A nine-strong team of US humanitarian organization Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) is currently on the ground in Marrakech (Mellah neighborhood) offering assistance to the communities affected by the powerful earthquake that hit central Morocco last week.
The GEM volunteers are distributing food, water, hygiene products, bedding materials and other basic commodities to the locals. The organization operates daily distributions with multiple truckloads to meet the needs of those most affected by the quake.
The GEM MENA and GEM Europe are also deployed in the Atlas mountainous regions and the surrounding communities.
A team of 20 rescuers from the United Kingdom International Search and Rescue Team (UK-ISAR) landed on-site earlier this week to provide relief for those in dire need. Food packages supplied by volunteers were delivered nearly to everyone in Amizmiz, a village near Marrakech.
According to UNICEF, the earthquake has affected over 100,000 children in Morocco (nearly one-third of the Moroccan population are children).
The Moroccan army has set up field hospitals in isolated areas, such as the village of Asni in the devastated province of Al-Haouz.
King Mohammed VI had ordered to expedite the rehousing of displaced people who lost their houses in the massive quake. He also had declared all orphans of this tragedy “wards of the state.”