Good Deeds
Sharing of A Heart-and-Mind-Opening Experience in Marrakech, the Blue Soul
The pleasure of giving and helping is more intense than receiving
Version française : ICI
“I hope you will be inspired by this empowering and enriching four-day experience (June 2024) I share with you in an orphanage and a school for children with autism and Down syndrome in Marrakech, Morocco. I learned to be truly open to differences, which will guide me in my future actions.”
A Moroccan experience that begins within the Dar Tifl establishment, an orphanage that strives for excellence.
It’s decided. I’m going to Morocco; a call from the heart cannot be dissuaded! When my ex-manager of the Melia La Défense hotel, Ghali, tells me that Darya, his mother, manages an orphanage in Marrakech, my heart begins to beat strong, and joy starts to overwhelm me. A few days later, I flew to Morocco, towards Dar Tifl and Malaïka — the two charitable associations that I am lucky to be able to discover.
The air is hot. The announced 41 degrees are there. The stares at the white gazelle (how women like me are called) accompanied each of my steps. Nevertheless, with headphones in my ears and confidence, I stroll through the streets of Marrakech.
Today, I am more motivated than ever, and I am heading to the Dar Tifl Bab Aghmat social complex. Created in 1943, Dar Tifl welcomes orphaned children lacking family support in an environment that allows them to grow and flourish. Thanks to Darya, a pharmacist from Rabat, and Abdellah Squalli Houssaini, a dentist from Casablanca, I can discover the humanitarian environment within the blue city of Marrakech.
Marrakech, a name from the Berber language — *Amur (protection) and Yakuš (God) — seems protected by the gods as the city’s soul and history accompany us on every street corner: Souk, Medina, royal blue. Yes, for me, Marrakech is not an ocher city but a blue dream, blue like the Majorelle Garden, blue like the scarves of the Berbers in the desert — blue that speaks to the soul.
In the Bab Ghmat district, the Dar Tifl Bab Gamat social complex, managed by the Sidi Beladas charity association and chaired by Abdellah, fulfills a simple daily mission and works to keep its promise:
“WE WORK EVERY DAY TO OFFER A BETTER FUTURE FOR EVERY CHILD”
For children, art and sport are at the heart of a fulfilling pedagogy within this entity, which is considered among the country's oldest EPS (social protection establishments). On my arrival and after an interview with the director Aziz ADDI, who named me Naïma (“Sweetness of Paradise”), I was taken for a tour of the complex. Our first exchanges are with Zakaria and Achraf, a future polytechnician and a current computer engineer, respectively. Courteous and talented, two young men with bright eyes, full of enthusiasm, are highly motivated to pursue their professional future. Both having grown up in the orphanage, I realize to what extent the place that I am lucky enough to discover today takes care of and allows its children to do everything possible to guarantee them a bright future.
The visit continues… After visiting the small nursery section and meeting the dedicated teachers, we head towards the boys’ building.
After a few photos and a visit to the dormitories, a child opens the doors to their mini-farm for me. I discovered animals there (goats, ducks, geese, etc.) and many vegetables grown and consumed directly at the orphanage.
After several exchanged glances and shared laughter, we headed towards the girls’ section. Thanks to various donations, their space was recently expanded. The girls now have a beautiful dormitory in which each has a bed.
After a few moments of discussion and, inevitably, the traditional distribution of chocolates, I am invited to lunch (the most important and joyous moment of the day).
The girls invited me after lunch to discover the magnificent candy-pink rooftop they decorated; there is a little taste of paradise in this soft space. I couldn’t resist a serene nap and a colorful meditation. After a few moments of play and sharing, the visit continued towards the sports and artistic spaces.
Aware of the importance of art and sport in human development, the teaching team has also armed itself with mental health and professional guidance professionals for smoother integration into a society that can turn out to be much more tumultuous outside of this little haven of peace. A little anecdote: Dar Tifl received a visit from our great French champion Teddy Riner and has already sent several children on a trip to Spain in partnership with Real Madrid.
