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Auberge La Vallée and Hotel-Café Restaurant Soleil
And
it works!
It has already been mentioned on the why choose us
page that the
money earned by the people that are hired is invested. The investment is
in better housing, education etc. and since the beginning of this project there
has been a great improvement thanks to the walkers.
Brahim and his family are a good example of the improvements. At the beginning of the 1990s they began to invest in Imlil, the village where they live. Imlil, is a strategic place for those who want to hike in the High Atlas Mountains and climb the Toubkal – the highest mountain in North Africa at 4192 metres.
Brahims father was a butcher who wanted a good future for his children. With the help of his earnings, the family built a simple auberge/restaurant - Café Soleil. And Brahim, who worked for others till that time, started his own acitivites based at the Café. Walking in Morocco was already quite popular with the French at that time and their small business became a success.
In 1995 a disaster took place when a rock and water slide from the Toubkal brought death and destruction to the valleys below. Hundreds of people died. Brahims brother hardly managed to safe about 50 walkers who had just returned from a trek. Half of Imlil was destroyed, so was the Café with all their material and money. Brahim was with another group in a village above and saw what was happening to his village. He still, occasionally, tells the story but still finds it very emotional. When Brahim and his group eventually reached Imlil they found that all his family survived, buth the Café destroyed. (see upper photo left).
The
family was bankrupt, but they didn't dispair. Bit by bit they rebuilt
the place. When I was there for the first time in 1999, Café Soleil
functioned again on a simple basis. After that they enlarged, rebuilt
and upgraded it. In 2007 they opened a new, more luxureous wing. Mohammed,
Brahim's brother and Abdellatif
manage the place.
Have a look
at their website.
The
next project for the Aziam family is the Auberge La Vallée.
It is a big house in a quiet area that Brahim up-graded
some years ago to enable guests to stay. It has much potential and
Brahim has commenced the renovation and enlargement of the house.
Obviously a large sum of money is required and he hopefully
will earn enough to finish the word one day.
Vieuw on the Toubkal
contact
us: 
