Essential learning materials
Pens, paper, pencil cases, school bags and other everyday supplies, delivered directly and in bulk through trusted community relationships.
Our Morocco programme
Practical support, delivered through trusted communities.
Three field visits. Direct and bulk deliveries. A practical programme growing from essential school materials towards locally governed, solar-powered digital learning. School Aid does not run schools in Morocco; we equip the ones the earthquake left standing but empty, for children the disaster left underprivileged.
3field visits
1 Mar 2024–25 Jan 2025recorded mission period
5named areas in the current archive
2delivery methods: direct and bulk
How it began
The children asked for pens—not money.
Across three field visits, David and Maribeth de Montaigne listened to families and adapted the way assistance was delivered. What began with pens and paper developed into a community-led programme supplying school bags, pencil cases, writing materials and other essentials.
Some materials were placed directly into children’s hands. Larger quantities were entrusted to trusted families and local representatives for placement and use in the schools. The immediate work began in earthquake-affected communities, but the educational need extends far beyond the disaster area.
Why the need was urgent
The farther we travelled into the High Atlas Mountains, the thinner practical educational assistance became.
The magnitude 6.8 Al Haouz earthquake struck on 8 September 2023. It killed 2,946 people, injured 5,674 and damaged or destroyed almost 60,000 homes. At least 100,000 children were affected and 585 schools were reported damaged.
In communities reached by David and Maribeth, intense shaking had caused vulnerable traditional stone-and-earth buildings to collapse. Families lacked not only safe classrooms but the basic materials children needed to continue learning.
Assistance was more visible near larger, accessible towns. In some outlying communities high in the mountains, families said little or no practical educational support had arrived.
Rebuilding walls alone does not equip a child to learn. Pens, paper, bags, learning materials, electricity and access to current educational resources were still urgently needed.
Context: USGS earthquake impact record and UNICEF child-impact assessment.
How the programme works
Materials first. Trust throughout. Digital learning next.
Community-led delivery
Parents and locally recognised representatives help identify needs, gather families, oversee distributions and place bulk supplies into school use.
Solar-powered digital learning
Solar power, batteries, inverters, laptops, shared screens and suitable educational software under accountable community stewardship.
The field record
Three missions, one developing programme.
The journey that inspired School Aid
Children repeatedly asked for pens rather than money. David and Maribeth bought learning materials locally and distributed them during the next stages of the journey.
Read mission one →Building a community-led delivery model
Direct distributions were joined by bulk supplies entrusted to families and recognised community representatives for placement into school use.
Read mission two →Planning locally governed learning systems
Further materials were delivered while community leadership, parents and NGOs helped shape the next solar-powered digital-learning stage.
Read mission three →
Building the next stage
A more independent funding model.
David and Maribeth de Montaigne invested considerable time in developing a two-stage institutional programme with a major United States government development agency and other prospective partners. The first stage was planned at US$1.5 million, followed by a proposed US$2.5 million expansion.
When the agency was forced to close, that route could no longer proceed. The planning helped define the equipment, delivery principles and community relationships required for a responsible digital-learning network. School Aid is now developing a more independent funding model while continuing practical deliveries.
Community-held, school-used
Equipment will not simply be delivered and left behind. Each participating community will agree the appropriate local recipient, named custodians, access, security, maintenance and protection of the equipment’s educational purpose before installation.
Growing beyond the first communities
From earthquake response to a wider Morocco programme.
Essential materials will continue to lead the work. Solar-powered digital learning will follow where community relationships, local stewardship and practical conditions can support it responsibly.
Help continue the work
Equip a child. Strengthen a community. Help reach another school.
Your support funds practical materials today and the responsible development of locally governed digital learning for tomorrow.