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"Thank you for joining the High Atlas Foundation for fitoor last Friday evening at L'Artiste. We were thrilled that you all came out to celebrate Ramadan with us and learn more about the Moroccan Film Festival. And congratulations again to our lucky winner of the pair of tickets to the opening night film and reception (we plan to offer more opportunities to win tickets to the festival, so be on the lookout!).

Please check the festival website for regular updates and "like" the festival Facebook page where we post all the latest news.

Just a reminder that the festival program and ticketing will be available in mid September. We'll also send out a general announcement about volunteer opportunities, as I know many of you expressed interest in helping with the festival (thank you!). 

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you on October 29th!"

 Eighteen people attended our first Eat.Drink.Share event in DC, Sunday evening, August 22 nd at Marrakesh Palace Restaurant to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan and share a traditional Moroccan ftoor among friends.  In keeping with the Ramadan spirit of giving, $210 in donations were collected.  "$1 - 1 Fruit Tree Sapling".   All proceeds will go to fund our campaign to plant 200,000 fruit trees and saplings in five provinces of Morocco, benefitting approximately 25,000 people in 2011.        

The theme of the evening centered on expanding the HAF's youth outreach program.  The HAF teacher toolkit was launched in March 2009 to engage our youth in the U.S. and eventually abroad to feel empowered to make positive change in the world around them.  You can read more about our first two events in "a penny can make a difference" and "teacher toolkit take 2". The HAF youth program is a wonderful companion to any school aged Earth Day event.  We are looking to partner with schools for Earth Day 2011.  

In addition, the evening's creativity spurred plans to sponsor a youth "Earth Day 2k Fun Run" to be held in Washington, DC April 2011.  Please contact board member, Tina Khartami at tina@highatlasfoundation.org with your ideas or to volunteer for an event.  

Look for invitations for upcoming E.D.S events this fall in NYC, DC and Paris! 

Please join the High Atlas Foundation at our DC Ramadan Eat.Drink.Share Ftoor and have your name entered with each ticket purchase into our HAF's Moroccan Film Festival raffle for a chance to win 2 tickets to the festival to be held on October 29-30th, 2010 at New York City’s famed TriBeCa Cinemas! 

The Ftoor will be hosted on Sunday, August 22nd at Marrakech Palace (2147 P Street Northwest, Washington DC 20037-1010) at 7:30 pm.

Topic: HAF’s Youth Outreach Program   

Celebrate the holiday with a delicious traditional Moroccan ftoor meal, friends, old and new, and learn of ways you can get involved with HAF!    

Registration: Space is limited. REGISTER TODAY!  

Upcoming 2010 Eat.Drink.Share Events:
September: Fruit Tree Planting (Paris)
November: Women’s Cooperatives (DC)
December: Youth Outreach (NYC) Event details and registration link will be sent out prior to each event.

All questions, comments, and ideas can be directed to:
Board Member, Tina Khartami: tina@highatlasfoundation.org
HAF’s Event and Outreach Chair, Nora Larhouasli Marrakchi: nora@highatlasfoundation.org

Please join the High Atlas Foundation at our annual Ramadan Eat.Drink.Share Ftoor and have your name entered with each ticket purchase into our HAF's Moroccan Film Festival raffle for a chance to win 2 tickets to the festival to be held on October 29-30th, 2010 at New York City’s famed TriBeCa Cinemas! 
 
Friday, August 20th is our NYC Ramadan Eat.Drink.Share Ftoor at L'Artiste (43rd Street and 31st Avenue, Astoria Queens, NY) at 7:30 pm.

Celebrate the holiday with a delicious 3 course-meal, friends, old and new, and learn of ways you can get involved with HAF!  

Registration: Space is limited. REGISTER TODAY!

Upcoming 2010 Eat.Drink.Share Events:
September: Fruit Tree Planting (Paris)
November: Women’s Cooperatives (DC)
December: Youth Outreach (NYC)

Event details and registration link will be sent out prior to each event.
All questions, comments, and ideas can be directed to HAF’s Event and Outreach Chair, Nora Larhouasli Marrakchi: nora@highatlasfoundation.org

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.