Running water for a Berber village in the Atlas Mountains

For more than a week, the village was cut off from the outside world by the debris that blocked the only access road. No medical help, no electricity, little or no food, only the river in the valley provided some relief.

Six hundred villagers form 9 large families and at the time of the disaster lived in 130 houses, half of which were destroyed. The houses are gradually being rebuilt by the villagers themselves.

Most of them still do not have running water. Some organizations (JOOD) have ensured that one deep pump was installed to pump up groundwater thanks to solar panels and water pipes were provided. However, this water pump was not enough to supply all the houses.

A second pump was installed in 2024 but water pipes were missing. In February 2025 these were financed by some Belgian private donations.

In the video you can see how the villagers, thanks to the first private donors (who donated the money for the water pipes directly to Omar - second from the right in the photo), were able to provide part of the village with running water on March 2, 2025. 

The villagers have sufficient knowledge to manage the technical aspects of the project and the manpower to realize it is also on site... literally with hands and feet because an excavator or lifting crane is virtually unknown in this Atlas Mountain village.

A third pump should complete the project. For this it is necessary to dig a flat surface in the rocks, buy an electric pump with the corresponding electric line, lay water pipes from the water tower to the houses. But first and foremost it is necessary to find financial resources.