HAF's project to bring clean drinking water to five Moroccan villages is featured as part of GlobalGiving's "Fill the Glass" fundraiser in celebration of World Water Day. Your donation before Sunday, March 22nd could help HAF earn an additional $1,000 in project funds...we are already off to a great start!

Just $15 provides clean drinking water for one person - every drop counts! What small thing can you do today to contribute to this life-saving effort? Give up  your morning coffee run and brew it at home? Walk instead of taking a taxi? Bring your lunch to work instead of buying it? Let us know what you are doing to help bring clean drinking water to Moroccan families by leaving a comment below (you'll help inspire others to do the same!) and then make your donation online.

Fast Facts:

• World Water Day is on March 22nd - it is an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on environment and development
• Over one billion people worldwide do not have access to safe drinking water
• An astounding 1.8 million children die every year from water related diseeases
• In Morocco, an estimated 40 percent of rural inhabitants lack full access to clean drinking water

Thanks to the continued generosity of donors like you, HAF has already started implementation of three clean drinking water projects - benefitting approximately 1,000 people. Raising an additional $11,000 will bring clean drinking water to two more villages, drastically improving the public health conditions of a total of 1,600 people for this project. Thank you for your support!

 Learn more about the project and make a donation online.

In partnership with the American Chamber of Commerce in Morocco (AmCham), HAF has launched a corporate social responsibility program. The program targets the over 250 Moroccan and US companies that are members of AmCham, with a particular focus on engaging small and medium sized enterprises. The goal of the program is to provide a platform for companies to invest in high impact socio-economic development projects, and in so doing create a network dedicated to investing in local community initiatives.

Why become a sponsor?

• Reach over 5,000 Moroccans and Americans with your logo featured in HAF's quarterly electric newsletter and on the corporate sponsor page of HAF's website (with link to your company's website).
• Position your company as a leader in the field of corporate social responsibility, investing in the lives of rural Moroccan families.
• Associate your company with the High Atlas Foundation - a US NGO exclusively dedicated to advancing participatory development in Morocco, with a focus on building productive partnerships and promoting cooperation between the US and Morocco.
• Receive invitations to special events and to visit projects supported by your sponsorship.

How is your sponsorship used?

• Community Champion: $6,000 (or 50 000 MAD) provides clean drinking water for one village, approximately 300 people
• Community Visionary: $3,000 (or 25 000 MAD) funds a one day training in participatory development for twenty-five local leaders
• Community Partner: $2,000 (or 15 000 MAD) plants 500 fruit trees, which at leasts doubles the income of ten families when the trees reach maturity in four-six years

Corporate Sponsorship Opportunities (English PDF)

Possibilité de parrainage institutionnel  (Français PDF)

Contact us to learn more about the corporate sponsorship program

We look forward to counting you among our corporate partners!

On January 22nd, HAF held its first training session at the Center for Community Consensus-Building and Sustainable Development.  This day-long workshop trained twenty-five Master level students - selected from over 100 applicants - at Hassan II University's Faculty of Law, Economics, and Social Sciences, in the basic approach to participatory development through interactive activities and discussion. Taught in Moroccan Arabic, participants worked in small groups to identify and prioritize opportunities for change in their community (in this case the university) through community mapping and pairwise ranking exercises. Together, as a large group, participants reached consensus for areas of priority reform at the university. 

Read more and see photos

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Despite a cold start to the new year, HAF's January Happy Hours were collectively attended by over 50 people! On January 7th we gathered at NYC's Le Souk and on January 9th at Marrakesh Palace in DC. Thank you to everyone who joined us, introduced us to new friends, and for all your great energy and ideas!

We look forward to doing this again later this spring and adding new cities to the schedule - please contact us if you would like to help organize a happy hour in your community. We'll be posting dates right here on the blog and in our e-newsletter.

Learn more about HAF Happy Hours

When we are not busy in the field, we're writing away! HAF is committed to sharing its particiaptory development approach with a diverse audience. Check out these two recent articles that explore the myriad benefits of community-based projects.

Bottom-Up Stimulus, by Yossef Ben-Meir, HAF President

The Power and the Potential, by Kate McLetchie, HAF Country Director

Visit our Media Center for a complete list of articles by HAF