Improve Rural Moroccan Schools: Sami's Project

The High Atlas Foundation held a tree planting day in AL – Salaam School, where the nursery is located in Ifrane. Abdelilah, the nursery caretaker, led the process. There were 64 participants. Sixty were elementary school children aged between 10 and 12 (30 children were in the fifth grade, and 30 were in the sixth). Four teachers also participated.

If they would leave the trees without covering for a day or two, they would die because of the severe cold. So, they covered them with plastic as it shows in the picture above. The plastic keeps the cold from reaching the plants and in the same time it gives the trees the heat they need to grow.

Abdelilah together with the participants planted 54 trees in total, 2 fig trees and 52 almond trees. Before the planting, Abdelilah explained everything about trees and plants to the children; what do trees need to survive, how do we benefit from trees, and he also stressed the importance of planting trees to preserve the environment and make it greener.

After watching Abdelilah’s instructions, all the children and the participants learned how to plant a tree in a proper way. So everyone started planting their tree. The kids were very happy during this activity; they never participated in a process like that before! It was a new experience for everyone. Doing something new, something different is always exciting for children.

After the children planted all the trees, they started watering them and cleaned their surroundings. The plants always need constant caring and attention especially with water. Abdelilah also showed the children several ways of watering the trees. He said that too much water can also harm the trees so the watering process should be limited to a certain number in one week.

Drip irrigation is a valid solution. The two advantages of drip irrigation are that the water will be preserved, and the trees won’t be harmed from overwatering.

The children of the school had an amazing day. They enjoyed planting the trees and liked the new information they gained from the activity. We are all grateful for the High Atlas Foundation’s efforts, for including the children in the planting of trees and helping them understand how trees should be planted properly as well as how to preserve them.