Clean Drinking Water for 1250 Villagers in Morocco

Water is a precious commodity, but even more so is the need for potable clean safe drinkable water. What may appear to be so rudimentary and necessary to carry out daily routines are often not accessible to as high as 70% of Moroccans in most rural areas. The clean drinking water project by the High Atlas Foundation (HAF) aims to provide $37,500 to provide potable water for 5 villages of about 1,250 people in the Toubkal Region in Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains. By doing so, the benefits of providing potable water will reduce an already high infant mortality rate, and improve overall life spans. Additionally, by providing potable water, it creates a heightened efficiency that can funnel energy back into communities for development and participatory initiatives for young women and girls to be reintroduced into education and other proactive activities.

HAF has always been committed to a participatory approach with its communities in accordance with its belief in sustainable development. Within these communities, in addition to using local building techniques, knowledge, and resources, the project also focuses on community feedback sessions and meetings to promote awareness of health problems and the necessary steps to solve them for the key issues stated above, for example, sanitation and personal hygiene. It is HAF’s goal that villagers will have a better understanding of the causes of not only water-borne disease, but other health problems and how they can both be treated and prevented. What is also important is the development of young women and girls in terms of education and other activities. The availability of potable water will free valuable time for many girls to put their time into furthering education.

Lack of potable water hinders the quality of life for villagers, time, capital, and resources that can be spent more efficiently in other spheres such as long-term development and development potential. The need for the creation of sustainable potable water is the number one priority during needs assessments and these communities consider it an essential requirement for health, literacy, and proactive activities for their fellow neighbors. Contributions and support to this project would provide these individuals the opportunity to better future generations to come and ammeliorate a significant concern for the many families that call the mountains, home.