An academic at the University of Nottingham is raising money to feed and educate children affected by the earthquake in Morocco.
Urgent search and rescue operations are still underway in the Al Haouz province in Morocco's Atlas Mountains, after a 6.8 magnitude earthquake caused mass devastation earlier this month, killing at least 2900 people.
Many homes have been destroyed and thousands of families have been left homeless without food. Moroccan authorities have also said that it could take five or six years to rebuild some of the affected areas.
Dr Tarik Oumazzane, Assistant Professor in Middle East and North African Studies at the University of Nottingham is from Morocco and is helping young people and families affected by the earthquake. He's planning to provide an open kitchen that will serve hot meals every day to people from the worst affected areas. The kitchen will be a community-centred place where people can come for support. Dr Oumazzane is also raising money to help school children return to education so that they can begin to restore their lives.
With such a severe earthquake, we need to consider what we can do right away to reduce the suffering of the impacted communities. The open kitchen, in my opinion, is the best option for providing food, water, and other requirements. We also need to consider what would happen to children whose schools have been damaged. To help them in returning to school, I think it's essential to put up a temporary classroom.
The initial fundraising target is £7000, which will be enough to set up an open kitchen and a temporary classroom in one of the affected villages in the Atlas Mountains.
