With the emergence of the pandemic, the economic crisis, and the harsh winter conditions, many regions in Morocco have been suffering from isolation and neglect. The dire financial situation of these communities doesn’t leave a margin for medical consultations and checkups. But, they rather visit the doctor until their health condition becomes critical. Additionally, Morocco’s infrastructure when it comes to the health sector is ill-suited and far from being promising.
Humanitarian clubs at AUI were aware of the fragile communities in the Ifrane region. Therefore, they decided to take action. We conducted interviews with three club representatives in order to have a better insight into the event.
Loyal to their tradition, AUI’s Humanitarian and cultural clubs collaborated to organize a four-day medical caravan action for the benefit of the village community of Tigrigra near Azrou. The event knew the participation of five clubs: Lions, Friends of Migrants, Mimouna, Hand in Hand, and Enactus.
The preparations for the humanitarian action started several weeks before the event. The action lasted from Friday, April 9th to Monday, April 12th and it took place in Ibnou Rochd high school.
The club leaders contacted Doctors from the Avicenne Club that is affiliated with the CHU in Fez in addition to private doctors that were part of Mimouna association in Rabat’s network. The doctors were willing to dedicate time and effort to the cause. Each one of them had a specific specialty such as gynecology, traumatology, ophthalmology, dentistry, and cardiology.
The promotion for the event in the village of Tigrigra was done through the local authorities of the region who had the data regarding the people who need assistance and consultation. The local authorities were very collaborative and engaged. They took part in the organization in addition to providing lunch and breaks for volunteers.
During the event, the volunteers made sure to enforce the wearing of the mask and social distancing in order to assure the safety of the community and volunteering staff.
The total number of participants during the 4 days caravan reached 750 villagers.
The Organization:
The clubs made sure to divide the volunteers into several committees. The number of volunteers was approximate to 10 volunteers by the club. Some were part of the welcoming committee that included student doctors who were in charge of sorting the patients and registering the data regarding the illness and the specialist consulted and others were dispatched through the different stations.
Among the several stations displayed was a pharmacy that contained medication and that was brought by the Avicenne Club. The amount of medication provided was equivalent to 50 000 MAD that was divided through the different specialties.
Challenges:
One of the biggest issues faced was related to logistics when it comes to food, housing, and transportation. The club leaders and volunteers did their best in making this event a success and it did reach its end goal. However, “struggle and hardships were also part of the experience and that could have been avoided if there was more time to prepare” declares one of the volunteers.
The University provided support when it comes to financing housing, food, and logistics in addition to the guidance provided by Dr. Guennoun, Mr. Adel Kaman, Mr. Driss Ouabbou, Mr. Akrout and Mr. Hicham Hafid. But the organization of the event and the networking were mainly done by Club leaders.
The Club leaders expressed their gratitude towards the volunteers and the different bodies that made this event occur.
Future actions will be organized by the Lions club on the 25th of April to reach out to other regions and assess their needs. The caravan will be a socio-medical campaign and the goal is to reach 1000 participants. It will be divided into two days: The first day will tackle the medical part and the second day will be reserved for the social initiative which is to distribute school supplies to students and renovate the school library.
We are calling all the AUI community to take part in these humanitarian activities on campus and to show their support either through donations or by dedicating time for these initiatives as volunteers”
Ahmed Bazzi, President of Lions club at AUI
Finally, Club representatives emphasized the importance of humanitarian action to create an impact on neighboring communities and to foster a climate of social inclusion and solidarity among the different student bodies. A call for donation has been launched in order to ensure the financial stability of these clubs at AUI and to ensure the perpetuity of such initiatives.
