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Building Dwellings in Morroco

God said go….so off we went with hearts full of gratitude from the outpouring of love and prayers from our family, friends and amazing community. We felt a tremendous amount of responsibility in answering this call, but were excited about the potential for amazing things. Thanks to your support we were able to raise just over $16k to pay for the construction of a home for Atika. By helping the one, we hope that God will use it to change a nation.

Picture: the family land where Atika’s home will be built in Skoura, Morocco

Arriving in Marrakech

On Monday, May 6th around 6:30p we landed in Marrakech and were greeted by Hamza and Hamid who will be with us during the next 2 days in the city before traveling to Skoura, Atika’s village. Ahmed, our confidante and friend in Skoura has arranged our car, driver and guide for both safety and the full experience that the ochre city has to offer. El Fenn, the riad or hotel where we stayed in Marrakech has the most amazing display of colors, lanterns, art, tropical foliage courtyards, rooftop sunset views of Kotubia and the Atlas Mountains and oh, the amazing argan oil nut butter!

On Tuesday morning we jumped in the car with Hamid and headed into the Atlas mountains for the 4.5 hour trip to Skoura. Caroline and I stayed up until 3 am the night before due to the time change, but could hardly rest during the ride due to the excitement of getting to see our friend Ahmed and connect with Atika’s family. Once arriving in Skoura, we drove down dirt roads through the palm groves and rammed earth homes to reach the gates of Riad Aman Skoura, Ahmed’s Uncle’s riad where we were greeted as family. It is so wonderful to introduce Caroline to our friends who also welcome her as family. Once getting settled into our cozy room, we head over to Ahmed’s home for authentic Moroccan tajine and salad that his mother, Zeneb has prepared for us.

Finally, the time has come to meet with Atika and her family at the future homesite.

No words can describe the joy that was felt once we arrived at Atika’s homesite and were greeted with open arms by she, her husband, Kabor and her son, Mohammed. They could not believe that we actually came back and the possibility of having a real home was coming to life. We hugged each other so tight and knew that only God could have brought us together. It truly was a symbol of God’s love transcending borders, religions, language barriers, fear and doubt in humanity.

The rest of our time together was filled with happiness and excitement as we met with the builder, Mohammed to discuss the layout and details of construction. As the sun began to set, we took pictures, laughed, broke bread, shared tea and gifts. It was as if we were all a family, a team with one mission, to build a home, a dwelling for Atika and her family.

On Thursday we met again at the site and marked the edge of the walls, staked out the house and ironed out the floor plan with the builder. The house will be 10 meters deep and 11 meters wide with two bedrooms, one bath, salon, kitchen and living room with a terrace room on top for Atika’s mom. Ahmed will meet with the builder daily or as needed to ensure that the process is going smoothly and that the details are handled with care.

The goal is to complete the house in December in Challah (God willing) when Caroline and I plan to return to help with finishing details. Atika and her mother, Fatna tried to give us their family’s rug of over 50 years, but we insisted that she keep it and make it the first item that they add to their newly completed home. Instead, Atika gave Caroline a beautiful silver band, a treasured reminder of this day.