Dr. Rachid El Kouhen, Sami\u2019s father<\/p>\n
This year we commemorate the 10 year anniversary of Sami\u2019s passing.\u00a0\u00a0We continue to remember his smile, love and beautiful memories within us and through the thousands of kids impacted by\u00a0Sami\u2019s Project<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0The planting and distribution of trees with children\u00a0is\u00a0the foundation of Sami\u2019s Project.\u00a0\u00a0It empowers kids by providing a feeling of belonging, love, and respect.\u00a0\u00a0It teaches kids a sense of initiative and increases their enthusiasm for learning.\u00a0\u00a0Through the participatory approach, Sami\u2019s project delivers transformational and sustainable benefits\u00a0too\u00a0often poor and neglected youth in Morocco.<\/p>\n Sami\u2019s Project was initiated in 2011, and since, it has been well received by kids,\u00a0schools, and communities.\u00a0\u00a0It has gained ground, year after year, in provinces across Morocco.\u00a0\u00a0Thanks to the relentless work of the HAF and the help of Moroccan officials, schools, and volunteers, Sami\u2019s Project has reached out to thousands of kids across Morocco from Oujda to Boujdour.<\/p>\n As a community, we want to see our children grow into strong leaders to develop and nurture our communities further. Education and the importance of pursuing post-secondary education are vital to the development of our children and the community. However, there are many barriers that limit access to post-secondary education, especially in rural areas of Morocco. This is where we, the HAF\/Sami\u2019s Project, come in.<\/p>\n By looking at all of the present barriers in rural areas in Morocco, Sami\u2019s Project is narrowing the scope\u00a0of\u00a0these issues to help facilitate kids and their families through these processes. We want to provide solutions for families through existing resources, and\u00a0one, in particular, is the kid\u2019s self-awareness and development.\u00a0\u00a0Through the participatory\u00a0approach, Sami\u2019s project has engaged thousands of kids and hundreds of schools and communities toward a common goal for the development\u00a0of our kids, as well as\u00a0the economic, health and environmental prospects.\u00a0\u00a0Engaging our children earlier on is the only way to ensure that future generations will continue to flourish into a stronger and healthier community.<\/p>\n While Sami\u2019s Project has in the just last year has worked with more than 20 communes, 50 schools and 8,800 students, nothing speaks about the value of the project like the stories of these specific students. For example, Nabil is a 10 years old kid, studying in a primary\u00a0school in a rural\u00a0area in\u00a0Morocco. Nabil was a priceless\u00a0surprise\u00a0during the project evaluation. He is a highly motivated student that struggles with the challenges of being deaf and mute and has\u00a0become\u00a0involved in the planting event this last 16th January, and that was the first time that school benefited from SAMI’s Project.<\/p>\n As Nabil\u2019s teachers told us, he is a brilliant student and the environmental education of Sami\u2019s Project has provided him with even more things for him to learn. He loves the trees that he has helped plant. SAMI’s project was a wonderful\u00a0surprise\u00a0for him. The HAF gave more than 80 trees such as almonds, olive, pomegranate and fig to the school where Nabil is studying. His\u00a0excitement\u00a0for being involved in planting the trees was clear which, by the way,\u00a0is\u00a0even bigger and greener now. Nabil is still taking care of the trees and watering\u00a0them and encourages the other students to continue doing a great job.<\/p>\n We received a priceless smile coming deep from Nabil’s heart when we gave him a certificate of appreciation for his active work and his big support to SAMI’s project. However, Nabil is just one of the many examples of the driven students that we have worked with.<\/p>\n We with Sami\u2019s Project also helped to transform an all-girls boarding school, and these transformations were in more ways than just one. Just last January we provided an environmental workshop for the students of the boarding school, where the students had the opportunity to share with us the vision that they had for the school. Most importantly these girls wanted to be a part of that transformation. For the first\u00a0time, they were given the opportunity to plant the trees themselves. In\u00a0addition, to\u00a0bring\u00a0changes in the live\u2019s of the students, their work has radically changed much of the space around the school into a place filled with vibrant greenery!<\/p>\n The process is an ongoing one. We are constantly reevaluating our progress with the help of the students. For example, the original trees we planted included only fruit trees and now the students are finding that they want to also increase the trees to include medicinal plants. The excitement and involvement from these students is a testament to the positive changes being made in the environment around the school and the lives of the girls inside of the school.<\/p>\n The success of Sami\u2019s Project is due to a number of factors, from the constant efforts of the HAF, staff and volunteers, to the warm welcome and support to Sami\u2019s initiative by Moroccan officials, schools and communities, and last but not least, the generous monetary support of many people around the world that is critical to the success of Sami\u2019s Project.\u00a0\u00a0All of these factors are focusing on children\u2019s development in systematic and sustainable approach.<\/p>\n We are so thankful to all these parties for embracing Sami\u2019s Project and marching together in this exciting journey.\u00a0 It\u2019s a project where we all\u00a0win,\u00a0and will continue to honor Sami\u2019s love and life, by reaching out to new kids and areas across Morocco.\u00a0\u00a0This work would\u00a0have not\u00a0been possible without your\u00a0commitment and support<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0It is greatly appreciated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dr. Rachid El Kouhen, Sami\u2019s father This year we commemorate the 10 year anniversary of Sami\u2019s passing.\u00a0\u00a0We continue to remember his smile, love and beautiful memories within us and through the thousands of kids impacted by\u00a0Sami\u2019s Project.\u00a0\u00a0The planting and distribution of trees with children\u00a0is\u00a0the foundation of Sami\u2019s Project.\u00a0\u00a0It empowers kids by providing a feeling of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":7751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[46],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/0000000000000000000000000111111111111112222222222-300x214-2.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=923"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17379,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923\/revisions\/17379"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}