Being posted to Australia was a dream come true for the second Moroccan ambassador appointed to the position.
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While the two countries began a diplomatic relationship in the late '70s, Morocco did not have an embassy in Australia until 2005.
![Inside the home of Moroccan ambassador, Mohamed Mael-Ainin, and wife, Samira Affane Aji, in O'Malley. Photo: Rohan Thomson Inside the home of Moroccan ambassador, Mohamed Mael-Ainin, and wife, Samira Affane Aji, in O'Malley. Photo: Rohan Thomson](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/0cca28bc-c54b-4f4b-824c-9c8ab159f3d3.jpg/r0_0_1000_665_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
At that time, Mohamed Mael-Ainin, who was then Morocco's ambassador to Argentina, vowed that he would be the next to represent his country in Australia's capital.
"I said to my wife, 'You know the ambassador who opened the embassy in Australia is the first but I will be the second one there; I wish to be the second one there'," Mr Mael-Ainin said.
![Inside the home of Moroccan ambassador, Mohamed Mael-Ainin, and wife, Samira Affane Aji, in O'Malley. Photo: Rohan Thomson Inside the home of Moroccan ambassador, Mohamed Mael-Ainin, and wife, Samira Affane Aji, in O'Malley. Photo: Rohan Thomson](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/b2448b4d-b740-4a52-878a-b11327a24886.jpg/r0_0_1000_665_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"So I was pleased to come to Australia; it was just a dream and it was realised as I dreamt it."
The ambassador and his wife, Samira Affane Aji, arrived in Canberra at the end of 2008, and his official diplomatic term began the following February.
This followed six years as the Moroccan representative in Argentina and three years in Jordan.
The travel bug bit Mr Mael-Ainin at an early age, when he had gone to college, and this prompted a leap into the foreign service.
![Inside the home of Moroccan ambassador, Mohamed Mael-Ainin, and wife, Samira Affane Aji, in O'Malley. Photo: Rohan Thomson Inside the home of Moroccan ambassador, Mohamed Mael-Ainin, and wife, Samira Affane Aji, in O'Malley. Photo: Rohan Thomson](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/ef91befa-f8fd-47dc-b9b6-dc814d3a0d5a.jpg/r0_0_1000_665_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"I remember the teacher asking the school, 'What do you want to be in the future?', and my answer was, 'I want to have a job where I can visit a lot of countries'," he said.
The couple have found living in Canberra to be a pleasant experience and have enjoyed their time here.
![Inside the home of Moroccan ambassador, Mohamed Mael-Ainin, and wife, Samira Affane Aji, in O'Malley. Photo: Rohan Thomson Inside the home of Moroccan ambassador, Mohamed Mael-Ainin, and wife, Samira Affane Aji, in O'Malley. Photo: Rohan Thomson](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/30f52fe1-f06e-4644-95dc-103dc5681a13.jpg/r0_0_1000_665_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"You do what you can do in every other capital but without the pressure of the biggest city, you work very easily and quietly," Mr Mael-Ainin said.
Mrs Affane Aji said the Women's International Club – which has about 350 members – had been very important in helping her integrate into the community.
![Inside the home of Moroccan ambassador, Mohamed Mael-Ainin, and wife, Samira Affane Aji, in O'Malley. Photo: Rohan Thomson Inside the home of Moroccan ambassador, Mohamed Mael-Ainin, and wife, Samira Affane Aji, in O'Malley. Photo: Rohan Thomson](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/ec6b1546-7406-4c2f-8ab9-778ec78d2ae1.jpg/r0_0_1000_665_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
She said the club, which has women from embassies as well as Canberrans, had made her stay in the city "very easy and enjoyable" thanks to the friendships she made and the activities in which she took part.
Mrs Affane Aji has led a Spanish-speaking group and organised a trip to visit her home country, where the travellers were "treated like princesses".
![Inside the home of Moroccan ambassador, Mohamed Mael-Ainin, and wife, Samira Affane Aji, in O'Malley. Photo: Rohan Thomson Inside the home of Moroccan ambassador, Mohamed Mael-Ainin, and wife, Samira Affane Aji, in O'Malley. Photo: Rohan Thomson](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/3efb7756-16cb-4a45-ae5d-7c07440c1481.jpg/r0_0_1000_665_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"I didn't go with them … because I wanted them to see Morocco without my opinion – to be free to say it's good or it's bad – and I was pleased to know that they were very happy and safe," she said.
