For our second project, we headed to Ecole Lakhdara – a little primary school located in an industrial zone outside of Casablanca. There we established our second library in October 2017.
But before we started working on the library itself, we visited the school in September to prepare the children for the beginning of the school year. This is what we have achieved during this first phase of our Lakhdara project:
- Distribution of 70% of all textbooks required for the children (the Moroccan government provides normally 30%)
- Distribution of school supplies for the ~210 children: notebooks, pens, pencils, rubbers, rulers, coloured pencils, etc.
A big thanks to Yahya Bennouna – our Casablanca based member, for supervising the operations on the field!
For phase 2, we tackled the heart of our Lilipad project with the library. Considering there was no empty room that could have been used exclusively for this purpose, we agreed with the principal to separate his office into two parts: an office and a library. Thanks to the intervention of the brand new local parent’s association, we had a wooden separating wall installed and a new door ready before the Lilipad team arrived. This is what we have achieved:
Ikea trip in Casablanca to get all the furniture for the Library
Room before transformation
Work in progress
Inauguration Day: October 6th, 2017
We had a blast opening the library and organising short readings with the wonderful kids of Lakhdara – some were full of cheekiness, some very sweet and polite and all had the sweetest smiles.
Recap of Lilipad work in Morocco:
- Total donations collected for this project: 3,300 euros mostly from fundraising events in Berlin and private donations.
- School supplies for all ~210 children
- 70% of all textbooks required for the year (to be kept by the school until the program changes)
- Library equipment: Flooring of the room, tailored bookshelves, furniture, etc.
- Over 400+ books provided with the library.
We are looking forward to visiting Lakhdara again on our next time in Casablanca.
A big thanks to everyone who made this adventure possible!