let it in the tannin until it becomes red.
Then we tie up the ends, and use it to make whey.
You see, once the milk is done,
we put it in a pot
we stir in and it becomes like butter.
Not like the usual butter.
It's not really butter.
It's different.
Do you think the life in the city is better than here ?
Yes, I do.
How come ?
much better !
You can rest there.
Here we never rest.
If we want to eat, we have to work hard.
We we don't have anything to eat, we have to go look for it.
It's always hard for us.
It is a lot of work.
If you stop taking care of the animals and go to the village, how are you going to live ?
How I am going to live ?
If the kids find some work in town they will send some money to us, so we can live.
For now, no one works in town,
so if we don't make money with the animals, we have nothing.
If they can find a job, they will help us if God allows it.
At this point, we will be able to go in Tamslit and stay there.
Where do your feet take you ? Where are you going running like that ?
Are you chilled ? What do you have to tell ?
God please help trustworthy people.
Goodbye my loved ones, I salute you.
Patience imposes itself despite the roughness of life.
Where did I go with the things I've taken ?
Our men are people we can trust.
A film by Paola Rima Melis and Myriam Laalej
With the Benichou Family A film by Paola Rima Melis and Myriam Laalej
With the Benichou Family
Images and sound
Assistant Director
Editing
Mix
Calibration
Translation
Music
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