Improve Rural Moroccan Schools: Sami's Project

On January 13, 2023, the High Atlas Foundation in Marrakech organized a participatory meeting within the framework of the exchange of cultures and religions between students of the Yeshiva University, located in New York City, and students of the Legal Aid Clinic at University Cadi Ayyad in Marrakesh.

This meeting consisted of a visit to a community tree nursery in the village of Akrich, on the outskirts of Marrakech, which contains a 700 year old Jewish cemetery.

When the students of the legal clinic in Marrakech arrived at the nursery, we were received by the President of the High Atlas Foundation, Dr. Ben-Meir, and the nursery supervisor who is also the cemetery’s guardian, Mr. Baddah.

While we were waiting for the students of Yeshiva University to arrive, we took a quick tour to understand the work of the nursery, which includes tens of thousands of tree saplings, including carob, fig, and pomegranate. There was also talk about the method of planting it and the natural conditions that must be appropriate for each type to give more fruits.

After that, we enjoyed tea until the arrival of the other students. We welcomed them and they welcomed us with joy and in an atmosphere of peace, love and respect as a natural result of the relationship between Moroccan Muslims and world Jewry, especially since a number of them are of Moroccan origin.

The students from both universities were divided into groups in order to conduct a participatory workshop, exchanging about cultures.

After that, a welcome speech was given in English on behalf of the Legal Clinic in Marrakech to the students of the University of Yeshiva, While the speech was initiated by a professor on behalf of the students, speaking about our Prophet Ibrahim, peace be upon him.

The most beautiful thing said in this speech was: that this participatory meeting does not bring together just ordinary people, but rather brings together two strains: the lineage of Isaac, and the lineage of Ishmael on the other hand, and that the lessons learned in the past must be adhered to in the present in order to ensure its continuity and build a better future.

The first tree planting day event I participated in as a new HAF member was very meaningful to me. I witnessed the greatest miracle of all. Life.

It was a perfect, sunny day. I met with the team members at Abdellah Oueld Bahia School to plant fig and pomegranate tree saplings.

We were welcomed with great enthusiasm by the administration personnel. We invited the students to join us in the activity. Hana, HAF’s Program Manager, explained the steps of planting fruit trees.

The first tree was planted jointly by Laarbi , the School Director Abdelaziz, and Hana. Next, the students were divided into six groups of 4 and 5 people, and each group was responsible for planting the trees following the method Hana had explained.

I was pleasantly surprised at that sight. The children were very excited; they were running all over the place. All of a sudden, the entire place was full of life. The liveliness didn’t stop for a long time.

The children were very meticulous with their work. They assembled in teams; some brought water, some dug holes, some brought the saplings, and some filled the holes with earth. The buzzing activity that filled the place seemed to me like a beautiful painting whose charm I am unable to describe. They were very excited to be a part of this project, they felt proud of themselves, and they knew they were doing something good for the environment.

Later on, Hajiba, HAF’s Program Director, and Mounia a small workshop about plant life and sustainable development in which they taught the children about the importance of events like this and gave them ideas and information about how to protect the environment. This workshop reinforced the children’s commitment to safeguarding the wellbeing of the young trees that were entrusted to them and their school.

This event had a special significance to me personally. I recalled how one day in the past when I was a student at this school. I met my previous teachers who have grown older under the merciless grinding of time, and so have I. I never dreamed that I would be able to return the favor to my old school. Yet, with the help of HAF, I did.

This event opened my eyes to the cycles of life and death. Time comes and goes, people come and leave, nothing remains but sweet memories and the few kind acts we do along the way. The ‘Life’ we planted in this school may not flourish today but decades later, it will bring its fruits.

The fruits I am talking about here are not merely the trees' fruits, rather, the true fruits are the children in whom we planted the right seeds.

These children will grow to respect their environment. They have learned the importance of Life: the life of the other life forms without which we could not live on this planet.

Climate change is a crisis that is looming on the horizon. It is a heritage of the Industrial Revolution that we, the youths of today, shall bear. Only through consistent tree planting efforts, awareness campaigns and movement to renewable energy sources, could we mitigate this crisis's disastrous effects.