Inspecting the initial portion of the aqueduct that was built by the Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture in 2017 The project is coordinated locally through the Association Pour Le Developpement a Ait Daoud, which is the elected group for overseeing water, electricity, and other local needs. Jimmy Carlson came along on this trip of a lifetime. We are coordinating the project with the Rotary Club of Marrakesh-Majorelle. This is an all-women’s group that is deeply passionate and committed to development projects like this one. Specifications for the aqueduct, including the funding commitment by the villagers who will be paying for half the steel doors and a quarterly assessment fee for ongoing maintenance of the aqueduct. We walked the length of the ditch in Ait Daoud to determine where to locate the steel doors for lateral flow of the water. Location of doors for the aqueduct Jimmy Carlson with local kids coming home from Koran school. We conducted a town hall meeting (in Berber) to lay out the plans for the aqueduct, including the villager funding commitments. This is how the channel is currently blocked to divert the water laterally into the fields. We’ll build a washing station here for women doing laundry, so the detergent and bleach doesn’t dump back into the irrigation water. We took a side trip up the gorge to the distant village of Ameskar. This was a highlight of a trip of highlights. Staying with our host in Ameskar, Lasri Mohammed. It was a beautiful stone house far up in the mountains. The locals of Ameskar. The sheikh of Ammesine, a village where we stopped for tea on the way back down. The village of Ammesine, where we stopped on the way back down. With villager Abdelwahad Tazarine (left), and Corps Africa volunteers Hamza Aboubaugi and Mustapha Essalai. Hiking up to Ameskar After descending from the mountains we cleaned up in the town of Zagora, on the edge of the Sahara. We wrote up the project specifications poolside.

Clearing out the existing earthen ditch
in preparation for the aqueduct Ahmed Mansouri, the president of the Association Pour Le Development de Ait Daoud, with steel doors the village fabricated for controlling water flow in the aqueduct. The village is contributing steel doors for the project and is establishing a maintenance fund for the long-term sustainability of the project, with quarterly payments by the villagers. Clearing out the existing irrigation ditch,
in preparation for the cement work Truckload of cement for building the aqueduct Steel rebar for reinforcing the aqueduct Hard Work! Stones for laying the foundation of the aqueduct Construction grade gravel for the aqueduct, not just the
freebie stuff from the river. This was a point of negotiation.