The Iberia Meninas help bring drinking water to Moroccan village

With the money collected from the auctions of two of Iberia’s "Meninas" that were a part of the “Meninas Madrid Gallery” exhibition, NGO Mano a Mano, in cooperation with AMED, the “Mediterranean Association for Development and Environmental Protection”, is bringing drinking water to a rural zone of Morocco in the Larache province. Iberia donated the “Meninas” to Mano a Mano, and the proceeds of the  charity auction are funding 85% of the project, which is called “Water Supply of  Douar Afernou el Fouki”.

The project’s aim is the improvement of the living conditions of the people of this region, and more specifically of the women and the children, since it is the women, who are responsible for carrying water to the homes, and children often help in these tasks, which leads them to drop out of school.

The project consists of the repair of two fountains, and the construction of a reservoir and channelling to the homes of the inhabitants if this region. It is planned to be carried out in the next two months, and once it is finished, it will supply drinking water to 255 people. When execution is completed, the infrastructures will become the property of the beneficiaries, who will be responsible for their maintenance. This project is even more important, if we consider that no similar initiative exists in the area.

The economy of this area is based chiefly on traditional agriculture, and above all grasses and fruit trees since this zone is a mountainous zone, but these crops remain far from meeting the needs of the population. The women of this region are the mainstay of family management, and this project will enable them to have more free time to devote to other productive activities.