To view text in french, please click here More than 15 years ago, around the spirit of Peace Corps, the High Atlas Foundation was founded to help rural Moroccan communities in need. A dedicated group of Americans and Moroccans alike saw that there was a great space to be filled, and they worked together to create

By Hana Ezaoui HAF Project Manager March 8, 2016    ان المرأة بصفة عامة هي أساس المجتمع ، وهي سبب استمرارية النوع وقد نالت ولا تزال مكانة لا يستهان بها في العالم ككل وبالمغرب بصفة خاصة .  فكما سبق الذكر فان المرأة حظيت بمكانة مهمة فكل الاديان السماوية أعطتها قيمة واحترام ولم يكن الاسلام حادا

– What is the Value of a Woman?, ZNET, by Emma Tobin (HAF Intern), 30 March 2016. As a woman, I fight everyday to be respected and treated as an equal. I was lucky enough to be born into a middle class American family with parents who encouraged my education and growth. In my house I

By Said EL Bennani March 13, 2016 تكميلا لعملية توزيع الأشجار بمختلف المؤسسات التعليمية التي بدأتها مؤسسة الأطلس الكبير بمختلف تراب المملكة، في يوم 04 مارس 2016 تم توزيع دفعة جديدة من الأشجار المثمرة والغابوية لفائدة مدارس ابتدائية وإعدادية. فسعيا منها دائما بالنهوض بوضعية المدرسة المغربية، اختارت مؤسسة الأطلس الكبير تشكيلة من الأشجار تتناسب وموقع

By Jacqueline Seeley March 29, 2016 Normally, sowing seeds is something we do in the soil outside, but now the High Atlas Foundation is also sowing seeds within people! How is that possible, you may ask? Well, in partnership with the Empowerment Institute, two of HAF’s staff have been trained as IMAGINE Empowerment Workshop Facilitators, enabling them to

By Lisa Wiese April 6, 2016 As you head east from Marrakech you will pass through many little villages that showcase the bright colors, vibrant culture, and wide smiles of the Moroccan people. Make sure to open your window so you can smell the fresh, cold air of the wind which comes from the mountains,

An open letter to the people of the world: By Emma Tobin April 7, 2016 I was four when the 9/11 terrorist attacks happened, effectively meaning that I grew up in a country full of fear, anger, and resentment towards Muslim people. The Iraq and Afghanistan wars only furthered that fear and anger as soldiers

The elevator pitch: the shortest-seeming thirty-to-sixty-second-ride ever! When mastered, it becomes the quintessential vehicle for sharing a dream, collaboration and investment. This technique was employed over two days, March 23-24 in Rabat, during which HAF team members Safae Lacheheb (Volunteer) and Jacqueline Seeley (Director of Development) worked with a group of Moroccan entrepreneurs to build

By Hana Ezaoui April 9, 2016   بتاريخ 09 أبريل 2016 بمدينة العيون، بالضبط بقاعة الاجتماعات بفندق المسيرة تم اللقاء التواصلي في إطار الحملة الوطنية  “الكل رابح” بإشراف من التنسيقية الوطنية للإتلاف “تمكين وحقوق” وكذا مكتب التنمية والتعاون من أجل الاستقلال الاقتصادي والاجتماعي للنساء بشراكة مع “منظمة البحث عن أرضية مشتركة”. وقد استفادت من هذا اللقاء

To view text in French please click here Every planting season has its own life story. We are at that time of the year when it has just concluded. This year, as every year, we gave it all the energy and resources that we could muster.  Here are the incredible results and our deepest hopes for

– Moroccan Decentralization – Challenges to Genuine Implementation, Indigenous Policy Journal, by Yossef Ben-Meir   (HAF President), 1 November 2016. The Moroccan decentralization initiative bears great promise to achieve human development goals that are truly ‘of the people’. As turmoil engulfs so much of the MENA region, the Moroccan model stands out as a potential means of empowering and

بقلم الدكتور يوسف بن مئير   تحمل مبادرة اللامركزية المغربية وعدا ً كبيرا ً لتحقيق أهداف التنمية البشرية التي هي حقا  من أجل “الشعب”. وحيث إن الثورات والإضطرابات تجتاح أجزاء كبيرة من منطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال إفريقيا، فإن النموذج المغربي يبرز باعتباره وسيلة محتملة لتمكين وإشراك المواطنين في أعمال سلميّة ومثمرة لتشكيل مستقبلهم. ومن خلال

بقلم أمينة الحجامي 12-05-2016   تلعب الفلاحة الإيكولوجية دورا هاما  في الحفاظ على البيئة واستغلال الثروات الطبيعية بشكل معقلن مع مراعات  الأجيال المستقبلية، وبهذا أضحى دور المجتمع المدني ضروريا للمساهمة في تعريف وتطوير هذا النوع من الفلاحة بالمغرب. وفي هذا الصدد، احتضنت مراكش بتاريخ  23 أبريل المنتدى الجهوي  للفلاحة المستدامة بالمغرب، المنظم من طرف شبكة

أمينة الحجامي           قضيت تجربة مميزة رفقة  الآنسة فاطمة البعمراني مديرة المشاريع بإقليم تارودانت. و قد مثلنا مؤسسة الأطلس الكبير من خلال حضورنا اللقاء الجهوي الذي  نظمته المندوبية الجهوية لمكتب تنمية التعاون بجهة مراكش تانسيفت الحوز بشراكة مع الفدرالية المغربية لمهني الأعشاب الطبية والعطرية تحت شعار” الحركة التعاونية بجهة مراكش تانسيفت الحوز و الأفاق المستقبلية”

بقلم إبتسام النيري 20/05/2016 في مجتمع غابت فيه معاني الحب وأصبح للعلاقات منحى آخر يغمره المجهول، مجرد ابتسامات دائبة وسط حقد وضغينة دفينين لكلمات شاحبة نبست بها شفتا قريب عزيز أو صديق مجيب أو حبيب يدعي الحب العجيب في عالم لبث فيه القريب بعيد حتى كاد أن يكون شبه غريب. لازالت هناك وبالرغم من ندرتها

By Nina Schmitz 23.05.16 The best achievements you get are those you enjoy. And you enjoy most what you can share with friends. The trip to M’gouna was great opportunity for HAF staff, volunteers and interns to teambuilding and enjoy what the region has to offer. We had fun weekend, eight current members of the

By Ramzi Talbi 24/05/2016 Our trip to Ighil with High Atlas Foundation took us into deep Morocco. Ighil is small town in the Al Houz province of Marrakech, the population of which is mainly Berbers. The Berber communities are known for their strong connection to the land and its natural resources. Wool work is one

By Ramzi Talbi 5/26/2016 A group of sixteen students from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts visited the High Atlas Foundation today to learn about our mission and projects, along with their Professor Peter Fraunholtz. The day started early in the morning with tea at HAF’s office in Marrakesh, while Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir, the foundation’s president,

بقلم أمينة الحجامي  30/05/2016   تمثل المرأة الركيزة الأساسية وعماد المجتمع وأصبحت أدوارها لا تقتصر على المنزل فقط بل تتعدى ذالك لتصل إلى مشاركة الرجل في مزاولة بعض المهن، و تنقسم شريحة النساء بالمغرب عامة بين نساء لديهن فرص العمل والاستقلال المادي و نساء يكافحن رغم الأمية و الفقر بأن يكون أنفسهن بأنفسهن و يتغلبن

By Mark Apel, Former Peace Corps Volunteer 31/05/2016 First, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Yossef and the staff, volunteers and interns for the opportunity to join HAF’s work on bettering the lives of rural people in the Kingdom of Morocco. I valued every minute of my time assisting the organization with

By Mark Apel, Former Peace Corps Volunteer This spring, I had the privilege of volunteering in Morocco for the High Atlas Foundation (HAF), a US 501(c)(3) and Moroccan non-profit organization that focuses on disadvantaged rural and urban communities through participatory development. This small but mighty organization, based in Marrakech, was founded by former Peace Corps Volunteers

Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir will be speaking at the One-to-One Forum this coming Monday on June 20th at the main branch of the New York Public Library (5.30pm, Chabad Midtown at 509 5th Avenue, 4th floor). This twelve hour forum of talks from thought leaders, ‘fireside’ conversations, and arts performances, are meant to engage youth and adults alike to

By Nina Schmitz 22/06/16 After more than three years of study I felt the desperate need to get out of the environment and way of thinking that became normalized to me. This was one of the reasons why I wanted to come to Morocco and volunteer with the High Atlas Foundation for ten weeks. I

بقلم حانة الزاوي في إطار تظاهرة ليالي رمضان البوجدورية المنظمة من طرف عمالة إقليم بوجدور وبعض فعاليات المجتمع المدني عرفت الدورات التكوينية المنظمة بساحة عمومية ومفتوحة في وجه العموم حضورا منقطع النظير وكانت فرصة للدعوة الى التغيير الايجابي والرقي بالأفكار. فارضاءا لكل الفئات والهيئات داخل الإقليم وبحثا عن التجديد كان للدورات التكوينية نصيب مهم في

By: Emily Hamilton 29/07/2016 About thirty minutes outside of Marrakech lies a small town near the High Atlas Mountains. Ourika looks more like a cluster of small villages existing side by side, just off of the main road from Marrakech. Far down a dusty lane, past a beautiful garden growing saffron flowers, past the traditional

This statement was submitted by the High Atlas Foundation which has a consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. Statement There is a common denominator among successful human development projects, be they in the field of education, health, economic growth, cultural preservation or the environment, namely that the project beneficiaries themselves participated

By Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir, Mouhssine Tadlaoui-Cherki & Kati Roumani Vulnerability. A common denominator shared by many people in Morocco including students and recent, jobless graduates and youthful, former prison detainees. These two groups actually have more in common than might appear at first sight.  A significant proportion of young Moroccans who manage to make it

By Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir, HAF President If Morocco could effectively implement participatory development through decentralized administrative systems across the population, the model could then be emulated and adapted to help create pathways for the people of the Middle East and Africa to achieve the kind of future they seek. Morocco could guide the region by

The High Atlas Foundation has a unique partnership that launches an initiative to profoundly benefit Morocco’s youth and farming communities in the Ifrane province.  Ifrane’s Education Delegation (the provincial office of the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training) and HAF signed an agreement that enables the lending of underutilized land near schools to be lent

By:  Marwa Natsheh, HAF intern  A mere three days after my arrival at the High Atlas Foundation office in central Marrakesh, as an intern at the High Atlas Foundation (HAF) focusing on women’s empowerment, project manager Amina El Hajjami offered me the exciting opportunity of a brief field trip out of Marrakesh, which turned out