On September 8, during the night from Friday to Saturday, a series of devastating earthquakes shook large parts of Morocco. With a magnitude of 6.8 on the Richter scale, the quake was felt across much of the country, covering an area almost as large as Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Lower Saxony combined. Authorities said the quake was centered about 72 kilometers from Marrakech. The United Nations has already reported devastating consequences for those living in the surrounding villages. According to Unicef ,around 300 000 people were affected by the earthquakes, about 100 000 of those people are children. The death toll also continues to rise, now approaching 3,000.*
Help is urgently needed, especially in remote mountain villages in the Atlas Mountains. Many families have lost everything in the earthquakes. In some cases, entire villages are unrecognizable, with houses completely destroyed. Unfortunately, these villages are often difficult to reach, so aid arrives very slowly.
STELP on site
To assess the situation and determine what supplies are needed, our project coordinator, Oona Hubrich, and our partners at Helping Hands Africa and Alofoq Charity Association were on site shortly after the earthquakes. To reach the mountain villages, they had to walk for hours through the mountains with relief supplies. There, a catastrophic extent of destruction was revealed to the helpers.
What has been achieved so far?
Thanks to your donations, food, clothing and other essentials, including about 60 tents (with 80 more to come), have been delivered to the villages. Although the tents are relatively large and waterproof, they are obviously not a permanent solution for the local population. And with winter just around the corner, more help is urgently needed to get reconstruction underway.
This is what we have planned:
The Moroccans are showing great solidarity with those affected and are already independently delivering many supplies such as food to the regions, so in the future we will focus more on providing shelter for the affected. We will work primarily in areas where there are few or no other humanitarian organizations, as infrastructure and access are often blocked or unavailable. With the help and good communication with our partner organizations, we can work according to the needs, so our help goes where it is needed most.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank our two partner organizations Helping Hands Africa and Alofoq Charity Association ,without their support, such a rapid response would not have been possible. And of course, we also want to thank you! Because of your unwavering support and willingness to donate, we have been able to deliver many goods to the remote villages.
*(Status: 17.09.2023)
You can find insights into our work here:
