Morocco Earthquake Emergency Relief

WHO AM I?

Hello, my name is Tânia, and I am organising this fundraiser on behalf of my dear Moroccan friend Saida Lhoussine, who lives near the village of Amizmiz on the High Atlas Mountains.

I work as a tour leader, and Morocco is one of my destinations. It is also the country I know the best - I have travelled to Morocco countless times since 2002, and brought dozens of people to travel with me in this beautiful country.

WHO IS SAIDA LHOUSSINE?

Saida is an incredibly strong woman!

Years ago, Saida has decided to break the paradigm of what was expected from a traditional Moroccan woman, and has emancipated herself, choosing to live a life as an independent self-sufficient woman, becoming an entrepreneur, even though her family was initially against it.

Independently, Saida has taught herself to speak other languages, and opened her home welcoming tourists and teaching them the authentic Berber lifestyle, promoting the local handcrafts, food and traditions.

Slowly, Saida became a staple in her community, and started employing locals to help her business. She's the main financial support for all her family and for a lot of people in her village also.

CONTEXT

As many of you know, Morocco was hit by a 6.8 magnitude earthquake on 8th September.

Saida's home is very remote, on the banks of the dry Oued N'Fis river near Amizmiz, one of the most affected areas of the earthquake, only a few kms from the epicentre. Both Saida and most of her relatives have survived, but her home is severely damaged.

Being the core of both the family and community's income, it is urgent to help Saida restore her home and her business.

HOW CAN WE HELP?

There are several ways to support Saida and her community / Amizmiz and the surrouding Berber villages on the High Atlas Mountains:

- donate directly here on GoFundMe (we will pass on the money to Saida asap, we will be updating you here)

- pre-order handcrafts from her page / website on this link .

- 10% of every sold tour to Morocco will be directly donated to Saida (that's 100€ donated directly to her for every tour booked). We will visit Saida and have the possibility to give the money directly to her then, as well as make any further contributions if we feel is needed. If you are interested in booking a tour, please visit this link.

WHERE WILL BE MONEY BE USED?

The money will be used to: