From the concept stage of L’Amandier, we have been very clear in our aim to be sensitive to the local community and environment, and determined to give back in the most effective way possible. We cannot step away from the fact that we are building in a rural area, but where possible we have kept materials and labour local, transportation to a minimum, and even the development has been designed to blend into the landscape as much as possible. Giving back in a tangible way was more difficult to get right.

Initially the boys were throwing out random thoughts; a village football pitch, some form of sports facilities perhaps? But when Anwar spoke about the challenge to a good friend Damian Hatton, he received some excellent but simple advice. Damian, the founder of Streetleague, asked a question. ‘Have you asked the local community what they really need? If not, get out there, talk to the people and find out.’ Obvious, but spot on.

As a local resident himself, Said (our Ouirgane-based project manager) was the first to be consulted. He also had very good advice. He explained that meetings with lots of different people would be a mistake. Different people have very different agendas and we would end up with a confused, rather than a clear, picture if we went down that route. Far better, he said, to speak to Abdelatif Jaidi, the president of an association which oversees regional social and environmental projects for the area.

He was the ideal person. Very clear about the needs of the local region and well versed in what projects were already being funded or tackled, he came up with three possibilities. The first was providing ongoing transport from more isolated rural areas to the nearest high school in Asni. The second was an interesting option that we could never have known about; the need for decent toilet facilities for girls at the local schools. He told us how this has become one of the underlying issues with lack of school attendance by the girls, and although there are many others, this is one that can easily be addressed and would make a difference. The third option was somewhat larger in scale, or it certainly became that way the more we researched into it. It was the need for a solution for the disposal of rubbish. Could this be the challenge we were looking for…?

More on progress in PART 2…

Related posts:

1. A Berber Farm: the concept
2. Argan oil: a cooperative in the Ouirgane Valley
3. The local market of Asni