In the 50s, my father introduced the very first car to the Douar, hence his nickname of Chafor (Chauffeur) (Driver), at the time a white Peugeot 404, later a VW Combi, a vehicle that has become emblematic of the Douar, useful and very practical for transport.

As a child in the 60s, from the age of 7, I often spent my school vacations in the Douar, usually with my aunt (Amti Mbarka), or nearby on my parents’ farm. Every summer was a new adventure. On the first mornings of July, I often woke up excitedly at Amti Mbarka’s, knowing that the day would be full of adventures, so I quickly got ready and headed for the kitchen (Aariche), where the tantalizing smell of freshly baked bread and succulent cracked corn soup (Gourchane) wafted through the air. On my parents’ farm, it was fresh air and freedom. This farm, simply fenced in with prickly pear trees, was an enchanting place surrounded by other equally verdant farms. Extracting water from the wells needed to irrigate the crops or water the livestock was done by animal traction (Cow), (Puits à Delou), or (Aloukaf), an operation I loved doing three times a week with my cousin, between 4 and 7 a.m., the time when a delicious breakfast arrived to be savored. Unforgettable memories… (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry quote) We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.