Building a handicraft school in the Moroccan Sahara

Building a handicraft school for local children in the Moroccan Sahara to expand their opportunities while preserving and celebrating their cultural heritage.

My name is Aaron Brodkorb, a student from Ireland, and over the past two weeks, I have been fortunate enough to work alongside our host, Zaid, and a community of other volunteers in constructing a small handicrafts school for local children in the small commune of Tarif, just outside Tagounite and right on the border with the Algerian Sahara.

Zaid belongs to the tribe of Bedouin nomads and, since he was young, has envisioned bringing together people from all walks of life and cultures. He wishes to educate the local children about the world beyond their rural town to expand their opportunities while simultaneously preserving their culture.

His Workaway project does exactly that—it creates a tight-knit community out of a multicultural group of volunteers, all working towards a common goal: building a handicrafts school set to contain six small classrooms teaching the following:

Language Education

Pride Industry (Pottery)

Drawing

Wood Discussion

Rug Making

Turban Dyeing

Since starting construction of the school roughly one month ago, we have dug foundational holes, each containing a lucky camel bone, in which wooden beams were erected. We installed solar panels and a pump to draw water from a well, and of course, we learned how to cook the traditional tagine.

Seen as the school is being built using natural resources and by volunteers, building costs are limited; however, funds will be required to purchase materials and supplies to equip the handicraft classrooms.

Progress on the school's construction and the eventual completion of the classrooms will be documented our Instagram account: @HobbitHouseMorocco (https://www.instagram.com/hobbithousemorocco?igsh=dmpkeGZsMmRheG51).

Donations will be greatly appreciated, and you will be able to see the progress and the impact your contribution has made on this project and the lives of the local children.