It all began in the winter of 2005, when my husband and I were teachers in Casablanca. We went with a group of students and teachers on a field trip to the Ait Bouguemez valley in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco, a hard to reach area with harsh geographic and socioeconomic realities. We were moved by the sight of the many daily struggles that both students and teachers in these villages faced. Mountainous terrain combined with the lack of even the most basic infrastructure contributed to a very high level of poverty. These challenges directly impacted the children’s access to education. As a result, many rural children embark on life with a minimal education, placing them at a disadvantage in our rapidly changing world.
We travelled back to Casablanca with a firm conviction and a strong motivation to bring change within our limited personal means. We were motivated with a sense of goodwill and charged activism. Little by little we managed to engage a selfless group of volunteers, motivated companies and individuals to donate resources to our cause. Thus, began the collection of the necessary funds to launch the association’s very first project, a school renovation.
Since 2006, Amis Des Écoles has renovated 380 classrooms, installed 420 toilets, built 152 water fountains, planted 8,736 trees, supplied 30 libraries, distributed 26,000 books and we are just getting started. With your continued support, we can continue to make an impact and realize our dream of expanding into new regions, many of which have a poverty levels of over 80%. There is much work to be done, but when our goals and values align with our donors and corporate partners, amazing things can happen!
Our mission is to promote the dignity, equality, and respect for all, especially for school children and women in remote rural Morocco.
Our values drive everything we do.
- Gender Equality
- Equal Access to Opportunities
- Tolerance & Solidarity
- Community Engagement
Amis Des Ecoles focuses on creating educational opportunities for children in rural regions of Morocco, where poverty and lack of infrastructure are common. Statistics show a much higher rate of dropouts in rural schools, especially for girls. We currently work in five regions, four desert, and one mountainous, each of which has unique challenges and opportunities.
60% of our work is done in the Tata provence, located in the south and covering the regions of Souss-Massa, Guelmim-Oued Noum, Daraa-Tafilalt, and Laayoun-Saguia El Hamra. The province alone has approximately 130,000 inhabitants sparsely distributed over a plain of the Sahara Desert, near the Algerian border. In Tata there is no industry and the population lives predominantly on small trade and tourism. The landscape is mostly barren and the climate is extremely dry.
The valleys of Oussertek, Sidi Farrs and Imnan are located in the Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz region. The villages in this region are populated by about 5,000 people. The villagers face challenges stemming from their mountainous environment and extreme temperature shifts, which keeps them isolated from nearby urban areas. This is where our Women’s Training Center is located. Here we empower local women by teaching them economically viable skills.
Meet the people behind the scenes at Amis Des Écoles. Feel free to reach out to us for any questions.
