The First Trip

Thanks to our previous Immigrant project with Mrs. Hiam El Hilali’s class we were able to raise 1883 MAD to contribute to the refugee fund that Mrs. Smith raised. Most of that fund went to buying medicine.

On December 15th we, the group, had our first outing. Arriving at AUI Ahd and Hajar packed the cars with the clothes that our group had sorted out and packed the day before. Including the team, we were joined with 3 AUI Students, Karen Smith, and 3 French friends of Mrs. Smith from Europe. We meet up with Freddy, the Immigrant project leader, and his gang. We immediately were set to work. We unloaded the cars and carried all the clothes and packages to the church. There we sorted more donated clothes and packed them all up and loaded them in the cars to head out to our three main destinations. Each location clothes, shoes, blankets, and medicine were handed out to the refugee apartments. Were able to talk to them for brief minutes and were able to take many pictures. Many of the immigrants expressed their struggles about living in Morocco. Every day they are forced to go out in the streets and beg for money. Most of the times Moroccans do not like to give any money and the refugees are forced to go hungry. Therefore, the immigrants have developed a bit of a hatred towards Moroccans. They hate living in Morocco and they can’t wait until the day they are able to continue their immigration into Europe.

livingconditions

Hajar and an AUI students were also able to have an interview with a young 14-year-old refugee. He also described some of his hardships and hatred of living in Morocco. His goal is to become a professional soccer player. He aims to do this so he can provide for his family living in Guinea-Kinatrie.

Overall our trip was a success. We saw the conditions the immigrants lived in, we were able to discuss their needs of medicine, food, and money to pay for electricity and water. The first group had a mounting debt on bills on electricity and water. Both utilities have been cut off for the last two months leaving them living without both. All the refugees were thankful for the clothes, medicine, and especially the blankets. Fez tends to be very cold during the winters and they are a welcomed warmth in the cold.