Education Morocco Project #6480

Field Train Students, CSOs & Officials in Morocco

by High Atlas Foundation

Project Report | Jun 19, 2019
TASSA OUIRGANE: THE VILLAGE OF UNITY AND SATISFACTION. (Tue 11-06-2019)

By Amine FATTAS | HAF Volunteer

The rendezvous point was the HAF office. I came early and got to meet the whole team. There were two groups: UVA Students who are in Morocco on a research program and with whom I shared a bus, and the Envoys, high schoolers who were on a school trip. As a Moroccan volunteer, I was surprised to see that all my teammates were foreign students. Yet, they were lively and friendly. We departed at 9 O’clock, it took us about two hours full of excitement to get to our destination “Tassa Ouirgane”, with a 20-minute stop in the village “Asni”.

Upon arriving, we passed by a little abandoned house that happened to be Mr. Yossef’s old residence for three months in his first days in Morocco. The place where everything began. I couldn’t even bring myself to express the 25 years of nostalgia I felt from back then!

We were greeted by a member of the Tassa Ouirgane association who served as our guide. The first stop was a tree nursery where we circled hundreds of little trees waiting for their buyers. Normally one wouldn’t see olive trees in this kind of region, it was shocking to see the cool climate peaches and the heat loving olives trees on the same plantation! It obviously took a lot of effort to maintain, especially in dry weather. We students had the freedom to ask the guide about his work. The 29-year-old was unmarried; Abderrahman told us that diversifying the village’s projects was the main reason for starting an olive nursery. It takes about two years for these trees to mature and be ready for market. It’s even faster inside green houses. According to Abderrahman, the village’s business is 80% Agriculture. Progress is being made, particularly after founding the association where he works. He dreams to see all his fellow villagers sharing his view of divergence and trying new ideas. This project is financed by the United Nations Development Program and managed by HAF and the Tassa Ouirgane association.

After visiting the Nursery, we marched about 3 km up hill to reach the main village. The other students and I spent some time planting some of the olive saplings from the nursery. Then we were introduced to some girls from the community, most were in their twenties. Their co-op was very in-sync despite an official Leader. Their work varies from cooking and baking sweets to harvesting trees. In “Tassa Ouirgane”, only about 20% of girls went beyond middle school, and only ONE has attended college! The reason was parental worries. Because the closest high school was in “Asni” village, 30 minutes away without any school provided transportation!

The villagers hosted the HAF team for Lunch. We were served many different sweets and pastries that were prepared in the village. The main dish was Couscous. We sat in small, mixed groups between students, teachers and villagers. We proved that despite the cultural and lingual differences, we are able to understand one another. I still can remember how uncomfortable the villager girl was when eating Couscous with the spoon. Everyone quickly agreed to try eating with hands as this is the traditional way of eating Couscous. This turned out to be far more enjoyable and made the meal even more delicious!

Before our departure, both hosts and guests exchanged some words of impressions and gratitude about this wonderful experience. Then we set off tired, yet very fulfilled.

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Jun 14, 2019
HAF IN THE MIDDLE OF A REAL MULTICULTURAL TALK

By Camelia Harkousse | HAF Volunteer

This past Sunday June 9, 2019, HAF’s President, Dr Yossef Ben-Meir, with fellow HAF staff and interns from the University of Virginia, gave a talk with a group of students of Moroccan Jewish origins who are on a visit to Marrakech within a program of Open University. The students are on this visit to learn about Moroccan multiculturalism and about the role that youth plays in the sustainable development. At the beginning of Dr. Ben-Meir’s presentation, he focused on the interest of the intercultural and interfaith dialogue and how they can help come up with concerted projects that can lead to sustainable development and how they can enhance livelihoods of people within communities.

During his talk, Dr. Ben-Meir gave an overall idea about activities and projects the Foundation carries out to the benefit of women, farmers, youth, school kids and little girls in a multitude of communities in Morocco.

Building on a long meaningful analysis of the economic situation of the marginal communities in the area of Marrakech especially in respect to agricultural speculations it became obvious to HAF that there is a great deal that can be done for change. It was then quite clear that if we could add all the layers of values such as providing fruit tree saplings, practicing efficient irrigation, securing organic certification, processing agricultural products, commercializing and getting into rewarding markets the economic situation and revenues will be highly improved.

Before going into this process, HAF was convinced and had a strong trust that Moroccans are hard workers and all they needed is a little something to be launched; for instance a material to start, a workshop to begin, training, facilitations, seeds/seedlings, agricultural terraces…

The beauty of where we are – Morocco – is that all the fundamentals we need are in place, it is just about actualizing it and implementing… Where is the button to push?

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Jun 4, 2019
THE DOOR IS ALWAYS OPEN

By Caleb Tisdale | HAF Volunteer

The door is always open at the High Atlas Foundation. Often, it is literally open in an attempt to generate some airflow in the office. It is also open in the sense that people are constantly going in and out. My friend Shermeen says it’s like a talk show and you never know which guest will next walk through the door. During my week’s time at HAF, I’ve met staff members and volunteers from Morocco, France, Germany, and more. I’ve met journalists from Germany and anthropologists from Spain. I’ve also met Moroccan farmers who tend to tree nurseries high in the Atlas Mountains.

Today, I had the pleasure of meeting 14 high school students from Richmond, Virginia, travelling to Morocco as a part of Envoys travel programs. Their exploration so far has consisted of stops in Rabat, Fes, traditional Amazigh villages, and now Marrakech. When Dr. Ben-Meir asked what they felt was the purpose of their trip, students had answers such as increasing cultural awareness and sharing awareness upon their return. They also spoke about personal goals like challenging their own comfort zones. The goal of their visit with HAF was to have discussion about integrating education and development.

Spurred on by thoughtful questions, Dr. Ben-Meir explained what development means to a foundation like High Atlas in a country like Morocco. A connection was made between the “experiential learning” the group has had in Morocco and the “participatory development” of HAF. The purpose of participatory development was defined as “helping people solve their own problems.”

This is what has stood out to me the most about the mission of HAF: empowering people to make their own decisions and truly see themselves in the outcomes. Much like how the office door is always open, the High Atlas Foundation has opened many doors for development across Morocco.

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