Although
the British-Moroccan Society was established more than 30 years
ago, its original objectives still hold true today.
They
include:
- Raising
awareness and knowledge of Morocco in the United Kingdom
- Fostering
commercial and economic links between the two countries
- Promoting
tourism and cultural exchanges
- Encouraging
greater social contact between the peoples of the two countries
- Raising
money for Moroccan charities
It
was in 1975 that Ronald Bailey (recently retired as British Ambassador
in Morocco) got together with Captain David Russell, then Organising
Secretary of the Society for the Protection of Animals in North
Africa (SPANA)). Together, they set the wheels in motion for the
formation of the Society.
Mr
Abdallah Chorfi, the then Moroccan Ambassador in London, and Sir
Anthony Nutting were approached to become joints presidents; and
in October 1976 the Society was officially inaugurated with a
reception at the residence of newly-appointed Moroccan Ambassador,
Baderddine Senussi.
Over
the years BMS membership has grown and now stands at more than
200 – although new members are always most welcome.
The
Society arranges an interesting series of social and cultural
events throughout the year; of which the highlight is the annual
dinner each November. Thanks to the generosity of individual members
and the prizes they donate, the dinner raises thousands of pounds
to help a variety of worthy causes in Morocco.
Morocco
is a fascinating country with a very rich history. Moroccans colloquially
speak an Arabic dialect known as Darija, as well as French in
most business settings, and often English due to tourism being
Morocco’s main industry, making it a truly “globalized” nation.
Yet, Moroccans struggle mightily to compete on the world stage,
as they lack development and deal with poverty. According to the
World Bank report, 52% of the population age 15 and above is illiterate.
The British Moroccan Society has been working for over 30 years
with local Moroccan charities to improve the state of orphanages
throughout the country, to provide basic equipment to centres
for children in difficulty and to help create classrooms and accommodation
for young women from villages where schools tend to teach until
they’re 11. They have contributed to build a boarding school near
Tafraoute which houses 70 girls to allow them to study at the
local high school.
To do this, the British Moroccan Society uses a variety of events
in London and in Morocco to raise money and awareness. It has
steadily increased its membership base to 200 and works closely
with the Moroccan Embassy, the National Tourism board, Royal Air
Maroc and a variety of local companies.
To help the Moroccan people in their fight against illiteracy,
the British Moroccan Society has decided to focus its efforts
on the education sector in rural areas mostly (although not exclusively).
We are planning to establish 10 Learning centers in various areas
of Morocco, in the Toubkal region, Tafraoute, Ait bouguemez and
others. We already have a presence in some areas but we intend
to build facilities to accommodate a library and a multifunction
room. The library will provide books in Arabic, French and English
and computers. We will train a couple of local young literate
women to be responsible for the upkeep of the books and equipment
and of course to know how to use the educational programs.
Our first center will be open in Talatast village (60 km from
Marrakech) in September 2010 and will reach the whole region.
This means that over 100 children age 6 to 14 will have access
to the library where they can study, do their homework and read.
Because this center will also be educating women to read and write,
as well as teach Arabic to nursery children, it will actually
access a vast amount of people. We will also create 3 to 4 jobs
locally.
 |
| The
pre-school center in Talataste is already open thanks to the
efforts of Ahmed Nait and the BMS wants to increase the space
to include a library/community room |
See
also: Charitable work
