It is hard to believe that I am writing, ‘Morocco earthquake one year on’. Tonight at around 11pm a year ago a 6.8 level earthquake killed over 3000 people as it crushed towns and villages across the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. That night I thought I was going to die and, although I have made a story of it that I have told many times (read it here), I try not to think about it. We were so lucky in Imlil, because we lost no-one: there were no fatalities. For others it was a very different, and tragic, story.

Tens of thousands of survivors spent months living in tents, some still are, while many more are in temporary accommodation. The scars on the community run deep. Have you recovered just a year after you lost members of your family in the worst way and suffered such terror yourself? I don’t think so. This is still a place of trauma.

Where is reconstruction after the Morocco earthquake now?

There were lots of stories in the western media about the lack of aid, but in fact the Moroccan government allocated support for everyone affected, although of course there have been some mistakes.  The aid was around £11,600 to rebuild a house, £6.6k to repair a damaged home and £200 per month assistance for each affected household. To put this in context, the minimum wage for an agricultural worker is £7.50 per day. This subsidy will end this month. Money was also provided for seeds and agricultural equipment, flocks and to rebuild destroyed businesses.

Asni, 16km away from me and the major market town where I do my shopping each week was one of the centres of the relief effort. In the main square it had a tented camp for those whose houses were destroyed. Now the camp has been largely dispersed although some tents remain. ‘Building is going well in Asni’, Rachid Imerhane, a Member of the Local Council told me, but it will still take time. ‘Everybody has permission for construction and almost everyone – 70%  has started building. Of these about 25 – 30% have finished building the foundations of their houses.’

But reconstruction has been much slower in other communes which face difficult logisitical problems because we are in the harsh geography of the Atlas Mountains where you can be a day from any road. There are also inevitable delays in the surveying and architectural plans and approval that are needed to build safely.

Women and girls in the Morocco earthquake

In any disaster, women and girls are particularly affected. Here are some of their stories.

Khaddouja lived in Asni’s tented camp with her family for ten months, she hopes to be in her new house next year. This was her home when I went to visit.

Her tent is canvas and covered in a big plastic sheet to keep out the rain. Outside a line of washing hangs on a makeshift fence.

The tent is about the size of an average UK sitting room. She has mats on the floor and her kitchen (a one-ringed stove and some pots) is neatly arranged to one side. Two mattresses are in the corners and five of them sleep here.

Water and sanitation

Basic needs are provided but she tells me it is still hard, ‘The toilets and showers are very far away on the other side and it is hard in the rain and mud. Also, there is a tap but it is up the hill. We go and fill our plastic water containers and bring it back to do our washing.’

Disaster Relief Expert, Christine South, emphasises, ‘If you lose your home and are displaced, washing and sanitation is a big issue. We often see women getting sick because they are waiting to wash and go to the toilet at night for privacy.’

It was not only the practicalities, though, ‘The children can’t sleep,’ says Khaddouja ‘They are scared. Last night in the rain, the power cable caught fire and dropped and we all ran out. If that touched our tents we would die.’

Losing your sanctuary

Men and women have very specific roles in this gendered community. The men provide and do everything outside the house and the women are the absolute rulers of their home and children.

‘I used to think that women in the streets were freer,’ Latifa Aliza says, Education for All (EFA) Country Manager, ‘Now I realise that the true freedom is in the house. There we can do what we like, not wear our headscarves, wear pyjamas, wear makeup, watch TV, talk about anything, shout if we want to.’

After the earthquake they had no houses and in the tents, the women were on display all the time.

‘We have lost our ‘horma’ (sanctity or protected status),’ says Latifa.

Women are disproportionately impacted

This will make it more difficult to heal explains Tanya Woolf, Former Head of Psychological Services at Onebright. ‘You can’t treat anxiety if the person is still in an unsafe situation. You need anxiety and fear to keep you safe. While women are culturally remaining at risk it will be more challenging to process any psychological difficulties they may have.’

‘Women are often disproportionately impacted by natural disasters and sadly the Moroccan earthquake has been no different, ‘agrees Hala Benkhaldoun, GM of Intrepid Travel in Morocco.  ‘They’re often expected to supress their feelings of post traumatic stress or depression and get on with their daily routines. So, through The Intrepid Foundation, we’re supporting a programme by the High Atlas Foundation to provide psychological support for women and young girls.’ 

Education for all

Many secondary schools were destroyed in the quake but the government made education a top priority. Within 4 days, buses were taking children to new schools in Marrakech and accommodation, food, clothing and equipment were all provided. But these schools are far from home so the children are boarding and don’t get home to see their families – often until the holidays.

EFA is a project which provides housing for girls from the poorest and most remote mountain communities so they can go to secondary school. It has revolutionised girls’ education in the region. They lost all their boarding houses – 17 years of work. 

‘Our girls are outside Marrakech now, but we have fought to keep them together in the same houses. Our house mothers have gone there. It is a home from home,’ says Latifa. ‘We are going to build again. We will bring the girls back and we will expand.’

In the meantime, it is hard. H and A are 15 and 16 and are now in school a three hour drive from home so only come back after term. ‘I am frightened the earthquake will come back and the house will fall on my family and I am here. I have nightmares,’ says H. ‘We are so far from our Mums,’ chimes in A, ‘We miss them. We don’t have them to comfort us.’

Giving birth in the earthquake

Can you imagine giving birth during and earthquake? Dar Al Oumouma, The House of Motherhood, is a place where women from remote villages can come to wait for their births and rest afterwards. ‘We had 5 women here on the night of the earthquake, says Director, Nadia Sarwali, ‘They all delivered safely. But we have seen a lot of premature births and also a lot of nursing mothers had their milk dry up with the sorrow and shock. We give them formula and bottles.’

These are just a few of the problems that women and girls were affected by and are still affected by but their resilience is amazing.

In spite of all the tragedy and trauma, the Amazigh (Berber) spirit is undaunted.

The Amazigh spirit

Fatim, lost her house but her cow survived and she turned the tent camps of Asni to her advantage. Asni was always a busy little town but now it is thriving as it is such a centre for the region post earthquake. Every day she sets up her stool and umbrella on the main street and sells bowls of soured milk from her cow and couscous for 50p. ‘Thanks be to God, He brings us everything,’ she says as another customer arrives.

If you have been touched by this story, a young girl called Naima lost her family and her arm in the earthquake. Ella Williams, who worked for EFA and girls in the Atlas Mountains, is raising money to buy her a prosthetic right arm so she can feel whole again and get on with a productive life. Any extra money will go to other girls affected . The link is here.

And here is a radio interview I did this weekend on the Morocco earthquake one year on.

BBC Newshour. I am on at 36:09 – https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w172zb91kl27y0k

BBC Good Morning Scotland. I am on at 01:25:45

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0022sbl?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile