By Abderrahim Ouarghidi, HAF’s Project and Training Manager

Abderrahim in the Tifnoute NurseryTifnout’s 2010 Nursery of 60,000 Cherry and Walnut Saplings: After spending several months of intense work collecting and purchasing 60,000 healthy cherry and walnut trees, we faced another 4 months of stress and concern because the local variety of walnut requires a great deal of attention due to its sensitivity to growing conditions . At first, I was anxious and a bit dubious about the community workers' competency, but by the first week of July, my concerns had dissolved. Wow! Wonderful! I was amazed and dazzled by the quality of their work. In the nursery, the healthy smell of earth and growing plants is dense in the air, made even more intense by the beautiful bright and dark greens. It is here in this place that you can feel the joy and peace of all who work with the plants. It reminded me of the henna party of my aunt when I was a child, and I have a memory of this beautiful green that is symbol of happiness, celebration and fertility. It seems truly magical.

The achievement is a success not only for the communities, local technicians, donors, and all the partners, but also for the participatory process adopted by HAF. Our next amazement will come when the trees we've planted finally produce the wonderful sweet bright red cherries and oily green walnuts. The fruits of all that labor and growth will in turn help the widows, orphans, needy and kids from the local community by raising their income, helping them to keep their hope in life.

View photo’s of the Tifnoute fruit tree nursery here.

 On June 18th, 2010 over 80 guests gathered in the home of His Excellency Aziz Mekouar, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to the United States, in Bethesda, Maryland for a kick-off to summer reception and silent auction honoring the contribution of the High Atlas Foundation to rural development in Morocco.  The Foundation’s goal is to raise $200,000 to plant 200,000 fruit saplings in two community nurseries in the Al Haouz province in 2011.   The Foundation’s 2011 goal is part of the One Million Tree Campaign launched by the Foundation in 2006.  To date, HAF has planted with communities 200,000 fruit trees and saplings in five provinces of Morocco, benefitting approximately 25,000 people.  The evening's message of "$1 -1 Fruit Tree Sapling" delivered by Ambassador Mekouar and HAF Board Members was underlined by spotlighting current projects HAF has undertaken and the continued need for support.  Guests had an opportunity to participate in the silent auction that included diverse items from clothing and baskets to belly dancing classes and wood handicrafts, which were graciously donated by local businesses as well as our "Made in Morocco" partners. The reception raised $33,000, which included a generous gift of $25,000 from the Earth Day Network to support HAF’s planting in 2011.

We would like to extend a special thank you to H.E. Ambassador Aziz Mekouar, the Earth Day Network, our silent auction donors, and all our guests and supporters that contributed to transforming the lives of Moroccan families one sapling at a time!

To view photos of the event please click here.

A special thank you to our silent auction donors, including:
Jeanne Beatrice, www.jeannebeatrice.com
Green Sahara Gifts, www.greensaharagifts.com
Odeon Cafe, www.odeoncafedc.com
Marrakesh Palace, www.marrakeshpalace.com 
Puro Cafe, www.purocafe.com
Salon Nordine & Day Spa, www.salonnordine.com
Sahara Dance Company, www.saharadance.com
The Ritz-Carlton, www.ritzcarlton.com
Charmed Creations by Stephanie, Stephanie Hamlin charmedcreations@comcast.net
Enshin Karate of Northern Virginia, www.virginiakarate.com 
Harmonique Pilates Studio, www.harmoniquepilates.com 
Sanoma Technologies, www.sanomatechnologies.com

As an American student at Al Akhawayn University I have been an intern with the High Atlas Foundation this summer. I’ve had the opportunity to participate in and observe first-hand the work that the High Atlas Foundation is doing in Morocco. Last semester Professor Ben-Meir (the Foundation’s president) introduced participatory development to my class and a student service organization through an experiential workshop. We used the process to build consensus on student priorities and make recommendations about student life to the University administration. At a workshop near Mohammedia, I met Moroccan students from Hassan II University and worked with a disadvantaged urban community to identify and understand their needs. Some of the community members were cynical because they had met developers before and nothing had come of it. Through participatory development, they will have the opportunity to become involved in determining the outcome of our visit.

