My Nonprofit Reviews

HAF’s 2020 Vision to Increase Human Development

By Ghita Alaoui
HAF Volunteer

My name is Ghita. My first time outside my hometown, on 29 January 2020, I had a very cool experience going out in the field with these funny, wonderful human beings – High Atlas Foundation (HAF) staff members Hassan, Imane, Hajiba, and Youness – to different rural areas, visiting nurseries and participating in a workshop for women.
We left the office at 10:30 that morning, heading towards Tadmamt, an area that I never knew existed.Each of us had a quest for this day: Hajiba had to evaluate the nursery and see if the co-workers achieved what she requested of them; Imane had to give a workshop in Agadir Tassawt to help women stand up, make decisions, and find solutions for their issues; Youness was there to make new contacts and recruit more volunteers, and Hassan was our coordinator.
On the road, everyone was swimming in their own thoughts, with Hassan driving the car while Hajiba made business calls, and Youness was doing something to pass the time. Imane worked on her marketing presentation and was speaking what is to me a foreign language (Tamazight, the language of the rural people), but, meanwhile, I was horror-strickenfrom the drive along the endlessly curving road through the mountains with its many switchbacks.
Despite my fears, we arrived safely at the site just after noon thanks to Hassan’s skillful driving. It was a magical climb to Tadmamt, and seeing the green, snowcapped mountains left me in awe. Right away, Hajiba joined her co-worker Omar to evaluate what he had done with his team; her evaluation showed that the nursery produced 10,000 walnut and almond trees as well as 20,000 cherry trees. Omar and his team were very pleased by the weather and the irrigated soil this year that helped the planting go smoothly. I noticed that Omar, who has worked for HAF for 11 years,is very ambitious, determined and hardworking.He is taking care of the soil, which is a very hard job due to the many factors involved in growing the plants, not to mention the sometimes-uncooperative climate. However, he does have a strong perseverance and the will to achieve his goal. I admire him for this as well as his happy, pleasant demeanor.
By the end of her assessment, Hajiba was pleased with her caretaker Omar and his co-workers.In these couple of hours, HAFhad achieved one ofits objectives, the tens of thousands of saplings contributing toward the goal of planting over 1.2 million trees by the end of 2021.
Two hours later, we went to our next destinationin Agadir Tassawt for a women’s workshop presented by Imane. There was a huge welcome waiting for us by the association president,Zahra Ouchraa,and the other volunteers.There were more than 40 excited women inside, some knitting as they awaited our arrival. This group was very thrilled by the HAF visitors, and therefore they made all kinds of cakes with hot tea and coffee, welcoming us within their inner circle.
As a warmup, Imane played a really creative game with the group. In order to relax them and lighten their mood, she engaged them with a word-association game that began with her offering a relevant starter word (such as one about the environment, women or the weather), and the workshop participants responding with related words. One example went like this: green, seed, soil, plant, weather. It was very fun, involving the women in this momentous experience.
In this brief encounter with these women, I noticed that Imane was actually just conversing with them and encouraging them to share what their daily lives are like, eliciting the issues that are most common in rural areas, like illiteracy, underage marriage,inadequate healthcare, and so on. Indeed, women started bringing up these problems and asking themselves one word: How?Howcan they overcome such problems and move forward? Surprisingly, the answers arose enthusiastically with comments like,“What young girls needs most is the will and courage to say ‘Noooo!!!!! No, I will not stop attending school because I want to continue my studies.No, I will not get married yet because I want to pursue my dreams.’”Their voices were raised with No, No and more No, not to defy or disrespect their parents but to express their desire to live their lives to the fullest.
Women made a huge impact during this presentation; they were very supportive and determined to end child marriage.These women are trying to achieve the nearly-impossible, dealing with everything from environmental issues to societal problems. Hajiba noted a specific action that they could take: “We must find a fix for trash cans to prevent allergies in children in the future.” When Jamila said, “If we all help each other, we can do it.” It was very enlightening for me. There was clear agreement that all they have to do is to be willing and determined in their quest and they can achieve anything. The workshop ended with a round of applause.
Before departing, we took a group photo with the children in it. Thiswas very touching. We drank their tea, ate their cookies, and received their grateful hugs. Imane concluded, “The ladies were very interactive and dynamic – Ilove it!”

Soon, we got back on the road,making our way to the last nursery in Akrich. The road was steadier this time, somewhat deserted, and without much of a view, but my heartbeat was pleasingly slowed.
Arriving on site, we found Abdulrahimand his two co-workerswaiting for us. They showed us the pomegranate trees and the vineyard they had planted a month before and reported that these were already growing well. They will leave these for nine months until they have grown well enough to be put in plastic containers and, by this time next year, these will be re-planted throughout the whole land. This is another part of High Atlas Foundation’s target to produce 31,000 grape, olive, and pomegranate trees here by the end of 2020 by God’s will. Of note, the land that has been provided for this nursery is actually a Jewish cemetery. Hajiba remarked, “I believe in increasing the partnership between HAF and Jewish communities, which will have a huge impact on creating new job opportunities and increasing sustainable development.”

Meanwhile, Youness had his own project to make known the association between HAF and his company and to increase his contacts. To that end, he interviewed Omar and Abdulrahim during the earlier visits to get more information about their specialties and the sacrifices they make to improve the environment. He learned that they have been working to increase the number of volunteers who will help and hopefully donate to this incredible cause,working hard for the nursery’s success.In this way, they will be able to improve their own society, have employment, and support their families and the community. In addition to this, Youness remarked, “It was my first time on site with the foundation; it opened my eyes to the human conditions and the sight of the work, the people, the partners, the farmers, the women, and the tangible impact that HAF has in terms of environmental protection, economic improvement, and empowerment of women.”
I found it eye-opening and very pleasant to be a part of this process,to see what significance High Atlas Foundation has in human development. I’m so delighted and thankful to be a part of this.