I will return a few days later to Dar Tifl to attend the presentation of a significant project for the orphanage, a new modern building made to accommodate even more residents without any age limit. Jean-Pierre COLIN, PACA region vice-president in charge of finances and cooperation partnerships, is the main financier of this immense project after having already provided Dar Tifl with the computer equipment. During this meeting dedicated to the new project, I also met a courageous national education professor, François BONNY (also president of the NUMERISUD association), and a representative of the Acted Maroc association, Alice LECLERC; both dedicated to fully contributing to the development of the project through financial means, technical and human skills and above all, their time.
The discovery of the Malaïka school, a place dedicated to children with autism and Down syndrome.
A few days later, after a few nights spent at the Riad Laksour in the heart of the medina, this time, I set off to discover the Malaïka (the angels) association. Darya, its president, and Naïma FADIL, the school director, greeted me with a smile, showed me passionately around her school, and introduced me to the entire teaching team. The speech therapists very quickly entrusted me with the secret of a pedagogy that has proven itself: the parents. Indeed, a day’s work that is not continued in the evening at home and on weekends proves useless for the development of the chicks taken care of.
Throughout my visit, I exchange smiles and gestures of affection; I quickly feel at ease in this place, which embodies kindness and dedicates its daily life to supporting each human in their individual development.
Moreover, this school, with no age limit, also does everything possible to guarantee the integration of children into society. I am invited to participate in a meeting of the Atlas Lion Club to discuss a project that represents a real consecration for Darya, the president of Malaïka: the Malaïka café.
The Malaïka café is a project with a significant impact on people and society.
It’s a project of capital importance since it completes the loop of supporting children from, for some, a very young age and then allows them to enter the professional environment with complete confidence and security.
Do you know the Cafés Joyeux in France launched in 2017? Well, Malaïka cafés are “same same but different”. Their similarity is based on the employment of people with mental disabilities. Their difference is based on the fact that Cafés Joyeux is a business and Café Malaïka intends to preserve its non-profit associative status. As Darya explains during the Atlas Lion Club meeting, Café Malaïka wishes to use its profits to finance salaries, guarantee employment for Malaïka’s children, and support the entire management team and the large system required to set up such a project.
On this subject, the system to be put in place is quite substantial and different from that to be deployed in the case of managing a more “classic” café. Indeed, schedules are arranged to avoid too long a working period, shuttles are organized to pick up new employees every day, and educators are present on-site to guarantee the success of an entry into the world of work of Malaïka’s little angels. Furthermore, a guardianship judge is called upon for salary management because once the new workers start to receive their salary, they need support to help with their expenses. Malaïka’s mission does not intend to stop only at ensuring the autonomy and inclusion of their students; it gives them wings!
I will remember…
That our governments can be real allies in this quest for inclusiveness, currently, a Moroccan company must pay the same social security contributions for a “valid” employee as for a person with a physical and/or mental disability.
The two associations I visited are virtuous and fully useful to society, particularly due to their total gratuity, their non-age limitation, their supportive and empowering pedagogy, and the respective visions of their presidents, Darya and Abdellah.
I am exceedingly proud and happy to have discovered a new environment and people who are different from me and do not have the same background and abilities. This experience will definitely guide me in my future adventures and choices.
Lastly,
Let us wish Dar Tifl and Malaïka good luck and a great creation at the Malaïka café and the new orphanage building.
Always exhibiting a heartwarming smile, Darya and Abdallah divide their time between their jobs, community involvement, and family.
On June 25, 2024, I returned to Paris, filled with immense inspiration, warmth in my heart, and pride in my France, which continues the Franco-Moroccan alliance established for so many years.
Marrakech vibrates, and as our dear late Yves Saint Laurent said, our humanity needs ever more links to promote exchanges, mutual aid, and solidarity on an international scale.
Let us act together for a diverse and sensitive society that is open to the diversity of our world. What was the last action you took to discover a new point of view on society? Act on it! Because building a diverse and inclusive world together is priceless, Yallah!
For more information: https://dartifl.ma/ & https://urlz.fr/rxzZ
