The High Atlas Foundation

Yacout Info: How did this Foundation start?
Kate McLetchie: Mr Youssef Benmine, president of the board, with other Peace Corp volunteers saw the need to help rural communities with their development and decided to establish the High Atlas Foundation to help manage, design and implement projects that include fruit planting and clean drinking water and women's cooperatives in marginalized remote villages.

Q: Where do you get the resources to implement these projects?
A: We work in partnership with government agencies such as the Environment and Forests with national companies such as OCP who supply grants along with other institutions and individuals both in Morocco and the US such as Group 4.
We also get grants from embassies such as the Netherlands and the US amongst others. We also arrange a fund raising event in New York every fall.

Q: The name of your foundation is the High Atlas Association - are all your projects situated in this region?
A: No. We have projects in both the mountains and in other areas. For example, we are currently involved with a project for drinking water and fruit tree planting in Benguerir with an OCP grant at the Ait Taleb commune. This is a pilot project that will act as a model for such future projects when finished.

We also have projects in the Atlas Mountains including Tefnont valley on the road between Marrakech and Ouazarzate. This project involves 30 villages and there is another one in Erachen and one in the Toubkal National Park. Both are being implemented with the Water and Forests department of the Government. Another project is in the Mohammedia area where we established a training centre in Hassan II University to train students and presidents of commerce for participation and development.

Q: How do you identify the areas for such projects?
A: We do preliminary research in our centre in Rabat where we have our field staff and where written work is completed.

Q: Is the Peace Corp involved with this?
A: No, but we do work in partnership withe the Peace Corp for some projects.
We go back to check on the progress of trees planted years before assessing changes in water requirements.

Q: How has progress developed in the last 9 years?
A: We have been involved in many projects throughout the country and we do go back and check their progress in terms of water supply, through growth etc.

The environment is our primary concern and we keep it in mind so that we plant trees that will grow and benefit the population. We concentrate on growing trees that do not require pesticides.