Livie Nute, UVA and HAF intern Whenever I sleep outside, I feel like an infant again. There is something so nurturing, so maternal, about the night sky. The cool air swaddles me. The stars and moon tentatively poke through the dark—like a blinking monitor or a parent’s eye. The sounds of the evening have a

By Houria Chouhab HAF-F2F Volunteer Technical and Field Assistant The F2F team and the Agricultural Advisory Committee of Demnate (ONCA) discussed future steps with the members of Wachmat Cooperative. Photo credit: Lahcen Ait Ouatouch / HAF Early in the morning of June the 13th, the HAF’s Farmer-to-Farmer team (F2F) accompanied by the UVA student Zoe

by Zineb Laadam HAF Farmer to Farmer program Kenya’s capital city opened its arms to agriculture organizations throughout Africa at the Farmer-2-Farmer Africa Regional Meeting from June 6-10. Tailored to International Organizations and Implementers (IPs), the conference united organizations from Kenya, Tanzania, Benin, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Egypt, Senegal, and Morocco. The organizations in attendance included International

by Zineb Laadam/ Jo anne Cohn HAF Farmer to Farmer program A HAF Farmer to Farmer team member and a volunteer share their culture. Photo: HAF When most people think about the Farmer-to-Farmer program they think about increasing productivity or selling more products or planting more trees.  But when I think about the Farmer-to-Farmer program,

Version english بقلم: نور الدين البحري تأتينا الذكريات من حياتنا على أوتار التجارب الجديدة، بعضها يسحبنا إليها لأجل العودة لتخيل سحرها مرة أخرى والتنقل بين لحظاتها الفريدة والمميزة ، لا شبيه لها ، لا في تفاصيل كبيرة ولا صغيرة ، يسهل تمييزها وفرزها من بين الذكريات. هذه تجربة أمُرُّ بها مع فريق مؤسسة الأطلس الكبير

By Sabine Stratmann, UVa student/HAF volunteer What is an example of ‘home’? This question was asked numerous times during the Experience Dakira conference held from June 8, 2022 to June 10, 2022. With visitors from France, Africa, America, and other places of the world, each person attending Experience Dakira traveled to Marrakech to learn of

Français | العربية PRESS RELEASE “Experience Dakira” Conference gathers civil society and community stakeholders from around Morocco for the preservation and transmission of the Kingdom’s diverse cultural heritage Marrakech (June 10, 2022) – The USAID Dakira program, implemented by the High Atlas Foundation, successfully hosted its first conference, called “Experience Dakira,” at the Palm Plaza Hotel in

By Houria Chouhab, F2F Volunteer Technical & Field Assistant. Back in March, the Farmer-to-Farmer team and their US volunteer conducted workshops in both Marrakech-Safi and Beni-Mellal Khenifra regions about how to properly maintain the solar panels. Three nurseries were chosen for this training, one being Konouz Lakdirate Nursery. The volunteer provided the essential tools and

By Zoe Costello, HAF Intern and University of Virginia Student Zoe Costello with HAF team at the Experience Dakira Conference, June 2022. Photo: HAF “We want the youth to acquire the city and all the values it embodies.” This quote, stated by a participant in the Experience Dakira Conference, embodies a huge component of the

By Ellen Hernandez HAF Writer/Editor Laundry dries outdoors in Tamguist, far up in the High Atlas Mountains Photo: E. Hernandez/HAF June 2022—Several hours from Marrakech, nearly to the top of Toubkal Mountain, in the tiny village of Tamguist, a group of 28 women were waiting for the HAF Family Literacy team to arrive on a

Written by: Bouchra Zine, Program Coordinator Women of Al Yad Al Wahida cooperative during the rooms’ exercise.  Photo by: Bouchra Zine/HAF Twenty-four female beneficiaries aged 22 to 60 in Zaouiat Cheikh commune (Beni Mellal province) participated in an IMAGINE empowerment workshop through the High Atlas Foundation’s Family Literacy program. The local authorities granted the cooperative

By Kelsey Cashman, UVa student/HAF volunteer Handwoven rugs at Achbarou Cooperative in Akrich village (Tamaslohte). Photo: K. Cashman, HAF Behind every handmade rug, there is a story. Tucked away in a rural community of the Tamaslohte commune in Akrich, a mere 30-minute drive from the center of Marrakech, is a cooperative of women from the

Jackson Coldiron Our planet is becoming less green, less productive, and less habitable. Desertification and drought have played a large role in these unfortunate phenomena.  Desertification does not refer to the advancement of deserts, rather it is the process in which fertile land degrades into desert. It is a brutal, self-feeding cycle. Dryland ecosystems experience

By Mustapha Tarhbaloute Students visit the nursery in Akrich  Photo: High Atlas Foundation The High Atlas Foundation (HAF) organized an exploratory trip to Akrich nursery, in the commune of Tamslouhte, in the Al Haouz province for a new group of visitors. In this event, the HAF presented its tree planting program staff who aim to

By Kelsey Cashman, UVA Student/HAF Volunteer Photo by Kaoutar Ait Lahaj, HAF Program Coordinator From June 8-10, the High Atlas Foundation organized “Experience Dakira,” a conference of multiple organizations dedicated to enhancing religious and cultural preservation, learning, and social cohesion in Morocco as part of the USAID Dakira program. Immediately upon walking into the Palm

زينب لعظم مسؤولة ميدانية بمشروع من فلاح الى فلاح  أجمل الأزمنة زمان يعرف قدري، ينصفني إذا أعطيت، يعاقبني إذا اخطأت، لا مكان فيه لحاقد أو مزيف، زمان تشد فيه الرحال لحضن الأحباب، زمان تتخلله لحظات نتمنى أن نعيشها ألف مرة ولا نشبع منها أبدا، زمان تسقط فيه كل التعابير لتحل مكانها الابتسامة من مدينة سان

يوسف مزدو – مساعد مديرة المشروع     على عادتها، وفي إطار أنشطة مشروع تعزيز مشاركة الجامعة والمجتمع المدني الممول من قبل الصندوق الوطني للديمقراطية بشراكة مع مؤسسة الأطلس الكبير، جامعة القاضي عياض، كلية العلوم القانوية و الإقتصادية والإجتماعية بمراكش، و جمعية العيادة القانونية للدراسات والأبحاث، تم تنظيم دورة تكوينية لطلبة العيادة القانونية بمراكش  19 ماي

في إطار المحافظة على الغابات والتنوع البيولوجي والوعي بأهمية أدوارها، فإن المبادرة التي أطلقتها مؤسسة الأطلس الكبير تلعب دورا مهما للمساهمة في تحقيق هذا الهدف. حيث تم تنظيم ورشات تحسيسية تطبيقية للمرة الثانية  في بعض المؤسسات التعليمية بالدار البيضاء يوم السبت 14 ماي 2022، تم خلالها توزيع 150 شجرة  لفائدة مؤسستي إبن بطوطة والفارابي بالحي

مونية بمادي – عضوة بالعيادة القانونية مراكش و مؤسسة الأطلس الكبير في اطار مشروع محو الأمية الأسرية بشراكة بين مؤسسة الأطلس الكبير و الإتحاد الأوربي ، نظم فريق المشروع دورة تكوينية مدتها 3 ايام 26،27، و 28 ماي 2022، لفائدة 20 استاذة اللواتي سيدرسن المستفيذات و 10 طلبة من العيادة القانونية بكلية العلوم القانونية والاقتصادية

ياسين شطو طالب باحث في ماستر السياسات الحضرية والهندسة المجالية السبت 14 ماي 2022         يقوم مركز العيادة القانونية التابع لكلية العلوم القانونية، الإقتصادية والإجتماعية بجامعة القاضي عياض بمراكش، بشراكة مع مؤسسة الأطلس الكبيرو جمعية العيادة القانونية للدراسات والأبحاث وبمويل من الصندوق الوطني للديمو بتحقيق أهدافه من خلال عدة وسائل منها تنظيم زيارات ميدانية تثقيفية

Ryan Winegardner, UVa/HAF student-intern When the High Atlas Foundation (HAF) team took the University of Virginia interns to Akrich, it was the first time we had left the red walls and palm trees and cool avenues of Marrakech since arriving four days previously. Compared to Charlottesville, it was a landscape enveloped in the wind and

Ryan Winegardner, UVa/HAF student intern There was a holiday atmosphere at Al Mansour Eddahbi Middle School when the HAF team arrived on the 26th of May, 2022. Children were arranging display tables in the shade of the cloister; the eighth grade girls were just beginning to emerge from their dorms in multicolored kaftans; the schoolchildren’s

By:  Lahssan Ben Moula photo by Safae Ben Karroum / HAF Undoubtedly, the significance of this title suggests that the Jewish cemetery in Akrich, the community of Tameslouht, Al Haouz province, is not a dead and unchanging place that contains the graves of Moroccan Jews who died 700 years ago. Rather, it is the opposite,

By Mohammed Chadli, Dakira Cultural Coordinator /p> Mr. Jacky Kadoch explains Hebrew symbols to HAF-Dakira Field Coordinators. Photo: Jamal Maghziou/HAF In May, I participated in a field visit in Marrakech with fellow Dakira teammates and colleagues from the American Society for Overseas Research (ASOR), a High Atlas Foundation partner who is also implementing a project

By Errachid Montassir Delegates and tech leaders attended a conference on ecosystem innovation in Casablanca. Photo: E. Montassir/HAF Start-Up Nation Central—a non-profit that promotes Israeli ecosystem innovation around the world—kicked off its first-of-its-kind conference in Casablanca focused on developing innovative solutions to common challenges shared by Israel and Morocco. The ‘Connect to Innovate’ conference held

By Mohammed Chadli, Dakira Field Coordinator Some Muslim and Jewish former students and students from the University of Virginia, HAF President Yossel Ben-Meir, and Dakira Field Coordinators Mohammed and Ikbale. Photo: Jamal Maghiouzi On Thursday, May 26, 2022, Al Manssour Eddahbi Secondary School in Marrakech celebrated the centenary of its establishment. The presence of the

By Aya Ladgham, HAF Volunteer Charif Idrissi Middle school students learn about tree planting. Photo credit: HAF tea Charif Idrissi Middle School students  learned about animals, ecosystems, trees, and how to protect them through a set of workshops organized by the Peace Corps in collaboration with the High Atlas Foundation. At first, Mr. Aziz Rahmouni

Par Tyffanys Michel bénévole avec La Fondation du Haut Atlas Les femmes bénéficiaires de l’atelier Imagine. Photo par HAF. Lundi 9 mai, nous avons pris la route direction la province d’Essaouira afin de présenter l’atelier d’autonomisation, Imagine, aux femmes de la coopérative. L’atelier d’autonomisation Imagine a pour objectif d’instruire, de permettre aux femmes de prendre

Réalisé par: Majda Stitou, l’assistante du projet «Alphabétisation familiale à Marrakech-Safi » Avoir une personnalité forte et être autonome n’est pas une chose innée, pour cela, un atelier d’autonomisation IMAGINE a été réalisé avec les femmes du douar Ait Bayoud qui fait partie de la commune Bizdad dans la province d’Essaouira. L’atelier s’est déroulé surtout

By Jo Anne Cohn Farmer-to-Farmer Volunteer In May 2022 I was so fortunate to be a business volunteer in Morocco for the Farmer-to Farmer program. I worked with two cooperatives – The Wardat Al Atlas Cooperative and the Kounouz Almoumtaz Cooperative. The cooperatives were interested in receiving a range of information – everything from creating