FOODIE NEEDS YOUR HELP

On a gloomy Saturday night, while most people were celebrating the weekend or getting ready for a much needed sleep, a young Moroccan entrepreneur, by the name of Otmane Baraket, was getting ready to put his promising life away. It was the injustice, corruption and bureaucracy that pushed Otmane to the brink of death. At the time, Otmane had been tirelessly fighting to get his restaurant’s license back; which was revoked earlier in March of 2022 as a result of targeted harassment.

Luckily Otmane’s life was spared as he was swiftly rushed to the hospital where he received the necessary treatment. As his physical health slowly recovered, Otmane was hit once again by the realization that his fight for justice wasn’t over, but this time he didn’t have to face his nightmare all alone since his story sparked a solidarity campaign across social media under the hashtag #justice4foodie.

My name is Sara, and Otmane was my classmate in 2015. Despite our relatively brief encounter, I knew Otmane as a kindhearted, well mannered and hardworking person; which is why I was saddened to later discover that he was unable to finish his degree one year short of graduating, due to financial difficulties. 

However, Otmane wasn’t the kind of person to give up in the face of hardships, and rather saw it as a test to his endurance and decided to venture into the world of entrepreneurship. “Foodie” saw light in what was formerly a public bathroom in the Municipal Marché of Ifrane. After refurbishing it with his own hands, he successfully turned the tiny space into a kitchen with basic equipment for delicious to-go burgers.

Fast-forward four years, Otmane became the proud founder of the Foodie Franchise (SARL), the highest ranked restaurant on Facebook, Tripadvisor, RestaurantGuru, Google in Ifrane, operating two locations in Ifrane and a warehouse production unit in Azrou, a small town fifteen minutes away from Ifrane.

On March 20th 2022, Otmane was arrested under ambiguous circumstances and was robbed of his license, his livelihood and that of his employees. Otmane spent three months fighting tooth and nail to get back his restaurant, but his pleas fell on deaf ears; which greatly led to the deterioration of his mental and physical well-being, and therefore to his suicide attempt on the 12th of June, 2022.

Many people resonated with Otmane’s story which came to represent the disparities facing young Moroccans who refuse to abandon their country in search of kinder, better rewarding lands. The massive support generated by the “#justice4foodie” campaign helped spread Otmane’s story, who finally managed to get back his license on the 25th of July.

Sadly, this wasn’t the happy ending everyone wished for Otmane since his restaurant went bankrupt after being unjustly closed for over four months. “I am happy that my case got resolved today, but at what cost?” exclaimed Otmane in an interview with a French magazine.

That’s when I decided that we need to take active action to help Foodie open back again. Your contributions will not only help Otmane keep his dream alive, but will also put food on the table for the eighteen families he was employing at his business.

All the funds raised will be directly sent to Otmane Barakat in order to alleviate his business losses, pay back his debts, and pay for expertise and medical expenses.

Let's help Otmane get back on his feet, and get his business and livelihood back on track.