21eme édition - du 17 au 31 mars 2012
Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles
La référence féminine depuis 1990
Presentation
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Presentation
Heart of Gazelles is celebrating 10 years of existence in 2011.
Sharing and solidarity are two very real values shared by the Gazelles.
These values represent a driving force rather than an end in themselves. In this regard, the Rallye and its Gazelles have no desire to be described as a “humanitarian Rallye”.
The Rallye puts its strength and its image to the service of all through the Heart of Gazelles, a registered non-profit organization in existence since 2001. This Rallye is a useful rally.
Heart of Gazelles works in collaboration with the Moroccan Government on projects whose importance has been evaluated and analysed.
As a result, several project areas have been defined:
- Medical: providing access to medical care for the populations living in the remote areas of Morocco,
- Helping children: Orphanage: building a better life for the most vulnerable; helping the children of Morocco to grow up in the best possible conditions,
- Education: fighting illiteracy; building schools,
- Environment - Sustainable development: increasing awareness through education; helping with sustainable development,
- Reintegrating single women into the workforce: through income-generating projects,
- Improving the quality of daily life: through donations of clothing, shoes, personal hygiene products,
- And last of all, making children happy: through gifts of toys.
Heart of Gazelles is supported by the Moroccan Ministry for the Family, Solidarity and Social Development and the Moroccan Ministry of Health.
Heart of Gazelles projects for the last 3 years:
Medical: The Medical Caravan, sponsored by TOTAL
- 20,000 consultations (General Medicine, Paediatrics, Gynaecology and Optometry),
- 3 births,
- 31 Trachoma operations,
- 3 mammograms submitted for follow-up,
- 92 doctors have provided their services,
- 1,900 people have received corrective eyeglasses,
- 37 handicapped people have been referred to appropriate care facilities,
- 4 metric tons of medical equipment have been given to local hospitals (wheelchairs, consultation tables...).
Helping children:
- Providing financial support for the Darna Orphanage in Essaouira, home to 58 children including 22 babies.
- Supporting BAYTI Association: 15,000 Euros for street children.
Education:
- Ibeyd Nomad School: operational since January 15th 2010 providing education for 25 children,
- Construction of a school (Madrassa) in Tamsguidat,
- 100 bicycles have been given to girls who had to walk 14 km every day to get to school. They also received road safety training (in partnership with AZEKKA France Maroc).
Providing jobs for single women:
- Construction of a weaving workshop and purchase of thread. 25 women in the village of Boudib are now able to make a living in the workshop,
- Support for "Solidarité Féminine" association: social and professional reintegration of 10 women in Casablanca by providing training in traditional Moroccan cuisine,
- Operation "Getting Women off the Streets" ("Sortir les femmes de la rue") in Ouarzazate, by training them in pottery and Moroccan cuisine, is in the process of being implemented.
Sustainable development:
- Construction of a well in Nejjakh, providing access to clean water and sparing the village population from the daily 4 km walk to the nearest water source (the new well was inaugurated during the 2010 Rallye),
- Construction of a well in Taouz surroundings.
- Construction of a well in Foum Zguid
Improving the quality of daily life:
- Thanks to the generosity of the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles participants, 15 metric tons of donations have been collected for Morocco's most needy populations. Distribution of warm clothing for winter, children's shoes, personal hygiene products and toys.
- Seeking financing for the purchase of solar lamps for the Nomads.
ANDRE MANOUKIAN - PATRON
His story:
"When I was asked to give a piano concert in Essaouira for the arrival of the Rallye des Gazelles, I said yes, and again yes. Think of it! Essaouira, that enchanted town with its whitewash and blue shutters…
When they told me to come two days early, to experience the ambiance in the desert, I said yes, and again yes. Think of it! The inspiration of poets… and maybe a team of Gazelles in distress in need of comforting...
In the desert, sublime just like in my dreams, behind a dune, magic: Two hundred Bedouins, tents, children playing, women stirring large pots over an open fire, and as I approach, an old man with a flamboyant toothless smile, sporting a pair of round glasses the same shade of blue as his djellaba, John Lennon meets Gandhi, then children with glasses, women waiting outside the entrance to a tent, and in every tent, men and women dressed in white giving consultations, then someone explaining to me discreetly that most of these Tuareg are receiving medical care for the first time and that the old man is smiling because he can finally see clearly, and in every line a story, and the doctors and nurses of Heart of Gazelles, who between two consultations tell me lovely stories of lives saved, of miracle births, and, later on, some sadder stories, real life in the desert.
Then in Essaouira, Jimmy Hendrix and Kerouac of course, but also the orphanage and private initiatives like the Moroccan restaurant owner who takes in street children and decides to educate them, offering to sponsor any who want more than just a delicious fish on the beach…
That is when I decided to trade in my fickle heart for a Heart of Gazelle.
I believe that I came out on top, like all of you will, who are going to help us…"
www.andre-manoukian.fr
Photo credit: François Marquet
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