Todas las ideas

HAF’s day trip to Missour

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Blog
byNoah Schrott
onJanuary 23, 2025

On the 13th of January 2025, a four person delegation of the High Atlas Foundation (HAF) visited Missour, a 200-person inhabitants village on the south side of the High Atlas in the Taroudant province. The trip started at 5.30 in the morning and the ride from Marrakech to Missour took four hours. Read below to find out how the trip had gone:

When we arrived in Missour in the early morning, we were warm heartedly welcomed by one of the village’s representatives. Immediately we were invited for breakfast and Mohammed, the trip’s leader from HAF explained why we had chosen to hear from the people of the village community to understand their needs. For him, not only talking to the most powerful person in the village often offers a new perspective on what is needed.

In the case of Missour, the need for water pipes had been expressed in the past and HAF in collaboration with the Austrian Embassy in Rabat recently turned this wish into reality. On this Monday, HAF came to check whether the system continues to work successfully and whether the people had developed new ideas for follow up projects.

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When we were guided by the local responsible to the pipes and water stores, we were immediately impressed by how well the system worked. A five person community group climbed the hill with ease and explained what they had already arranged in detail. After having managed to reach the top of the hill, we were all fascinated by the construction of the irrigation and drinking-water storage. Two pipes leading from an aquifer on top of the hill led to the irrigation and drinking water basin. There the water can be stored and cleaned, to when needed be piped downhill through two further pumps. But while the water from the two basins can keep the hill below the village arable, the hill above the village remains a dangerous, uninhabitable place characterized by loose rocks and dust.

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Despite our fascination for the landscape, we were all frightened by the thought of how much damage a rockfall or any other type of erosion could inflict on the village. We thought to ourselves: Indeed, water is a vital resource to secure a community’s living standards, but if not properly used it does by no means secure a community’s living.

We concluded that for the people of Missour planting trees on the hill above the village would be the best option to ensure a safe and prosperous future. The roots of trees and shrubs can stabilize the soil and thus prevent erosion. This is why we were not surprised that the six village representatives expressed the need to fetch water from the below river basin through a solar pump to green the hill above the village and thus prevent rockfalls and other types of erosion.

The proposal they presented to us sounded like a thoroughly planned project, which does not help a small group of stakeholders, but the village as a whole. Clearly, A village can only face their problems as a unit.

Recognizing the urgent need for action, HAF is committed to reviewing the village’s well-conceived proposal, with the aim of fostering long-term safety and sustainability for the Missour people.