Unrecognizable. Those who knew the village did not recognize it. Eight months after the earthquake which hit Morocco hard on September 8, 2023, almost everything has to be rebuilt in the village of Afensou located in the Atlas, which has taken on the appearance of a ghost village.
“The damage from the earthquake is very impressive, we did not expect thisconfides Nathalie Bertrand, professor at the Notra-Dame Institute in Arlon. Two out of three houses are destroyed, people live in camps, containers, it’s very shocking to see. I felt like I was in a refugee camp.“
“It’s reminiscent of a shantytown in the countryside. We wonder how they will spend the winter in the mountains, and this for a second year “, continues his colleague Jean-Jacques Guiot.
Fourteen students from Arlon and their teachers flew off for a 5-day solidarity trip to Morocco. They built an irrigation canal to transport water to the fields of the village of Afensou.
Tents and containers thanks to donations
“Thanks to the donations we were able to collect, the village chief was able to buy tents for people who no longer have homes or who are not helped by the state.relates Lisa Cuvelier, rhetorician. I imagine that it must be very complicated to rebuild oneself, in a place that is not one’s own..”
Last year, INDA students went to the village to build a staircase that led to the school. The work has held up, but is no longer used. The inhabitants who have not fled the village no longer dare to climb it. They don’t go to this side of the cliff anymore.
“People left for the city, those who couldn’t afford stayed, says Medhi, the village teacher. The problem is that there is no access to the village, the houses are no longer habitable. There was only one death in the village during the earthquake, but on average between five and ten people died per village.“.
The families who stayed are thinking of rebuilding the village elsewhere.
The €10,000 in donations collected by the Arlon school (via service clubs and individuals) made it possible to purchase tents and containers to house people who no longer had a roof over their heads. “We hope that this provisional will not remain definitivecomments Nathalie Bertrand. All donations are welcome, people have lost everything.“
With their heart
If the students brought the strength of their arms, they above all put their heart into it, in particular by entertaining the children, with dancing, coloring and anthological football games.
“Everyone was very welcoming even though everything was destroyed by the earthquake“, confides Daelynn Cristinelli.
It is with sadness that the whole group left villagers who were a little less helpless in the face of the colossal scale of the task that awaits them, that of reconstruction.
Want to make a donation? BE50 0019 5932 4218, in communication Morocco/inda earthquake
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