"They came back very happy and now a lot of the women ask me, 'When can you organise another trip to Morocco?'"
![Inside the home of Moroccan ambassador, Mohamed Mael-Ainin, and wife, Samira Affane Aji, in O'Malley. Photo: Rohan Thomson Inside the home of Moroccan ambassador, Mohamed Mael-Ainin, and wife, Samira Affane Aji, in O'Malley. Photo: Rohan Thomson](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/237d2152-f551-4cb2-96d4-0525a8e48062.jpg/r0_0_1000_665_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
While she is enjoying her time in Canberra, her three adult children and a young grandchild live on the other side of the world.
Eldest daughter Matia, 30, is in Morocco, while Mouna, 26, is in Paris and son Hassan, 22, is studying in Spain after a short time at the Australian National University.
![Moroccan ambassador, Mohamed Mael-Ainin, and wife, Samira Affane Aji, in the country's official residence in O'Malley. Photo: Rohan Thomson Moroccan ambassador, Mohamed Mael-Ainin, and wife, Samira Affane Aji, in the country's official residence in O'Malley. Photo: Rohan Thomson](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/84d07118-a23e-4a2a-854b-1cb7841511ec.jpg/r0_0_1000_665_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Mr Mael-Ainin said missing Morocco was something common to all Moroccans – while they are doing well in Australia they always want to go back to their country.
"When we are out of Morocco, Morocco is not out of us," he said.
![Moroccan ambassador, Mohamed Mael-Ainin, in the country's official residence in O'Malley. Photo: Rohan Thomson Moroccan ambassador, Mohamed Mael-Ainin, in the country's official residence in O'Malley. Photo: Rohan Thomson](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/f9e440c7-ecb3-42fd-a836-dcf4bedb86fd.jpg/r0_0_1000_665_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Their official embassy residence in O'Malley features many traditional items from their homeland, including artworks, relics and a classic meeting room.
A large globe has pride of place in the ambassador's office, as do photos of his family.
![Moroccan ambassador, Mohamed Mael-Ainin, and wife, Samira Affane Aji, prepare tea in the country's official residence in O'Malley. Photo: Rohan Thomson Moroccan ambassador, Mohamed Mael-Ainin, and wife, Samira Affane Aji, prepare tea in the country's official residence in O'Malley. Photo: Rohan Thomson](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/c0b09ab3-da9f-43c8-b9da-9ddc0a265829.jpg/r0_0_1000_665_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The couple manage to travel back to Morocco a couple of times each year.
"It is a bit far so we cannot go and return quickly and also we can't go without the permission of the organisation because I am not a businessman, I am someone who is a public servant," Mr Mael-Ainin said.
![Moroccan ambassador, Mohamed Mael-Ainin, in his office at the country's official residence in O'Malley. Photo: Rohan Thomson Moroccan ambassador, Mohamed Mael-Ainin, in his office at the country's official residence in O'Malley. Photo: Rohan Thomson](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/08135c2e-429f-47c0-8a62-c070658b9fa4.jpg/r0_0_1000_665_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"Public servants cannot travel whenever they want."
The ambassador said there was quite a small community of Moroccans in the nation's capital.
![Inside the home of Moroccan ambassador, Mohamed Mael-Ainin, and wife, Samira Affane Aji, in O'Malley. Photo: Rohan Thomson Inside the home of Moroccan ambassador, Mohamed Mael-Ainin, and wife, Samira Affane Aji, in O'Malley. Photo: Rohan Thomson](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/20590d2a-77e3-464d-b935-250d4fb3a282.jpg/r0_0_665_1000_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"Canberra is a city of public servants," he said. "There is no industry, no big agriculture, so all the Moroccans who are here are working in some private business, and the majority of these are in the bigger cities like Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
"I think in Canberra there are less than 10 families, outside of the diplomatic community."
But the spirit of the country is alive and well in the territory and the rest of Australia, with visitor numbers to Morocco increasing every year.
And the ambassador said Canberrans had quite a good knowledge of Morocco.
"I'm very pleased to see in Australia a very good answer by the public to what is Morocco," he said.
"You find Moroccan spices, Moroccan chicken, Moroccan tagine, Moroccan argan oil, couscous – you find it everywhere in the market, which means the word 'Morocco' rings in the Australian ears."