Blogs
The past year has been truly transformative for the High Atlas Foundation (HAF) and the rural communities with whom we partner.
We would like to share with you some of the highlights of what we have accomplished during 2008 with the help of our partners and supporters:
- Hired the organization’s first Country Director and established a HAF headquarters in Morocco.
- Planted 41,000 fruit trees with twenty-four villages in three provinces. Since 2003 HAF has planted nearly 150,000 fruit trees, benefitting over 23,000 people.
- Initiated potable water projects in partnership with GlobalGiving and the Mosaic Foundation, to bring clean drinking water to five villages (1,600 people).
- Facilitated forty community meetings with twenty villages in two valleys, to help local people evaluate past projects and identify future opportunities for socio-economic development.
- Evaluated the Kate Jeans-Gail Memorial Tree Nursery; planted two years ago, the apple and cherry tree saplings are now ready to distribute to twenty-five villages.
- Established a training center in partnership with Hassan II University-Mohammedia – the Center for Community Consensus-Building and Sustainable Development – to train students and community leaders in facilitating participatory planning activities.
- Partnered with the Office Chérifien des Phosphates to promote rural economic and social development in the Ben-Guerir region.
- Expanded HAF’s participatory development model by partnering with Morocco’s High Commission of Waters and Forests to assist communities that neighbor Morocco’s national parks and reserves in order to advance socio-economic development and the conservation of natural resources.
- Hosted three receptions to announce HAF’s newest projects and partnerships, collectively attended by over 300 people; receptions were held in Rabat at the residence of US Ambassador to Morocco, Thomas Riley, attended by HRH Princess Lalla Meryem, sister to HM the King of Morocco; New York City (HAF’s fourth annual NYC reception); and Bethesda, MD, at the residence of Moroccan Ambassador to the US, H.E. Aziz Mekouar.
- Launched a new website to more effectively communicate with you, complete with a blog and regular updates from the field.
- Joined the memberships of the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA), American Institute for Maghrib Studies (AIMS), and American Chamber of Commerce in Morocco (AmCham) to more effectively reach out to key constituencies.
Leveraging the successes of the past year, HAF's 2009 goals include:
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Plant a community tree nursery of 50,000 walnut saplings, benefitting 10,000 people in forty-four villages, increasing household incomes by at least 200 percent in eight years.
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Implement projects in irrigation, clean drinking water, and fruit tree planting – projects that are community designed and initiated, with community contribution of labor.
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Construct a cooperative to benefit five villages, approximately 200 girls and women, allowing them to pursue income generating projects, literacy classes, and much more.
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Facilitate community meetings with up to 100 villages – including sixty new partner villages – helping local communities prioritize development projects while simultaneously introducing key partners to ensure project success.
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Transfer important technical skills in fruit tree agriculture to farmers in over fifty villages.
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Train up to fifty university students in participatory development; we will hold a pilot training workshop on January 20th with twenty students at Hassan II University-Mohammedia and expand this training to include an intensive six month fellowship program.
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Collaborate with local associations, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and corporations to more effectively design, implement, and manage projects with local communities.
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Launch a “teacher toolkit” based on HAF’s One Million Tree Campaign; adaptable for grades 1-6 the toolkit will introduce students to Moroccan culture and geography, environmental issues, and volunteerism; students will have the opportunity to raise funds to plant trees in Morocco and plant a sister tree in their own community.
With you help we do make a difference in the lives of thousands of Moroccan families!
Make a donation today and learn more about HAF's newly established Founder's Circle.
Join HAF in NYC and Washington, DC to celebrate the new year, learn more about HAF's activities, catch up with old friends, and meet others interested in Morocco. There will be complimentary appetizers.
We will have for sale the award winning Returned Peace Corps Volunteers International Calendar. They are $13 each and all funds benefit HAF's community development projects (Morocco is proudly featured during the month of March!).
Please RSVP to Kate McLetchie: kate@highatlasfoundation.org.
New York City
Wednesday, January 7th 2009 from 6:00-7:30pm
Le Souk, 47 Avenue B (between 3rd & 4th Streets)
Washington, DC
Friday, January 9th 2009 from 6:00-7:30pm
Marrakesh Palace, 2147 P Street NW (Dupont Circle)
We look forward to seeing you soon!
Thank you to everyone who participated in GlobalGiving's Everybody Can Win! challenge. HAF surpassed the $5,000/50 donor goal with an overwhelming $10,655 from 93 donors - allowing us to secure an additional $2,500 in bonus prizes!
The funds will be used to bring clean drinking water to two villages, benefitting approximately 600 people. We will post project updates here on the blog and also on the GlobalGiving project page during the coming weeks and months.
Even though the challenge may be over, you can still contribute to this project. You can even make a gift in honor of someone and GlobalGiving will send them a personalized gift card announcing your donation - a perfect way to give this holiday season.
HAF's project to bring clean drinking water to five Moroccan villages is competing in GlobalGiving's Everybody Can Win! Challenge. Help HAF win up to $27,500 in prizes by making a donation before December 15th. Every gift counts - just $15 provides clean drinking water for one person!
GlobalGiving's Everybody Can Win! Challenge
GlobalGiving's Everybody Can Win! Challenge is an opportunity for donors to help innovative projects earn up to $27,500. Just for participating, Project Leaders start out with a $2,500 prize! But to keep it, projects must raise $5,000 from 50 unique donors (at least 50 different people) between November 15 and December 15, 2008. In addition to keeping the $2,500, projects can compete for other rewards. The project that recruits the most unique donors will earn an extra $15,000, and the project that raises the most money will earn an extra $10,000.
President John F. Kennedy founded the Peace Corps in 1961 with the vision of 100,000 volunteers in the field each year and the goal one decade later of one million Americans with first-hand knowledge of the world. Today, approximately 8,000 Peace Corps volunteers serve in 74 emerging countries around the world. How can Peace Corps achieve Kennedy's vision and at the same time have the greatest impact on communities all over globe? HAF President, Yossef Ben-Meir, advocates for Peace Corps to train volunteers as third party facilitators in participatory community development, as a way to empower local communities to be leaders of their own development process.
Ben-Meir states:
But achieving this potential will remain elusive until the primary role of volunteers in development is transformed to what they are optimally suited to do: act as third-party facilitators to help organize inclusive community meetings and apply participatory planning activities that help groups prioritize and implement socio-economic and environmental initiatives.
The High Atlas Foundation was founded by former Peace Corps Volunteers who served in Morocco and who wanted to continue to make a difference. We use the knowledge and experiences gained during our years of service and the relationships we built, to help Moroccan communities achieve their socio-economic development goals.
What do you think about an expanded Peace Corps? Let us know by posting a comment below.
