By air & land 🚁 WCK supports Moroccans in need after quake

 

WCK brings much-needed aid to Morocco In just over one week since a 6.8 magnitude earthquake rocked Morocco, WCK teams have provided more than 150,000 meals to families in the hardest-hit communities. Having conducted a comprehensive aerial assessment of the country’s mountainous central region while delivering our first meals, we have established a Relief Kitchen and are working with local partners to ensure meals reach anyone in need. The September 8 earthquake—the largest to hit Morocco in over a century—sent people all across the country running for safety. Striking late at night as many families were already asleep, the quake killed more than 2,900 people and injured countless more. The epicenter was in an area dotted with villages spread across the Atlas Mountains, about 50 miles south of Marrakech, where most homes were not built to withstand an earthquake.    Arriving in Marrakech within hours of the quake, WCK teams immediately began providing sandwiches and water to families sheltering throughout the city. By the next day, we deployed helicopters and 4x4 vehicles to remote communities that were fully cut off to assess needs. At the same time, our team in Spain loaded four of our food trucks in Madrid with kitchen supplies and began driving to southern Spain where they boarded a ferry to Morocco, reaching Marrakech shortly after. Watch as WCK teams mobilize across Morocco by air and land to reach remote, mountainside communities with food and medical aid. During our first flyover of the impacted region, it became clear that the greatest need for support was among the small mountainside villages near the epicenter. We began packing helicopters with as many sandwiches and water as possible and bringing medical professionals on board to provide care to people injured during the quake. Due to the challenging geography of the region, our team is using helicopters capable of landing in difficult terrain, often at the edge of a cliff. Because of this, WCK teams have been the first form of support many communities have seen since the earthquake hit. WCK’s Yasmine reports from central Morocco while delivering meals via helicopter. We established local partnerships immediately after arriving in Morocco. One of WCK’s first partners on the ground, Amal Center, has been making thousands of filling sandwiches for families impacted by the earthquake. We’re flying the sandwiches to the communities most in need of support. This Marrakech-based nonprofit empowers women to become financially independent through culinary training. Our organizations share the core belief that the power of good food can change lives. Laila is part of Tawesna Women's Coop, another all-woman team helping us get meals to remote communities in central Morocco.  To ensure warm, nourishing meals reach people in need as quickly as possible, we established a Relief Kitchen in Asni, a town close to the epicenter. Doing so has shortened the amount of time it takes for meals to be delivered and increases the total round trips helicopters can make each day. On Thursday, while our Asni kitchen was being set up, we cooked at a temporary Field Kitchen in Ouirgane, a nearby village.  Our team used the equipment brought from Spain to cook 8,000 portions of beef tagine with potatoes and olives at our temporary Field Kitchen. One constant over the first week of our response has been the incredible hospitality extended to our teams. Despite devastating loss, residents of hard-hit communities are inviting our teams into what remains of their homes to share tea. Through these conversations, we have built a clear understanding of what villages currently need in the region. To further increase capacity in the coming days, our Deployable Kitchen Unit is on its way to Morocco. This packable, fully equipped kitchen is ideal for preparing tens of thousands of meals for remote communities. We first used this kitchen in The Bahamas following Hurricane Dorian in 2019, and most recently in Elbistan, Türkiye following the devastating earthquake that hit that region in February. At the same time our teams continue scouting the region to ensure all areas of need are identified. This remains a quickly evolving response. Learn more about our efforts here. SUPPORT OUR WORK