“We consider every euro as a million, because all the aid that comes in is extremely valuable,” says Mohamed Bouyafa, spokesperson for Morocco Relief, a Dutch/Moroccan humanitarian aid organization. Bouyafa was called the night from Friday to Saturday and early Saturday morning two local partners close to the epicenter followed, telling him how bad the earthquake in Morocco had been. At least 1,300 people were killed by the quake, which had a magnitude of 6.8. The epicenter was in the Atlas Mountains, about 71 kilometers southwest of Marrakech.
In addition to raising money, Bouyafa has also set up collection points for clothing and blankets in Amsterdam. “There is still plenty of food, but entire furnishings have disappeared. I don’t know yet when we can bring everything to Morocco.” The coming days will be devoted to collection and preparation for shipment. “It will be comparable to the floods a few years ago, when it took a few days before we could go that way,” said Bouyafa.
Find here the latest news about the earthquake in Morocco
Also the Najib Foundation, a foundation that focuses on facilitating relatively simple medical interventions, is organizing collections. The organization said in an email: “People are torn and we are being called flat out asking what they can do for Morocco. We are busy raising money, but are still waiting for the green light from Morocco to be able to export goods.” Some Moroccan mosques are also calling to raise money for various organizations, but when asked how big the impact is on the religious community, several mosque boards say that the earthquake was intense, but that it is still too early to really say anything meaningful about it. to be able to say.
Outside
Artist and entrepreneur Wissal Aziz was also startled with messages from Morocco during the night from Friday to Saturday. After receiving the call on Saturday morning, before the aftershocks, she spent the morning calling family and friends in Marrakech. “I couldn’t reach a few people at first, but fortunately no relatives of mine died. They live just outside the medina in Marrakech, which has been hit the hardest.”
/s3/static.nrc.nl/images/gn4/stripped/data105081179-fa8d8d.jpg|https://images.nrc.nl/tK9FKpCJv6lZyo1IhcbHFArjdM8=/5760x/filters:no_upscale()/s3/static.nrc.nl/images/gn4/stripped/data105081179-fa8d8d.jpg)
Photo Fadel Senna/AFP
Had the earthquake occurred in the winter months, the death toll would have been much higher, Aziz suspects: “As soon as it cools down outside, everyone goes outside. That is different in the mountains, where the rhythm is different and they go to sleep earlier – which has partly led to the number of people affected there being much higher.” Family and friends have slept in cars for fear of aftershocks, she says, and “my friends from the motorcycle club are donating blood because there is a huge shortage of it. Points have now been set up everywhere, including along the road, where you can donate blood. I keep in constant contact with my family, but like many friends of mine, they have gone into the mountains to see if they can help. Everyone at the moment has to wait until the dust settles to see what you can do.”
Searching among the rubble, donating blood, mourning: images from after the devastating earthquake in Morocco
A lot of damage
As manager, Aziz currently accompanies the Moroccan musician Hind Ennaira, one of the few female Gnawa masters who will perform on Sunday at the Gnawa Festival in The Hague. Gnawa is a Moroccan music tradition. Ennaira is from Essaouira, a coastal town located about 200 kilometers west of Marrakech. There she has a small tea house that was destroyed by the earthquake. “I find it very difficult to be here when you can’t do anything. This morning, waiting for the second shock, I called all my family and friends.”
Ennaira also did not lose any loved ones, but her family members did suffer a lot of material damage. “I’m flying back on Monday because I want to know how everyone is really doing, and to assess all the damage, including to my tea house.” She uses the honorarium she receives to help her loved ones. “The organization said that I could also donate the amount to giro 555, but I am in direct contact. And as the saying goes: give to your neighbors first. If everyone gives to their neighbors, no one is a stranger anymore. From an early age you learn to help each other. We come together in joy and sorrow – whether it is the World Cup or an earthquake.”
The danger in Morocco has not yet passed, aftershocks are ‘real’ says a geologist in this interview.
The Gnawa music festival in The Hague had already been going on for two days. But after this morning’s news, it was decided to turn the Saturday evening concert into a benefit evening, says Mustapha Barbouch, director of the Multicultural Youth Sound foundation and founder of the festival. “How am I doing? I did not sleep well. My brother-in-law in Rabat called me last night in alarm and was one of the many who went to sleep outside. My parents and in-laws are there now. I called them and said, I can try to get tickets so you can come here. They don’t want that, because they want to help.”