Richard Penna

Rural girls boarding accommodation - Marrakech

Mme Touria Binebine is known in Morocco as the 'Queen of Hearts’. Her vision was to build a boarding dormitory so that academically gifted girls from rural areas with no local secondary school can continue their education in Marrakech. She raised money and the first stone of "L'Association for La Secularisation de La Jeune Fille Rurale" was laid in 2003 with the first girls taking up residence in 2005. Once at the boarding dormitory girls are cared for and provided with clothes, food and basic healthcare. A few of the older girls who attend university stay on and, in return for on-going board and lodging, mentor the younger girls.

Today there are 190 girls but not enough sponsors so any donations are welcome. The dormitories are very simple with bunk beds, bedding and curtains and Souad donated 16 rugs to help add warmth and a sense of home to some of the rooms. In addition, after the November 2023 earthquake, 20 orphaned girls were taken in and a 12 bed dormitory hastily constructed in a meeting room. A clothes donation was made to help these orphans who had lost so much in their lives.  Thanks to the generous donations of a high street brand Souad was able to give large amounts of clothes to the girls.