Before I joined CorpsAfrica/Maroc, volunteering had always been part of who I was. Since childhood, I loved social work and spent my free time helping local associations in my small city. When I graduated, the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in 2020 and changed everything. I spent a year searching for structured volunteering opportunities, especially with the European Solidarity Corps. But until 2022, I had never even heard of CorpsAfrica.
Then, one of my friends told me about it. At first, I was hesitant. I was stuck in an informal job, unsure if this was the right step. But when I started following CorpsAfrica’s Instagram page and learned a bit about their mission, something inside me said:
“This is what you want, girl. Go for it.”
In September 2023, before I had even applied, the earthquake struck Marrakech. I was there when it happened and felt the same fear and loss everyone felt that morning. I immediately donated clothes and money, but it didn’t feel like enough. I knew I had to do more.
I heard about Storytelling Café, a coffee shop organizing volunteers to make sandwiches for homeless people and families in need. I didn’t think twice I went straight there. For 15 days, I helped prepare meals. The manager noticed my dedication and offered me a job teaching cooking classes. It was a wonderful experience that shaped my communication skills with foreigners. But deep down, I knew this still wasn’t my true calling.
In August 2024, I decided to finally join CorpsAfrica/Maroc. I learned about Human-Centered Design and Asset-Based Community Development, and I felt ready but also impatient to go to my site and put everything into action.
From the first week, I knew I had made the right choice. I signed an agreement to build a hammam. In this community, there was no infrastructure families were living in tents in the cold, without any safe place to bathe. Together with FLDF, we built the hammam in just two months. Now, 31 families have a place not only for hygiene but for dignity.
At that moment, I realized no one could stop me. I had discovered a potential in myself I didn’t know existed.
I knew I couldn’t do it alone. I collaborated with Terapsy and FLDF to provide psychological support for families recovering from the earthquake. I supported children with their studies. I partnered with the MBLA to create a farming field school, helping women and farmers strengthen their agriculture and learn about climate change.
I taught women and girls crocheting and producing sweets, They began selling their work, earning income, and rebuilding their confidence one small success at a time.
Today, I am working on building a bridge that will connect the community to schools, health centers, and markets, something that will outlast my time here. And tomorrow, I am planning to launch an ecological project with another volunteer to create jobs and inspire hope for a more sustainable future.
This journey taught me that resilience is not an abstract word. It’s the quiet courage of a woman learning a new skill to feed her children. It’s the determination of a community rising from rubble. And it’s the power of young people ordinary volunteers standing beside them with open hearts.
Looking back, I am amazed at the impact we created together. I never imagined I was capable of so much. All I knew was that I loved people. I loved social work.
Today, I am deeply grateful to Liz Fanning and Mr. Laafoura for giving Moroccan youth the chance to lead change in their country. I am also so thankful to Mastercard Foundation for funding CorpsAfrica/Maroc, making it possible for volunteers like me to turn passion into real, lasting impact.
This journey showed me that when you follow your heart and stand beside people in their hardest moments, you not only change their lives you discover who you were meant to be.
