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His Excellency Aziz Mekouar Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to the United States. and the Board of Directors of the High Atlas Foundation, cordially invite you to join us for a special reception and silent auction to honor the contribution of the High Atlas Foundation to rural development in Morocco.
When: Friday, June 18th 2010 6:30pm – 8:00pm
Where: At the residence of Ambassador Mekouar in Bethesda, MD
RSVPs are kindly requested by June 17, 2010 .
Donations Requested. Each $1 donated will plant 1 fruit tree sapling in a community nursery to benefit rural Moroccan families by generating sustainable income.
HAF's goal is to raise $200,000 to plant 200,000 trees in 2011.
On May 2nd, HAF friends and supporters gathered in New York City for the second Eat.Drink.Share event, which focused on women's cooperatives in rural Morocco. Attendees had an opportunity to learn more about HAF's current project in the Tifnoute Valley that will serve ten villages, with the main objective to increase household incomes by 25 percent through fruit tree planting, irrigation, training and the women's choice of projects ranging from carpet weaving to embroidery. HAF presented the topic in conjunction with Kantara Crafts, a fair trade company specializing in women's carpet weaving cooperatives, which gave attendees perspective on the production-to-sale process of the crafts as well as an opportunity to view the final products.
More recently, a delegation of students, ranging in age from eighteen to twenty-five, led by People to People International (PTPI) departed for Morocco to work on numerous projects, including a three day program in the village of Tassa Ouirgane with The High Atlas Foundation. As part of their 2010 Young Generation (YG) IMPACT Weekend prior to the students' departure, HAF Board Member Nora Larhouasli Marrakchi was invited to lead an interactive session on the topic of "Global Sustainability through Community Development" at the Heldrich Hotel in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The discussion was aimed at introducing the students to the importance of community development in Morocco, the participatory community planning methods used by HAF in the field, and the successes and challenges of these development approaches. Students were led through a series of
community mapping activities, which challenged them to focus on defining their actual and ideal community, as well as prioritizing their challenges and opportunities through pairwise ranking exercise.
In rural Morocco, women play an integral role in the sustainability of their communities. HAF works to have these women's voices heard through organized women's cooperatives. HAF will be presenting in conjunction with Kantara Crafts, a fair trade company specializing in women's carpet weaving cooperatives, on the importance of cooperatives, current projects being led in the High Atlas Mountains, and the production-to-sale process of the crafts. Come learn more about women's cooperatives, how the crafts are made, meet new people, and find out ways you can get involved!
Please join us on Sunday, May 2nd for our Women's Cooperative Eat.Drink.Share at La Lunchonette (130 Tenth Ave. at 18th St, NYC) from 11:00am-1:00pm.
RSVP: nora@highatlasfoundation.org
Come hungry for brunch or drop in for a cup of coffee. And please come ready to learn, share and mingle!
To learn more:
Upcoming 2010 Eat.Drink.Share Events
August: Ramadan Iftar
December: Youth Outreach
All questions, comments, and ideas can be directed to:
Nora Larhouasli Marrakchi, Events and Outreach Chair: nora@highatlasfoundation.org
In partnership with the Embassy of the Netherlands in Morocco, HAF organized and presented a series of workshops focused on the theme of inclusive community planning during the months of January and February 2010. HAF provided hands-on training to twenty-eight Masters students at Hassan II University’s Faculty of Law, Economics, and Social Sciences in Mohammedia, Morocco. Five workshops were held over the course of three weeks, both in the field and at the Center for Community Consensus-Building and Sustainable Development - a partnership between HAF and Hassan II University-Mohammedia. Field-based training was held in the villages of Rass El Bghal and Ain El Jebbouja, in the Commune of Mansouria in the Region of Mohammedia, which offered students the opportunity to practice hands-on activities, such as community mapping, pair-wise ranking, and institutional diagramming – all with the ultimate goal of helping communities reach consensus on their priority development needs. Through this multi-day experience they built relationships with the local population and gained deeper insights into the development challenges facing communities close to home. The students created practical plans for how to continue their work with the communities beyond the workshop series, and HAF has created an internship program to help facilitate this.
In March 2010, HAF completed projects in fruit tree agriculture and clean drinking water in southern Morocco’s Tifnoute Valley, in the Province of Taroudante. Twenty-seven villages, including 6,000 people, benefitted from the planting of 60,000 walnut, cherry, and almond trees, which were part of the Kate Jeans-Gail Tree Nursery Memorial, bringing the total number of fruit trees HAF has planted in rural Morocco to the 200,000 mark.
In addition, HAF provided six villages with clean drinking water: Talmerselt, Aguerzrane, Tasska, Missour, Iberouan, and Idguan noudin. In total, 142 households have benefited from clean water projects, including over 1,000 people. In the coming months, HAF is bringing clean drinking water to three additional villages in the Valley: Imhilen, Tissguane, and Amssouzert. These projects were funded through partnerships with G4S Maroc S.A., The Penney Family Fund – a member of the Common Counsel Foundation, the Gail family, Trees for Life International, Green Sahara Furniture, The Mosaic Foundation, and GlobalGiving.
“Global Sustainability through Community Development” is the theme of People to People International’s (PTPI) 2010 Young Generation (YG) IMPACT Weekend to be held on Friday, May 28, 2010 - Sunday, May 30, 2010 at The Heldrich Hotel (10 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ). The conference is aimed at connecting young adults to PTPI's mission of enhancing international understanding and friendship through educational, cultural and humanitarian activities involving the exchange of ideas and experiences directly among peoples of different countries and diverse cultures. This year, a delegation of students ages 18 - 25, will depart for Morocco at the conclusion of the conference to work on numerous projects, including a three day program in the village of Tassa Ouirgane with The High Atlas Foundation.
At the conference, a special interactive session on the power of community development in Morocco will be led by HAF Board Member Nora Larhouasli Marrakchi on Saturday, May 29th from 2:00pm – 5:00pm. Learn more about the importance of community development in Morocco, the participatory community planning methods used by HAF in the field, and the successes and challenges with this kind of development approach.
Learn more about PTPI’s Young Generation (YG) IMPACT Weekend and HAF’s involvement. For more information on discounted tickets please email Nora Larhouasli Marrakchi directly at nora@highatlasfoundation.org.
