My Nonprofit Reviews

The High Atlas Foundation: A Living Instance of Multiculturalism for Sustainable Development
Dr Afaf HAMZAOUI
Department of English,
Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences,
Ibn Zohr University- Agadir, Morocco.


On the 9th of December, 2022, I visited the High Atlas Foundation (HAF). It was my first visit to the Foundation. I have never forgotten that day. Before I went to the foundation, I was all the time thinking about the building, the people who are working there. All the time I wondered to know about it though I had some information through the HAF foundation’s website. But I had a strong feeling that I had to pay a visit to the High Atlas Foundation because of its noble and human objectives realised by the High Atlas Foundation’s staff and president, Dr Yossef Ben-Meir, based on sustainable development in Morocco. Its work is based on participatory approach, which makes local populations participate in their communities’ development needed projects.
I have first known about the High Atlas Foundation in the 16th January, 2017, during the annual celebration of Planting Day that took place at a high school where I was working then. That was the first time I met Dr Yossef Ben-Meir and since then we have become close friends, but though we have kept in touch via emails and phone calls, I have never visited the Foundation because of my work. I followed all the High Atlas Foundation’s activities via all means of media, Facebook account, YouTube channel and other means available means because I believe in HAF’s traced sustainable development objectives and projects. For all these reasons, I have all time that interest and curiosity to visit the foundation. It was a dream like for me. Finally, as I mentioned at the beginning I visited the foundation last December.
Arrived to Marrakech a day before, I phoned Dr Ben-Meir to inform him about my arrival to the city and to agree about the time of my visit to the foundation. Eventually my dream is realised. We agreed that I could come to the foundation at 01h00 p.m. on the 9th of December, 2022. Arrived to the institution, I was firstly received warmly by Dr Ben-Meir. He was too kind. He presented every member of the foundation to me. My first remark is that the High Atlas Foundation’s building is very simple and modest in comparison to the huge work they are doing all over Morocco. The wall’s colours are simple reflect a warm peaceful energy and the offices of the staff are modest as the people working in them. The High Atlas Foundation’s staff reflects one of its main principles supporting cultural diversity. The people working at the foundation are all sincere and nice. They all belong to different ethnic groups and different religious backgrounds. They are Americans and Moroccans, Jewish, Christians and Muslims, speaking various languages: English, French, Hebrew, Amazigh and Arabic. This variety mirrors their cultural diversity; which is amazing. Belonging to different cultural and religious backrounds for one unified nobel objective that is mainly helping and sustaining other communities in need of help and such projects. They all respect each other’s cultural backgrounds. When I arrived there was a Friday prayer, and I noticed that there are some members of the staff who were preparing themselves to go for Muslim Friday prayer. Again, they don’t work on Saturday respecting Shabbat Day, Jewish Sacred day. Also Sunday is a day off respecting Christians. It was really noticeable to me that the staff of the High Atlas Foundation was working at ease because while the president of the foundation was moving around presenting me to his staff I noticed an exchangeable respect but still friendly relationship between Dr Ben-Meir and the staff. There is trust among all of them because his office was all time open even his closet; we went out and he didn’t close his office. He has just mentioned that we were out and came back at 03h00 p.m. Personally, I have really appreciated the relationship between him and other members of the foundation. They were all working together as a beehive and that is one of the main causes of HAF’s prosperity as a Non-Profit Organisation. There is a mutual respect though the multicultural characteristics of the foundation’s components.
Since my visit to the High Atlas Foundation, I have a strong feeling that I should participate and help at least in one of the foundations cultural and sustainable development noble projects. I wish to pay another visit to the foundation in the future.