Bettina Schabus and Monika Spoettl are two young Austrians who stayed for six months in Matmata, a small village at the intersection of Taza and Fès. They just returned home at the beginning of April, after having learned to live with the modest people of the hamlet. That is not all; as they know perfectly well that community life is built on the basis of two verbs: to give and to receive, these two volunteers provided free computer and English language support classes from Monday to Thursday for the young girls of Matmata. Most of their weekend was reserved for creativity: painting, guitar lessons, and discussion sessions around various themes that interest young people.

This individual volunteering, outside of any organisation or association, allowed the two Austrians and the 18 Moroccan girls who benefited from their classes to get to know each other and to conduct a dialogue that will certainly not end with their departure. Through their seriousness and open-mindedness, the villagers of Matmata thus "adopted" them positively. The recognition of the services they rendered to the girls of this village was manifested by their perfect integration into the village and the respect that the families and young people showed them during their stay in Matmata, at their host family's home, Lechhab.

For their part, Bettina and Monika invested themselves and showed remarkable open-mindedness to get to know Moroccan culture in all its components: traditions, customs, festivals, religion, etc. Without prejudice or preconceived ideas, they were able to form an objective opinion of Islam and its followers, directly and without a medium. Their presence also allowed the villagers to have another vision of Western civilisation. This human, serious, and frank exchange proves that coexistence between different cultures is possible and even desirable.