The work of the High Atlas Foundation in Morocco has been felt by top government officials as well. In a recent speech entitled “HIGHLIGHTS OF THE U.S.-MOROCCAN RELATIONSHIP, 2006 – 2010”, Minister Counselor Robert P. Jackson said the High Atlas Foundation "continues to make a difference here, specifically by helping Moroccan communities in the High Atlas Mountains achieve socio-economic development." He praised recent initiatives including the “planting of thousands of trees and training of young students in participatory development." Based on my experience, I would say that the High Atlas Foundation’s work will continue to be a "highlight" of U.S.-Moroccan relations for many years to come.

--Matthew Lehnert

Greetings to friends, supporters and beneficiaries of the High Atlas Foundation. My name is Lillian Thompson and I am a Peace Corps Response Volunteer. Since my arrival in Morocco in May, I have been working with the High Atlas Foundation to develop its curriculum in participatory development. I hope to use my blog to keep you informed of our progress and to learn from you—so please comment.

As a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine, I worked with an area-based program of the United Nations Development Program in Crimea. The program used participatory development methods to promote economic development and the re-integration of a returning Diaspora of Tatars. As Program and Training Officer for Peace Corps in Romania, I developed training in participatory development and project management for Peace Corps Volunteers in diverse program areas. New Orleans is my adopted home town, where participatory development has gained new meaning in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the BP Oil Spill.

Part of being new in a place is the temptation to make comparisons. I cannot say that I have lived in places where life is more or less hard than it is in Morocco’s rural villages and bidonvilles. I can say that, like the city of New Orleans, the country of Morocco is a place to love. Art, family and religion are inextricably woven into their cultures. As is vulnerability—and this is why so many people are drawn to these places.

I have spent my first few weeks in Morocco visiting the Center for Community Consensus-Building and Sustainable Development in Mohammedia, talking with people and observing “experiential community-based” workshops where students from the Hassan II University and officials from rural communes have come together to learn about participatory development. The Center is a partnership between the High Atlas Foundation and the University which operates out of a modest office in a classroom at the University—you can read about it in the Training tab.

I believe that the Center’s impact on development in Morocco can have a far-reaching ripple effect, as more people learn and use participatory methods in their work and in their communities. The program serves a national need for empowered communities to fulfill the monarchy’s commitment to regionalization (decentralization). Communities that choose how they will develop and ensure that they can maintain projects donors help provide will make more sustainable progress. And communities that become active participants in Moroccan-led development programs will become part of a stronger nation.

In future blogs, I hope to share some of the nuts and bolts of the curriculum we are creating—it will benefit from using the participatory development approach itself, with your help.

Between June 3rd and June 5th,  HAF hosted fourteen students and two adult leaders from People to People International (PTPI) in the village of Tassa Ouirgane located in southern Morocco's High Atlas Mountains.  PTPI, founded by President Dwight Eisenhower, and now run by his granddaughter, is dedicated to cross-cultural communication within and across communities and nations.

The visit helped the students build first-hand knowledge of the socio-economic and environmental opportunities in rural Morocco and gave them the opportunity to participate in a service-learning project. During the program, students gained basic knowledge about participatory development through an introductory session conducted by HAF’s Training and Project Manager, Abderrahim Ouarghidi. In addition, the students practiced hands-on activities with the  community, such as social mapping and pair-wise ranking, with the goal of helping local people reach consensus on their priority development needs.

The students also enjoyed traditional Moroccan food, learned basic cultural norms in rural Morocco, and built relationships with local people through community meetings and discussions. Students toured the village with community members - a walk that took them to the local association, springs, orchards, and fields -  and to discover the landscape that surrounds the village.