Education Morocco Project #6480

Field Train Students, CSOs & Officials in Morocco

by High Atlas Foundation

Project Report | Jan 26, 2023
A Student Leader Success Story

By Hasnae El Karfa | HAF intern

“The legal clinic has made a great difference in my life, contributed to my growth, and made me what I am today, which I was not before the program.”

We have now known Hasnae for one year as a student at the Faculty of Legal, Economic, and Social Sciences and as a member of the Legal Clinic program. She is now 24 years old and in her first year as a PhD candidate researching human trafficking in the Moroccan Penal Code. After her completion of the program, we can testify to her distinguished, active participation, engagement, and integrity. Her distinguished commitment and contribution to the program have afforded her the respect of the Legal Clinic membership, professors, trainers as well as local, national and international partners.

As a student legal clinician, Hasnae has proved to be an active, engaged, and committed participant during a variety of socio-cultural, civic, and academic activities and events, such as trainings, seminars, conferences, study days, and beneficiary consultations, even as a trainer and member of organizing committees. During these activities, she has demonstrated quick and great evolution and improvement. She has demonstrated very good communication skills as well as beyond-expectation academic and personal qualities. This has been attested to by her maturity, sense of critical thinking, flexible attitude, and eagerness to get involved in learning experiences and activities in an independent way.

“The legal clinic has made a positive impact in both my personal and professional life. The program taught me more about myself, my competencies, and my studies and allowed me to put them into practice.” For Hasnae, the legal clinic student training she participated in as part of the program helped her improve the skills she had, acquire new ones, and become a better student, citizen, and human being.

Hasnae’s is an example of the positive impact the program has had. The training inspired her to select her research area and topic of her PhD thesis as human trafficking in the Moroccan penal code because this issue is one of the program’s concentrations.

Due to her excellent performance within the program, she was invited for a job interview at the European Council, which was successful. She began working for the Council as an expert in a project on the mechanisms of the orientation, advocacy, and protection of victims of human trafficking.

The skills she gained as a student clinician allowed her to participate in a study day organized by the Moroccan parliament on youth participation in politics and public policies. In the same context, she participated as a facilitator in the training offered by the legal clinic program to civil society associations in Sefrou and Oulad Tayeb on women’s empowerment and entrepreneurship.

According to Hasnae, youth are change agents and future leaders who will reinforce and maintain our national identity, diversity, and openness, and they will contribute to the sustainable development of our country. To this end, listening to youth voices and taking them into consideration would help us to take up the ever-changing challenges that define our present time and will continue to define the future. She believes that involving youth in decision-making and other civic activities, such as those successfully organized by the legal clinic, would certainly develop them as effective, responsible, and well-informed citizens.

“I would like to express my deepest thanks and the sincerest gratitude to all members of the Legal Clinic, to all professors and experts and partners who have made a difference in our lives, contributed to our change, and have made us what we are today,” remarks Hasnae. “The training, activities, and events in which we have been engaged, and, more importantly, the pedagogies used, offered us learning-by-doing experiences and allowed us opportunities to learn the values of teamwork, individual and group responsibility, endurance, competition, diversity, a sense of culture and community, and the values of mutual respect and tolerance.”

Hasnae continues to reflect, “Those activities offered us real and relevant opportunities to reinforce our coursework and to develop our academic and personal skills and apply them in a real-world context, which has enabled us to become lifelong and life-wide learners. Participation in the program has also increased our sense of engagement and belonging to the faculty and university.”

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Nov 30, 2022
Meet Khaoula: A Success Story

By Bouhlala Safae | Program Manager, Fes

"The moment I knew what I had to do, the moment I felt more confident and independent"

Khaoula, is a 27-year-old legal clinician trainee and graduate with a Master's degree in Business Law. Hers is an inspiring story for young people who have, at some point in their journey, felt lost or misguided. To fulfill the dream she had as a child, she sought entrepreneurial mentorship to launch her project idea--a training and language center that uses new, innovative counseling and training methods. Her enthusiasm for the project helped her to face the challenges she experienced during the start-up phase.

"I was always looking for such opportunities to better understand where and how to start," expressed Khaoula. Fortunately, she benefited from the Legal Clinic and Entrepreneurship program, housed at Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, where she had the opportunity to hone personal development and soft skills, which, in turn, have helped her gain confidence to finally launch her project. Participation in the program has helped Khaoula to follow her instinct and pursue a career outside of the mainstream employment environment, where most students find jobs right after graduation.

After receiving individual mentoring and training in marketing and financial management, Khaoula continued to work on her business model canvas and financial plan, eventually beginning her journey to complete the administrative documents necessary to acquire both legal status and commercial registration of her business. She also benefited from training from the National Initiative for Human Development in May 2022 in order to obtain an additional grant.

The idea behind her project was no coincidence. Khaoula had pursued extensive training and internships in the field of teaching so that she could bring the concept to life. Her love for teaching has also allowed her to save time and money in the process.

Khaoula officially started her project in late June 2022, opening and managing her own office, and beginning to develop her brand. Through mentorship and post-creation support, she was referred to a different funding program in order to obtain IT equipment that would allow her to expand her business and respond to the high demand for certification in e-learning and digital training.

Today, the High Atlas Foundation project team continues to support Khaoula in the creation of her business’s website and in the growth of her social and professional network, expanding her opportunities and engaging more resources to further promote her business in the region.

"I will always be grateful to this program, which I hope will remain sustainable for many more generations to come,” Khaoula.

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Aug 9, 2022
From Raising Domestic Animals to Manufacturing Cosmetics Using Local Herbs

By Houria Chouhab | HAF-F2F Volunteer Technical and Field Assistant

During the third week of July, the High Atlas Foundation’s USAID Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) Program traveled with the local F2F volunteer to conduct training about manufacturing cosmetics using local aromatic plants for Les Hauts Plateaux Cooperative in Tendrara Commune (Figuig Province, Oriental region).

The previous activity of this cooperative was livestock production, but due to the drought and the increasing price of animal food, it became hard for the members to keep up with the needs. Therefore, they decided to change the cooperative’s activity to manufacturing cosmetics by using the herbs they have in the region.

The training was divided into theoretical and practical parts. The first part consisted of having the participants familiarize themselves with the ingredients and the way of dealing with each one. The cooperative’s members paid more attention as this was a brand new field for them, and the local volunteer was generous when it came to sharing his expertise with them.

Manufacturing cosmetics demands mixing ingredients, and one should be careful while dealing with certain materials. On the second part of the first day, the participants learned how to make natural soap using local plants such as rosemary and wormwood. The next product to learn to manufacture was the body and hand lotion, which was easily understood by the participants who stayed focused. This time, the natural ingredient used was the Blue Nila powder, which is well known for its good benefits such as lightening the skin tone and treating inflammation and disorders like eczema and psoriasis.

Another product that Moroccans use at least once a week is a scrub soap used in the Moroccan Hammam. If you go to any market, you will find different types of scrub soap in different aromas and herbs. The host organization is willing to innovate and add its special touch to this product and other ones. By the end of the first training day, the participants were satisfied with what they learned and were curious about what they would learn the next day.

Moving forward in the workshop, the expert local volunteer shared the recipe and method of making shampoo. Even though the cooperative members did not have the necessary tools and materials to use during this workshop, the local volunteer tried to simplify the process by using simple kitchen materials until they purchased adequate tools.

With more attention and determination to learn new things, the participants were able to retain the steps followed in manufacturing each product.

It is worth mentioning that the HAF’s Farmer-to-Farmer team had conducted a similar workshop in Laayoune Charkia for the benefit of a women’s cooperative that participated in a competition just two weeks after the training.

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