{"id":23605,"date":"2022-10-18T17:20:09","date_gmt":"2022-10-18T17:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/highatlasfoundation.org\/?p=23605"},"modified":"2022-10-18T17:20:09","modified_gmt":"2022-10-18T17:20:09","slug":"saplings-of-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/saplings-of-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"Saplings of Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Houria Chouhab, HAF Program Manager<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Planting workshop with the U.S. expert volunteer Afra Stenstrom and the children at the orphanage. Photo: HAF<\/em><\/p>\n Created in 1934, the Dar Tifl orphanage “children’s house” covers an area of four hectares and accommodates approximately 400 residents between three and 30 years old. My expectations before visiting the orphanage were limited and did not go further than a place where the children would sleep, eat, and have a library. However, and to my surprise, the children benefit from different facilities where they can exercise their extracurricular activities.<\/p>\n When you step into this place, you will surely be greeted by the kids who are by the door, wearing their white uniforms and warm smiles, either coming back or going to the nearby schools. The more steps you take inside, the more spacious this place gets. The first building your eyes spot is the administrative complex on your right, and a dental clinic on the left. What grabs the attention the most are the green areas wherever your eyes lie, and that goes without saying since the orphanage takes place in the heart of the city of palms.<\/p>\n Still walking towards the center of Dar Tifl, you see the residents\u2019 Moroccan hammam<\/em>, which is the bathhouse where they can clean their bodies the Moroccan way. Right in front of the Hammam, you have a unit divided into a building for girls and another for boys. The unit is called Dar Al-Amal, The House of Hope, where younger kids spend most of their time.<\/p>\n Right behind this \u2018house of hope,\u2019 you find a multi-usage garden and the pedagogical farm that shelters sheep, goats, rabbits, hamsters, peacocks, chickens, roosters, geese, ducks, quails, and pigeons. This place is also home to various species of medicinal and aromatic plants that the residents of the orphanage plant and take care of. Walking inside this small farm makes you realize that the headmaster and the members of this orphanage are contributing to fostering hope, courage and resolve in children so that they may participate in a productive way in shaping their surroundings.<\/p>\n Furthermore, the orphanage provides opportunities for the children to exercise their hobbies and favorite sports, such as football and combat sports, plastic arts, music, and eco-green clubs. Several foundations around the world have contributed to creating a warm and welcoming environment for the residents of Dar Tifl, and the High Atlas Foundation is one of them.<\/p>\n In March 2022, the High Atlas Foundation\u2019s Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) team had a chance to work with children at the orphanage Dar Tifl Marrakech, and the assignment consisted of conducting planting workshops and providing more insights and pieces of advice related to the planting process. The U.S. volunteer, Afra Stenstrom, who was in charge of this assignment, made a couple of recommendations for the person in charge of the eco-club and pedagogical farm to apply. Among these recommendations was to create a greenhouse inside the pedagogical farm for the children to start processing their own medicinal and aromatic plants. This volunteer along with her spouse, Jan Stenstrom, who also volunteered with F2F in another capacity, contributed designs of the recommended greenhouse.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n