My name is Simohamed and i m a student of neuropsychology in the scientific capital of Fez, Morocco. I'm also an activist in the fields of human rights as well as animal rights, and passioned by arts and cultures.
It has been more than five years since I first adopted this diet that I tried, step by step, to take as a lifestyle. The modifications and changes were not that cruel, My transition was smooth,which was not the case for my family and surroundings.

Fez is known worldwide as the capital of the intersections of culture and religion, but it is also known thanks to "Dar Debbagh" the biggest place where leather is made in a traditional way. This is specifically what many of my vegan friends from abroad find savage, yet they have to know that vegan products such as handbags are also made there, using dry palm trees' petals.

Morocco is a country of tourism and there are many sights to discover, yet we are still living in a society where the majority is conservative. They do not accept this culture and make fun of it. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the most famous Moroccan food contains meat. Yet, this does not mean that there isn't a vast majority of youth willing to accept differences.

The biggest challenge I had to face was to convince my environment to accept this fact, and regardless of their mockery, It didn't affect me that much, as long as it was first of all a personal choice and second, I was convinced of my choices, ideas, and principles.

The most important challenge I had was the fact that in Morocco, vegan restaurants are rare, yet this doesn't stop me from moving ahead and always forward. So, I just take a salad or I go back home.

The starting point would be the day I decided to launch activism-veganism in Morocco, and I started making videos on Youtube about veganism ( L'VEGANISM ). It is the the first Moroccan website that explains veganism in a way to be understood by everyone and it's in Moroccan dialect, and translated in French and English. The purpose is to share this culture without stereotypes and create a debate about the subject

The goal of this project is to correct and explain some misunderstandings. I started with a first video giving a definition of veganism and focusing more on ideas they might accept and tolerate.

I will continue with a second video about the history of veganism and in the third I'll talk about the types of veganism.

It goes without saying that I am one of the admins of "Arabian Vegan-النباتيون العرب", a facebook page with more than 18,000 followers of vegan content and subjects from the Middle East and North Africa.

My friend "Imad Benoumar" has a hand in all of this, since he is the one responsible for everything to do with the camera. The series "Veganism" has had a lot of influence, especially with the local media. They have started asking me for interviews to understand what veganism is.

This was not the fruit of my efforts alone. I had a lot of encouragement and help from many animal rights activists, especially in the UK and USA.

At the present moment, my friend "Sarah Bhr " and I are preparing for a meeting in the capitol in order to talk about veganism and present our ideas to the public. We want to create a vegan association in the future.