We Live it to God

The earthquake that struck Morocco on the night of September 8-9 significantly affected the Imazighen populations in the mountains and jeopardized part of the local economy. The mountain villages, already neglected before the earthquake and with one of the highest poverty rates in the Kingdom, have borne the double burden of their geographical and political isolation in the days following the quake. Two months later, a massive state plan is being implemented to rehabilitate the most affected areas, and disaster victims can hope to receive individual aid provided they are officially recognized as such. But beyond the extreme precariousness in which these populations are plunged —currently living under tents unsuitable for the winter cold—the inhabitants of the High Atlas are immersed in a collective mourning that has left the entire mountain region in suspense. Whole villages have been decimated, and the dead had to be quickly buried in mass graves. The catastrophe has left a traumatized population, more alone than ever: "We leave it to God because the government does not want to see anything."

Text by Léa Polverini